Panda Update Hurt, but why?
-
Hi, my name is Sam and I am new to this forum and SEOMOZ. I got hit hard in rankings after the Panda Update and was really suprised. I do not use any black hat SEO I am aware of, do not keyword stuff, and dont even have a tag cloud. Just wondering what in the world I did to get hit hard. Anyone else have this happen, and If so what would be good SEOMOZ tool(s) to use? I will admit SEO has always confused me. From my experience it's not always the best site (relevance) that gets ranked the highest. I feel like I'm missing something with SEO. I'm hoping this SEOMOZ site will help. I may end up hiring someone from Elance to do my SEO, lol.
Sam
-
Hi Sam,
If it was Penguin that hit you, I would focus on these items, as Penguin was primarily backlink related:
- You appear to have a link exchange directory for doing link exchanges: http://www.dfwgolfcourseguide.com/links.html Suggest removing the links directory and don't do link exchanges (it's OK to do a few with a couple high quality, relevant sites).
- You may be using too many keyword anchor texts. A natural link profile typically has more brand and url anchor texts than keyword. See http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/anchors?site=www.dfwgolfcourseguide.com and https://www.majesticseo.com/reports/site-explorer/anchor-text?folder=&q=dfwgolfcourseguide.com&oq=dfwgolfcourseguide.com and http://www.searchenginejournal.com/anchor-text-optimization-case-study-whats-natural/43404/ and http://www.searchenginejournal.com/post-penguin-seo-link-building-the-naked-url-truth/46936/
- Your links appear to be mainly from blog comments, directories, and link pages, which tend to be low quality links.
Hope that helps!
~Adam
-
Adam,
My rankings were pretty good until shortly after Penguin, then it came crumbling down, so I am going by the time frame. When I first saw this the first thought that came to my mind was the Link exchange pages. Your right It's time for that to go, Google clearly does not like this.
As far as more content on the courses pages, I will have to look into it. When I created those pages there were very few sites that listed the 180 or so golf courses that are in the Dallas Fort Worth area, only the most popular seemed to be listed on the main sites. I wanted to make available a complete listing. Having said that, adding content my competitors do not have would be great. I will have to try to come up with something unique to add, just not sure what that is yet.
Sam
-
Hi Sam,
What day did your rankings drop (this will help determine which update hit your site)?
Here are some possible issues that could be hurting you with Panda or Penguin:
- You appear to have a link exchange directory for doing link exchanges: http://www.dfwgolfcourseguide.com/links.html Suggest removing the links directory and don't do link exchanges (it's OK to do a few with a couple high quality, relevant sites).
- The course pages don't have much unique content,and the content they do have is also on other sites: http://www.golftexas.com/golf-courses/north-central/burleson/southern-oaks-golf-club.htm Suggest adding unique content to each course page.
- You may be using too many keyword anchor texts. A natural link profile typically has more brand and url anchor texts than keyword. See http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/anchors?site=www.dfwgolfcourseguide.com and https://www.majesticseo.com/reports/site-explorer/anchor-text?folder=&q=dfwgolfcourseguide.com&oq=dfwgolfcourseguide.com and http://www.searchenginejournal.com/anchor-text-optimization-case-study-whats-natural/43404/ and http://www.searchenginejournal.com/post-penguin-seo-link-building-the-naked-url-truth/46936/
- Your links appear to be mainly from blog comments, directories, and link pages, which tend to be low quality links.
-
Yes Adam, it www.dfwgolfcourseguide.com.
Sam
-
Can you share your site URL with us?
-
Hi, I would suggest checking your site for duplicate content. Sites with duplicate content and "over optimization" were hit hard with the Google updates.
I highly recommend you create a Campaign on SEOmoz. Once it crawls your site, it will give you detailed information on all of the errors and warnings for your site, duplicate content, too long of title tags, missing meta descriptions, broken URLS, etc.
You can also use the "On-Page Optimization Tool" under "Research Tools." You can check each URL on your site with a keyword.
Between the campaign option and the On-Page Optimization Tool, you should be able to figure out where some problems are. Best of luck!
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
-
Does a subdomain hurt/help a domain?
My organization's website currently hosts research databases on a subdomain. We're relatively new to MOZ and when I ran a crawl of my site, it came back with 30K issues.... 98% of which are on this subdomain. I wish I could just remove it and call it a day, however, real and active researchers use it regularly. My question is: Does a subdomain hurt/help a domain? I'm seeing mixed results via Google search and browsing this forum. I'm concerned that I will not be able to fix these 30K issues as I do have access to maintain this database... and just by looking at it you can tell it was built in 2005 and hasn't been updated from an SEO perspective since. Any suggestions?
Moz Pro | | mlothamer0 -
How can I limit the impact of Google's mobile friendly updates on keyword rankings?
Hi everyone, I have a client on a monthly SEO package that is taking a hard hit in the rankings as their website is not mobile friendly. We are currently building a new website for them that will be fully responsive, but face the predicament of how to keep the current site performing relatively well in the rankings in the meantime. The site is generally well optimised and we always follow SEO best practices, so we've hit a bit of a stumbling block as to how to limit any negative impact the mobile friendly updates have on the site. Does anyone have any suggestions for damage limitation? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Moz Pro | | keyzo0 -
Mozscape index dosen't update
Last Mozscape index update: July 11, 2013. Next Mozscape index update: August26, 2013 Today is August26.Why mozscape doesnt updated?
Moz Pro | | vahidafshari451 -
What's the best way for SEO newbie to analyze & fix a site after being hit by Panda?
Hi, I have a prospective client who was in the top 3 on Google for two of their primary keywords. They fell way back in the rankings immediately after Panda was rolled out on September 27, 2012. Two weeks ago, they were at position #118 for one keyword. After looking for them in Rank Checker today, they cannot be found in Google at all. Here's my question. Because of the "bad links" (some pointing to Porno sites)... what's the possibility that this situation cannot be fixed? I don't know... maybe I'm asking an irrelevant question. I'm attempting to assess the situation so I can go back and present my findings to the prospective client. I'm committed to understanding what's going on with their website so I can assess the situation properly. Fixing their problem starts with a correct assessment. They have a ranking problem, and I know I can fix that... IF all their site needs is white hat <acronym title="Search Engine Optimization">SEO</acronym>. What I DON'T want is... to sell them <acronym title="Search Engine Optimization">SEO</acronym> services, only to find out in 3-6 months... I made an incorrect diagnosis of the problem, and therefore sold them the wrong solution. I know I can close the sale if I can show them with reasonable substantiation that the damage is not beyond repair. I'm familiar with the basics of <acronym title="Search Engine Optimization">SEO</acronym>, but I'm unfamiliar with how "bad linking" might effect the long-term commitment to optimizing. They're wondering if they should start over on another website. I was attempting to do an assessment to better understand if my typical approach on this site would be sufficient. Also... I wanted to get an assessment/report to show them something to substantiate my conclusion(s) about their website. If Open Site Explorer is sufficient to do the link analysis... great. At least I know I'm working with the right tool. All I have to do is learn how to use the tool quickly. At this point... I'm not sure which tool would be helpful. So... can you speak to the following 2 questions: 1.) How do you know when ranking problem is beyond fixing? 2.) What software/tool is ideal for doing some link analysis in order to assess the problem, and prescribe a solution? Thanks so much! Ramon
Moz Pro | | 48dayscoach0 -
Ideal Campaign Set Up For Multiple Landing Pages Post Panda
I have a local floor cleaning business in the UK. I have various discrete services e.g. carpet cleaning, stone restoration and polishing (a page for each type of stone) that are delivered in distance geographical service areas. Each page is set up to target a "town/service" keyword. In each geographical location I have different competitors Should I set individual campaigns for each landing page or is one site wide campaign the way to go. Many thanks David Allen
Moz Pro | | davidallen3650 -
When will the rankings be updated?
Hi we are still waiting for our new rankings, since Tuesday, I understand there is a problem, but when will it be fixed? Thanks. James.
Moz Pro | | Quime0 -
Question to SEOMOZ when will the On-Page Optimization tool be Updated
Hi, When will your On-page Optimization Tool be updated to reflect the Over Optimization Penalty which is coming. I would think that grading out at an 'A' will have adverse effects.
Moz Pro | | Bucky0 -
How often are open site explorer reports updated?
I collect the information contained in open site explorer reports and csv backlinks audits on the 15th of every month. I noticed that the numbers are unchanged from 9/15-10/15. How often are the reports typically updated?
Moz Pro | | seagreen0