SEO Question Concerning My Site

[Disciple67]

It's been a year since I started trying affiliate marketing with just a website. I'm curious what y'all might make of my SEO experiences:

* ranked highly using article marketing backlinks: page one for a (now highly competitive) keyword, variously positioned at spots four through ten; and page two, three, and four for other keywords (which were highly competitive even then)

* achieved page rank of 3 for site in Google

That was all within two to three months. Since then, I've:

* lost page rank (down to 2) despite exponentially more content (text and images)

* lost all ranking for secondary keywords

* made slightly over $400 in affiliate income and Adsense clicks

Most curiously, where Google used to link my homepage for my keyword it now links an inner page for that keyword -- though the inner page's keyword isn't the keyword it's being ranked for!

Can anyone explain what's going on here?


Much obliged.

 

[djbaxter]

It's the nature of SEO these days.

First, the net is not a static place. Websites and webpages come and go. Links to some of your pages disappear and new ones get added. As that happens, your PageRank goes up and down and your ranking for specific terms may also go up and down, although not in any direct correlation with PageRank.

Second, search engine algorithms are in almost constant flux and evolution. Google has had several major algorithm changes and special algorithms like Panda and Penguin over the past few months. Some of these may have affected your sites directly. Others may have affected sites linking to you directly and your sites indirectly.

 

[mlogan09]

Great response!

 

[DeniseTaylor]

No offense, but this sentence screamed out at me:

That was all within two to three months

Strategies that strive to get you ranking quickly can be dangerous to a site. They usually involve using a lot of backlinks to drive pages up the SERPs. Algorithms have been devised to detect search engine manipulation, so those backlinking strategies may work temporarily, but can eventually devastate a site.

I'm not saying this is your case, but it is in most cases.

All linking strategies should be diverse, with the lion's share of effort on creating high quality content.

 

[djbaxter]

No offense, but this sentence screamed out at me:

That was all within two to three months.

Strategies that strive to get you ranking quickly can be dangerous to a site. They usually involve using a lot of backlinks to drive pages up the SERPs. Algorithms have been devised to detect search engine manipulation, so those backlinking strategies may work temporarily, but can eventually devastate a site.

I'm not saying this is your case, but it is in most cases.

All linking strategies should be diverse, with the lion's share of effort on creating high quality content.

Great response, Denise!

On re-reading the original post, this part jumped out to me, along the same lines:

* ranked highly using article marketing backlinks

Article repositories were hit severely by recent Google updates. It's very likely that most of those backlinks are now pretty much useless to you.

I don't know how I missed that part the first time around...

 

[Disciple67]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. Even with algorithmic changes, I'm still puzzled why Google should now have switched an inner page with my homepage for my keyword, despite this inner page not having that keyword at all.

 

[djbaxter]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. Even with algorithmic changes, I'm still puzzled why Google should now have switched an inner page with my homepage for my keyword, despite this inner page not having that keyword at all.

Look at incoming links to that page. Then look at the anchor text used with those incoming links. What about the title of that page? Or outgoing links from that page, including navigation links?

 

[Disciple67]

Thanks, Minstrel. So it's just Google algorithmic voodoo!

 

[djbaxter]

Not exactly. But whether or not the keyword is on the internal page if a number of links using the keyword as anchor text are pointing to that page it may well rank better than your home page for that keyword.

 

[Disciple67]

Indeed -- just a clarification: my "voodoo" remark wasn't meant to dismiss your expertise at all...I simply had in mind Google's apparent fickleness!

BTW, Minstrel, do you have any insights WRT running one's own affiliate network?? Not one's own affiliate program but one's own network...sounds like a very interesting business indeed but I can't seem to find any information on it beyond a casual John Chow mention and the like.

 

[djbaxter]

No. I'm sure Linda and some of the other members can help out but I suggest posting your questions in a new thread in the affiliate forums here - some of the affiliate marketing experts may never check the SEO threads (although they should...)

 

[Disciple67]

Ah, Linda's kindly moved those threads for me!

Thanks again for your advice...funny that many expert affiliates don't check the SEO threads here; I'd imagine SEO's the first order of business (but of course I'm a n00b)!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Ah, Linda's kindly moved those threads for me!

Thanks again for your advice...funny that many expert affiliates don't check the SEO threads here.

FYI the reason David said that and the reason I moved your thread is affiliates are on a different side of the house than merchants/advertisers and therefore would likely not know the answers. Yes affiliates read the SEO part of the forums.

But those questions were not affiliate questions - they were affiliate manager/merchant related issues, so they go in the Merchant and Affiliate Manager forum where they stand a better chance of getting a response from affiliate managers/merchants.

 

[jeffstone]

As most of the link building is free. To get fresh content on their site webmaster approve our content. Once they analyze its no more a fresh content then they remove the content. Thus, similarly we go on losing our backlinks which in turn affects our site ranking. They do all these stunts just to maintain high PR and good domain authority.

 

[ava]

Hi Much,
We had the same experience but we solved it.Have a look on dimedigger.com to have all the tips with you.

Thanks,
Ava

 

[Bruce61]

yes, google and your site are in a constant state of flux.

But if you havent done much new or wrong with your seo, perhaps start looking at how your competitors have out ranked you via their back links most likely.

 

[Bruce61]

"lost page rank (down to 2)"

Ok, let me get this right, you were rank 1 and you have a problem being rank 2?

Anything above five is usually considered great by most people.

And the $400 is to do with the site traffic and if the keyword is a buying intention and how well your site sells people, there is a lot going on there.

I would have thought that if its ONLY $400 and you are rank 2. then your keyword may not have a massive volume?

 

[Disciple67]

yes, google and your site are in a constant state of flux.

But if you havent done much new or wrong with your seo, perhaps start looking at how your competitors have out ranked you via their back links most likely.

Thanks, Bruce...what's a reliable free backlink checker?? I think there was some operation that could be performed on Google to check a site's backlinks, but I don't really remember....

---------- Post Merged at 12:32 PM ----------

"lost page rank (down to 2)"

Ok, let me get this right, you were rank 1 and you have a problem being rank 2?

Anything above five is usually considered great by most people.

And the $400 is to do with the site traffic and if the keyword is a buying intention and how well your site sells people, there is a lot going on there.

I would have thought that if its ONLY $400 and you are rank 2. then your keyword may not have a massive volume?

Well, it's a very niche keyword -- since there's no way I'd win a competitive one, I thought to start out niche (it's since gotten real competitive in a year, from "low" to "high" even though the number of monthly searches barely break a hundred -- globally) -- so really I should have gotten it.

Oh, BTW, the number two spot was just the highest ever ranking, not the norm...I'm usually anywhere from four to ten, mostly seven or eight. But like I said, it's a really niche keyword that was once not competitive at all.

I didn't expect to make too much anyway...but ~$1.10/day is not good (over this thirteen months, though truth be told I worked only all of three months's worth on it, off and on, throughout)...what "should" one be making with one's site in affiliate income? I mean, how do you determine what's worthwhile yourself??

 

[djbaxter]

Thanks, Bruce...what's a reliable free backlink checker?? I think there was some operation that could be performed on Google to check a site's backlinks, but I don't really remember....

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