Ranking Issues Recently Popping Up
-
We have a site that based on your research tools, holds its own in almost all aspects in regards to # of links, # of different linking domains, quality of links, mozrank, moztrust and all that stuff. Compared to our top competitors, we do very well based on your tools via our campaign monitor.
The issue is we seem to be dropping like crazy every month in our rankings and traffic despite this fact, and we can't get our head around the cause. I do have a couple of ideas, and I wanted to run them by you guys to get your opinion.
Domain: bonitaj.com
My Thoughts On Possible Issues...
1. Text Content & Panda Update
I know one of the big things with the panda update was quality of content. I know one thing we have for sure is a lack of "text-based" content. Sure, we have home page, main cats, sub-cats and product pages, but they are mostly just windows into the product pages, and don't have a whole lot of good copy. THIS IS MOST EVIDENT ON OUR PRODUCT PAGES, where each product page is loaded with content, but only 3-4 very short paragraphs of text. Do you think this is hurting us? THE ONLY ISSUE IS THAT our competitors also don't have a whole lot of text-based content on their pages.
2. Too Many Category Pages & Same Products Featured Somewhat on them
I think another problem may be that on each category page, we do have a lot of the same products featured. I don't think its crazy duplicate content or anything, but I do think that back in the old days we got a little crazy with creating "niched out" category pages that pretty much feature the same products as some of the more important and base category pages. Do you think this is hurting us?
I've pitched a solution to this that involves trying to tone down the amount of sub-cats we feature that were originally geared towards attracting long-tail traffic. In the end that really isn't working anymore anyway, so maybe we're spreading our site thin by going to deep with some of these niche category pages?
3. Lack of a sitemap?
We used to use an xml sitemap, and really don't anymore. We have nothing on file with google webmaster tools. I've recently read in one of your blog posts that a simple thing like adding a good sitemap could help our 600+ page site or so get crawled a bit deeper allowing more pages to rank?
IN THE END, MY QUESTION IS SIMPLY, IF THERE IS ONE OR TWO THINGS I CAN DO TO GET OVER THIS HUMP, WHAT WOULD YOU SUGGEST?
-
Interesting note to add to this, I did just notice via Google Webmaster Tools, that our blog had been hacked and 150 or so of our blog posts were injected with hidden link spam. In webmaster tools it said that the 2nd biggest keyword within our site was Viagra. So that is definately playing into these drops in rankings I'm guessing within the last couple of months.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Finding issue on Gtmetrix speed test and google speed test
Hey, when i have tested my website https://www.socprollect-mea.com/ on GT metrix. When i test morning, it shown page speed of 3.8 seconds and in noon it shown 2 seconds and later i check, it is defeclecting. speed on the Google page speed test as well. What kind of error is this and does anyone have the solution for this issue?
On-Page Optimization | | nazfazy0 -
Mass changes of titles and descriptions can cause issues?
I have a big website with all the titles and desc NOT optimized...if i change all of them in one day this can cause seo issues on my site? It's okay to do that?
On-Page Optimization | | markovald0 -
Google Mobile usability issues
Hi,
On-Page Optimization | | MProenca
I received a mail from Google to "Fix mobile usability issues found on http://miguel-proença.com/ ". I've changed to a responsive design and all site pages are now mobile-friendly. However, on webmaster tools the usability issues still appear. Does anybody have a solution to this ? Thanks0 -
Do i optimise only the page that i want to rank or do i have to optimise my entire website.
I'm looking at 2 keywords and i have optimized my main page towards it. My website consist of other pages like, "About Us, Contact Us, Testimonials". My SEO title and Meta Description for these pages are just the basic. Q: My question is, do i have to optimize the pages that i do not want to rank? Is there any way to utilise these pages to help my main page to rank?(besides using them for internal links)
On-Page Optimization | | kevinbp0 -
Why am I ranking on both Bing and Yahoo and yet the rankings are declining on Google
I'm seeing ranking go up on both Bing and Yahoo and yet they are going down on Google. I did see a bunch of spammy links show up about a month ago but have managed to get all those taken down although did not get any warnings from Google in Webmaster tools about them was more of a preemptive measure. The site in question. http://www.gocitrusnow.com
On-Page Optimization | | mwaters19790 -
Can Rankings in Google differ so much from computer to computer.
I was telling my friend via facebook to go on my website, I told him to search 'nightlife forum' in google. To which, I believed it was 11th, top of second page. On his computer, its currently ranking at 1st place is it possible to have a difference of 10 places? even though he lives in the same city as me. Would be good to see what it ranks on your computers too google "nightlife forum" look for www.talknightlife.co.uk (don't get confused with the .COM one out there) Cheers Guys
On-Page Optimization | | Lukescotty0 -
301 Redirect to mobile site effecting rankings
On my site I redirect users when on a mobile device to be redirected to my mobile version of my site. In the last couple weeks I added that redirect in my htaccess file. I just realized today that I am doing a 301 redirect. In the last few weeks my ranking have gotten lower. I am starting to think that because of the redirect my mobile site is not as optimized as my regular site and therefor is effecting my rankings. My question is how can I redirect my users to my mobile site but not use a 301 AND how do I get google to use my main site content for ranking on the mobile side. I want to go back to getting my search rankings on the mobile side using my main sites content. Can I simply remove the 301 on the redirect? Hope that makes sense.
On-Page Optimization | | cbielich0 -
Mozbar # issue
Hi, When viewed through the Mozbar page analysis tool my Joomla site is always displaying a bullet point and space character before the site. Is this likely to effect search engine reading of my ? www.clearvisas.com - is the site. Please have look and let me know what you think. If you are a Joomla expert your feedback on my website and this issue will be really welcome. Thanks, Fuad
On-Page Optimization | | Fuad_YK0