AdWords *free* vouchers hurt SEO?
-
Maybe it was the penguin, or maybe it was Panda, but around about the time of the three updates close together and the rumoured 'parked domain' update that went wrong, I used a free adwords voucher.
The site in question used to rank for practically every search term relevant to the niche.
Now, I can search back to 60 pages in Google results and nothing.
Now, I know its not been de-indexed, it still there when I search for info:TheDomainInQuestion.co.uk
It also has 6 site links when searching for the url alone.
Each and every page is hand written original content built up over many years and also edited and updated regularly.
On linkdetective, I have a very nice rainbow type graph regarding the type of links and also a very very good spread of anchors. 118 different phrases pointing in and aside from one site that linked to me sitewide (16000+ but since removed and now down to 3300 and dropping almost daily).
Even with that, the highest percentage of anchor text was 20%.
Basically, gone through practically everything that is available on the web about combating penguin and panda, yet the site kept dropping and has disappeared completely for keyword phrases.
Might sound a bit paranoid, but could Google have done this on purpose to try to make me carry on with adwords?
-
Interesting, have you checked out there backlink profile?
Can you find any others?
-
Google.co.uk - Search term: car insurance
2nd side AdWord - Churchill.com/car-insurance
Organic #2 - Churchill.com/car-insurance3rd side adword - CompareTheMarket.com/car-insurance
5th Organic - As above
WhadDoIWin WadDoIWin!
Having found that though, there are ALOT of companies on ADWORDS that used to be in the top 10 in organic.
-
"Might sound a bit paranoid, but could Google have done this on purpose to try to make me carry on with adwords?"
Shall we do some research in the name of paranoia.....let's see if anyone can find any high ranking organic sites, that also have adwords ads. Who's up for it? -
Hi Jon,
If you want to use Google+ for your company, you first have to make a normal personal account (with or without a picture of your face, I just left mine blank) before you can make a business page.
Once your personal account is set-up you can create a business page (under Pages), which you can customize fully for your company (company logo etc.) Doing this won't get you penalized at all.
Best of luck.
-
So I'm paranoid
Just noticed in Google+ t&c's that you HAVE to use a picture of your face. I've used the company logo. Do you reckon they could penalise for that to such an extent?
EDIT: Going to change anyway to see if anything happens.
-
Google vocally has a pretty strict policy about not mixing AdWords with organic results. I doubt what you suggested is the case, else G could be in some serious trouble with the FTC.
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
-
AdWords: Can I exclude specific keyword from showing on mobile?
Howdy. The question is pretty much in the subject. I know I can exclude the campaign or ad group from shwoing on mobile devices. How can i do that per keyword though? Thanks
Paid Search Marketing | | DmitriiK0 -
Adwords Expanded Text Ads - How are they working for you?
I think it would be nice to get a consensus from more people. The day expanded text ads came out last week, I immediately jumped on it and created them for all my campaigns. I still left some of the old ads running in each ad group so that I could compare. Looking at the conversion data from the last week, the conversion rates are between 2-7x lower on the expanded text ads, and as a result, the cost per conversion is 2-5x higher as well. Basically, they're performing horribly. The click-through rate is mildly higher, but who cares if they're not converting? I know it's only a week's worth of data, but it seems the difference is enough to be statistically significant. I'm wording what everyone else's experience has been.
Paid Search Marketing | | UnderRugSwept0 -
Impressions - AdWords vs Analytics
Given AdWords is a paid service, you'd hope the figures are accurate. For an example (exact match) keyword last month, AdWords says there were 14,253 impressions on Google search (i.e. not search partners or display network). However, going over to Analytics, for the same month it suggests 4,500 impressions for the same keyword. Google AdWords says the following about impressions: "An impression is counted each time your ad is served on Google's ad networks, such as on Google.com or other publisher websites and apps." "...How often your ad is shown. An impression is counted each time your ad is shown on a search result page or other site on the Google Network." Google Analytics explains impressions as: "The number of times any URL from your site appeared in search results viewed by a user, not including paid AdWords search impressions." Can anyone help clarify what is an accurate way of attaining monthly search figures, i.e. what is my overall potential Google customer base? I've also tried the Keyword Planner - which averages monthly searches - and it gives me 18,100 impressions for the same keyword (almost the two above figures added). Thanks! Rob
Paid Search Marketing | | englebert0 -
Seeing lots of 0 seconds session duration from AdWords clicks
Does anyone have more information on one why this might be? Thanks in advance! GyuYc5F.png
Paid Search Marketing | | Whittie0 -
Using the same landing page for seo and ppc
When does it make sense to create one landing page for both seo and ppc?
Paid Search Marketing | | melen0 -
Claiming SEO Services But Really Pay-Per-click
I just started marketing to dentists. I spoke at a local gathering to about 6 dentists and 3 of them said they were using SEO services. I looked at their sites and absolutely no SEO of anything was performed. They were quite taken back by this. Page titles all the same, no page descriptions etc. These dentists were paying about $800 per month and some had micro sites set up for them. It appears that this SEO company was using Google adwords to "artificially" drive traffic to the dentist or dentist micro site... and calling themselves an SEO company. This SEO company was also using tracking phone numbers on both the primary and micro sites. Which I've read can harm local NAP issues. I'm a bit worried that if I tell these dentists to stop using this company and go with me that the traffic will decrease while I work on real SEO. Maybe I should use adwords too until the "organic" power of SEO kicks in and they cut back until traffic stabilizes?
Paid Search Marketing | | Czubmeister0 -
Adwords Quality Score Help
Hi, I have (well I though I did have) a well optimised landing page for Google Adwords for the keyword Sonos Play 3, but yet my quality score is 3/10 - 4/10. It has been like this for a while now. You can see the landing page here If you would like to see the Add Content let me know. (attached as an image) I appreciate any and all help I receive. Thank You Rick hdxKq.jpg
Paid Search Marketing | | Lantec0 -
Adwords search term report processing help
So I've downloaded my 6000 row adwords search term report, and want to analyses brand keywords and variants only....I could do this by brute force, but I'll want to do it again in a month or two. I have a nice regex string which will do the job but can't find a way to implement a solution. Is there a good way to do this? Or is there a better way? Adwords won't let me filter using regex, Excel needs vb setup to use regex and I've tried the regex in Libre Calc (doesn't return the correct results).
Paid Search Marketing | | k3nn3dy30
