Suspended YouTube account causing havoc in ranking and traffic

[Hermski]

Hi SEOmoz community

This is my first question in the forum and I'd prefer it was more on the constructive side rather than introducing an issue on my website. I hope someone can still shed a light on the issue.

Just over a week ago, YouTube has suspended my account for what I would call dubious reasons. Suspending my account meant lots of dead videos on my site and potentially other people's sites, who embedded my videos. I have only recently managed to take down all references to my blocked YouTube account (off my site).

Now here it comes, literally since that week my traffic numbers have dropped below half of what it used to be and less. I hardly have any more organic search entries and my keywords have plummeted (in some cases 20 - 30 positions). Keywords, that ranked well are currently not searched via my site at all. I am not 100% what is going on and doing my reading on the side, but I am starting to get a little paranoid over a potential Google penalty that may have been issued to my site.

Maybe someone has experienced similar issues or simply knows the answer. Someone suggested that due to the 'Trust' that  YouTube has passed on to my site is now gone, it caused  this massive drop. However, it still makes me think, is an element such as various YouTube videos on your site such a big thing that makes and breaks a site??

I appreciate your input on the issue. Many thanks everybody!!

[Hermski]

Thanks for your answer Ryan

I understand the point you're making about the duplicate anchor text back links and will look into this. It's still ironic that the problems surfaced once the issue with the YouTube account  set in. I'll see how to turn the rudder.

Thanks again

[RyanKent]

One of the first things I notice is the site's backlink profile is incredibly spammy. Google has issued many manual penalties for sites with similar backlink profiles. About 40% of your links show "Online Casino" as the anchor text.

Penguin is an algorithm update designed to target spammy profiles such as yours. It seems highly likely your rankings are being suppressed either manually or algorithmically due to manipulative links. Those links are a clear, black hat tactic.

[ChristopherGlaeser]

"If Google took action against your YouTube account, they may have taken action against your website for the same reason."

My thoughts exactly.  Someone may have reported or Google may have discovered something on the site, and the YouTube account may have just been a tentacle.  As Ryan suggestions, can you provide more information?

Best,
Christopher

[RyanKent]

Hello Hermski,

First let me share I have never had a YouTube account suspended nor worked with a client in that situation. Accordingly, my advice is more generic in nature.

Why exactly was your YouTube account suspended? I share your concern that your site may have been penalized. If Google took action against your YouTube account, they may have taken action against your website for the same reason.

I do not believe in the "trust" logic you suggested being shared from YouTube. According to your inquiry, your site suffered a "massive drop" in traffic. Assuming you did not make a change on your site such as blocking the site with the robots.txt file, the logical conclusion is your rankings are being suppressed by Google.

Without your site's address or any other information, we can only take wild guesses as to the cause. We require more information to be helpful.