Google has a problem with this keyword

[mertsevinc]

I've been trying to get one of my clients to rank in the first page for a word which I think has no serious competition at all. Every tool I tried so far including SEOMoz's on-page diagnostics tool seem to have no positive SEO results whatsoever. According to most tools out there our page is optimized for SEO more than every website who is ranked for this keyword. The competition also has less backlinks and social awareness. We even advertise on Google for this word. But Google says no...keeps dropping us in results. We have many FB and twitter followers to. But Google is committed to rank bad sites.

Funny thing is that recently our site has received a PR6. No matter what we do Google is convinced to list pretty ugly looking sites for this specific keyword and I have ran out of options. This is really driving me crazy.

The keyword we try to rank is "doktor" and we want to rank in google.com.tr. If you look the search results you will see a lot of youtube videos and some sites that don't even provide meaningful content.

Please help.

[alsvik]

Perhaps you are not doing anything wrong, but maybe your competitors are doing something right

[mertsevinc]

Hi Irving,

Well this started to happen couple days ago. I started to optimize my page more relevant to the keyword I was targeting by using SEOMoz's on page tool and some other tool and then suddenly site started move down. It might be possible that during this transition I started to loose some .edu links. I am not really sure the main reason.

I also added Google+ profiles for my authors and increased social activity via Twitter and Facebook which I hoped would actually improve my rankings but it did not seem to have any impact

[irvingw]

How long ago were you told that happened? Hacking with viagra and other links on your site will definitely get your site penalized until the links are all removed. You should be able to see if this happened to your site if it's before your time by looking at traffic history in GA.

[RyanKent]

Your kind words are thoughtful and appreciated Irving. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

[irvingw]

Well, I know you put a lot of time into really looking into peoples issues to give a proper and thorough answer and i respect you greatly for your SEO knowledge. Some people charge a lot for SEO analysis and have much less experience than you.

[mertsevinc]

I am happy that you dedicated time for me Ryan. No worries. Someone else told me that my site contained hacklinks previously and that's why I got dropped to 3 page. Maybe that was the issue...I don't know.

[RyanKent]

Irving, I appreciate the support. It is OK, really. Each site owner is entitled to their own opinion. In this case, Michael clearly feels I have not listened to his needs and my response does not address his concern. Accordingly, no thumbs up is warranted.

I sincerely hope others will chime in and try to help address Michael's question. Someone else may have a different perspective.

[mertsevinc]

Sure

[irvingw]

If you think a short tail keyword for a professional industry like "doctor" is not competitive or hard to rank for you're mistaken I don't even have to look it up.

[irvingw]

how about giving Ryan some thumbs up and answered status for all that work and time he put into helping you out

[mertsevinc]

Thanks Ryan. Take care.

[RyanKent]

Michael, I have read everything you shared with an open mind. I have considered everything you shared in your initial question along with the two follow up responses. After giving everything you shared consideration, your situation makes sense to me. It is logical and aligns with my understanding of how search engines work.

To be clear, there are many possibilities and various aspects which can be explored. Within the context of a Q&A forum, there is only so much that can be done. With access to your Google WMT and Analytics accounts along with further research, more information can be gathered and it is possible for other conclusions to be drawn.

We will have to agree to disagree on this topic. I am sorry I was unable to assist you. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

[mertsevinc]

I am an open person and I came here to get help. I guess you are missing my point because you are paying great attention to current trend in Google rather than what I am trying to say.

The word is not competitive from my point because I have reasons. Firstly, if it was a very competitive word, my site would not be on the first and second pages of Google for couple months. The sites you see in those rankings were always there. They got more domain age than I have. I've checked their on-page optimization and according to SEOMoz they have terrible on-page results. Secondly, my site has unique content and it has a higher PR than almost any site for that term. But it looks like PR does not affect much anymore after Google algorithm changes.

You are taking what I am telling you very personally and don't seem to want to deal with the facts that I am representing you. You are completely ignoring the past tense. Personally, I appreciate the time and effort you dedicate here but also feel upset because you've given me such an answer.

The reason I came to this forum to find actually a person who greatly understands SEO and work with him. From my point of view, this would only happen if someone looks at the past and present and then make a judgement.

You are telling me that my site is not optimized for Google and I am telling you that it was even worse 2 months ago but I was ranking in the first page.

After joining SEOMoz and running the on-page tool, the software told me the same. My site had issues with H1-H6 tag usage, not enough keyword repetition and some other stuff. After improving the front page based on these suggestions, my site has significantly dropped and every day it keeps dropping.

Do I make more sense to you in terms of explaining my issue here?

[RyanKent]

Michael, initially you assumed the problem is Google, which is a mistake. Now you are assuming the problem is me, which I humbly suggest is another mistake. Neither I nor anyone else is likely going to be able to offer you any assistance unless you open up to two possibilities:

1. The Google search engine is working just fine and your site is ranking where it should.

2. The advice shared with you is accurate.

I am human and fully capable of error. After reviewing the concern you expressed I stand by the response shared above.

I looked at Google.com.tr, Google Turkey. The evidence is everywhere:

a. The first words of my response is that you rank on the 3rd page of search results. Do you find yourself on the 3rd page of results for Google.com for the term "doktor"? I found your site on the 3rd page of Google.com.tr

b. I specifically mentioned "You are competing with every doktor related site in Turkey."

c. I even mentioned checking Bing.com.tr

The sole reference to Google.com made was specifically called out as such. I shared the #1 result for the term "doctor" in Google.com with you as an example of an optimized page.

Once again, the term "doktor" in Turkey is highly competitive. Your assessment was incorrect. Your page is also not well optimized for the term "doktor".

Good luck.

[mertsevinc]

You are looking at the English version of Google. My site was ranking on the first page for this term two weeks ago. At that time the site was not even optimized for this term. I've seen the negative effects of optimization actually after I started to pay attention more to h1, meta tags and bold italic texts.

I see at SEOMoz that someone else opened a similar thread discussing the negative impacts of on-page optimization tools. You think this word is competitive because you are looking at the wrong search engine.

[RyanKent]

You are ranking on the 3rd page of Google results for the term "doktor" which means "doctor".

There are so many issues it's hard to pick a starting point.

1. The term "doktor" is very generic. Frankly, your current rank at the top of page 3 for such a generic term is higher then expected. You are competing with every doktor related site in Turkey. Some examples: Dr. Who ( a popular tv series), medical doctor, non-medical doktors, descriptions of the degree, etc. There are over 100 million results for the term. How did you conclude there is no competition for the term?

2. Your title is not optimized for such a term as doktor. Your page title is "En Hızlı Doktor Sitesi | CevapSepeti.com" which translates to "The Fastest Doctor Sites | CevapSepeti.com". You rank on the first page of Google for "En Hızlı Doktor Sitesi" which is the keyword your title is optimized for.

3. Your header is not optimized for the term "doktor". The current tag is "DOKTOR BULMAK ARTIK ÇOK KOLAY"

If you wish to see a web page optimized for the term "Doctor", here is one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor

Based on your question and the information you shared, the problem is not Google but your understanding of how search engines work. The goal of a search engine is to provide the search results desired by users. Based on Google's results, most of the people on the planet agree Google does a better job then anyone else. If people disagreed, they are free to use another search engine.

Have you checked Bing? Bing.com.tr does not even show your site on page 3.

[mertsevinc]

Any suggestions Ryan?

[mertsevinc]

www.cevapsepeti.com

I am changing a few things because on-page tools seem to have negative impact.

[RyanKent]

What is the URL of the page you are trying to rank for the term "doktor"?