Rankings gone, no WMT errors, help!
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Hi,
Client Google rankings have been seriously hit. We have done everything we know of to see why this is the case, and there is no obvious explanation. The client dominated search terms, and are no down on page 7/8 for these search terms. There are no errors in WMT, so we can not resubmit for reconsideration. This is a genuine client and their business has been seriously affected. Can anybody offer help?
Thanks in advance!
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Hello Roadjan,
The site has very low domain authority without many external links. Some of those external links appeared to be paid advertisements, or links on network sites owned by the company, such as the ones in the sidebar of Restful Cottage Holidays with the picture of the moving truck that links to the site. This should be a nofollowed link. Otherwise, the links look fine - you just need more of them, which you might get by promoting your existing content with content amplification Services like Outbrain or on native ad platforms like Facebook. Or you may have to produce featured content that is worth sharing and linking to, such as moving calculators to estimate the size of the van you might need based on the square footage of your home and how much "stuff" is in it (minimal, moderate, cramped...) that needs to be moved to the new location. I'm sure you have all kinds of ideas about content, but the important thing is not to just publish it on your site and let it sit there because nobody is going to find it. You have to create stellar content and then go out and promote it.
I don't think you should be disallowing your disclaimer, cookie policy, accessibility and privacy policy pages. Google likes to see these to know you area legitimate business. However, you could block your /thank_you page.
Your /get-a-quote/ pages are fairly thin. I would either beef up the content on those pages or block them from being indexed using a robots noindex, follow meta tag on those pages.
/moving-to-cyprus-1 Should be a testimonial not a news item or blog post.
moving-with-work-to-europe Seems like it's more about external elevator usage than the title of the article. I just don't think someone arriving from search engines after searching for "Moving with work to Europe" is going to be happy with the content they find on that page. I don't see the purpose of this type of content other than to target keywords or fill out the news section.
The same goes for many of the other pages in the news section. They aren't "news" so much as either quick blog posts about a job, or information that would work better on one of the other pages, like the "Moving Overseas" section.
If Whois info is correct and this site was created in 2007 and updated again in 2012 your issue may have to do mostly with domain authority due to very few high quality backlinks. I would create tools for the the moving industry, and related industries, to use on your site. Also consider partnering with various government organizations, such as the Tourism board for your area, to publish unique information about the area and entice people to move there. This could result in some nice links from the partner and local news if done well.
I don't think you have a "penalty". You just need better content and some earned, high-quality links. Good luck!
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Hi, current status is still unanswered, some good and helpful advice, but seeking more help.
Many thanks
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Send me the URL if someone else hasn't already gotten back to you via PM. I can have a look for you. Either way, please let us know the current status of this question.
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If there is no message in WMT then you can bet it was an algorithm penalty. Start with Panda for content and Penguin for links. You may have accidentally triggered something.
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Got it. I've sent u a reply.
Cheers.
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Hey roadjan!
If you'd like, shoot me the URL in a PM also and I'll take a look for you.
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Hi, sent you a PM with it.
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Can you share the URL ?
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