SEO updates and rank changes

[laidlawseo]

We have been updating page titles and meta descriptions for a client (not changing ANY links and the content we are replacing is "fluff," no major keywords or any relevant information) yet in the past few weeks, rankings have plummeted. I used the SEOMoz grader to check and make sure we have the keywords in there, in the right places for the updated page source info, and we're getting A's yet for those same keywords, the website is nowhere to be found.

For example for the phrase "organic t shirts," we get an A for this page: http://greenpromotionalitems.com/organic-t-shirts.htm

but when searching organic t shirts, no Green Promotional Items...

Ideas?

[laidlawseo]

The URLs did not change - the traffic has not plummeted dramatically (slightly yes, but not dramatically) - the rankings for words (like the example "organic t shirts") have dropped however.

[EGOL]

We have been updating page titles

When you update the titles do the URLs change?  (you probably know about this but you didn't say so I gotta ask)

rankings have plummeted

You say that your traffic plummeted.... Where was that traffic coming from... what keywords were bringing it in.... what pages on the site were getting that traffic.

It is possible that your title changes deoptimized the pages away from their original traffic flow.

This information is the key to your diagnosis.  With the skimpy information that you provide here all anyone can do is guess.

Go look at the above information and study it... then tell us where the traffic fell off.

[eTundra]

First, I have no idea if that is indeed the problem - that was just pure speculation...  Second, way too many factors are in play for me to give you any kind of useful estimate.

All I can say is that a few pages I have updated on my site in the past have dropped out for a couple weeks and then come back, and because I was updating multiple things on the page in addition to page titles it could have been something else that caused this phenomenon.

Again, a cursory look at the page in question makes me think that it shouldn't be in the top 10 for such a competitive keyword - its link metrics just aren't strong enough.  Why it was "'punching above its weight" in the past is anyone's guess.

[laidlawseo]

Do you know any time frame when I should start seeing some rebounding rankings - we did a full overhaul of the main site pages title and meta descriptions in the past few weeks.

[eTundra]

Sorry, missed the part about rankings plummeting...

I have definitely seen pages drop out of the index for awhile after a page title update and then come back... but honestly I'm surprised the page you mention here ever ranked for "organic t shirts" so it's also possible the SERP was updated recently to reflect more powerful sites moving into this space and it just so happened to coincide with your optimization work.

[laidlawseo]

Thank you, the only issue is that for some reason, the site used to come up high in rankings but suddenly does not and since we are targeting terms better now than before, just checking into other possible reasons. Thank you.

[eTundra]

That is a pretty competitive keyword you are targeting, and there isn't a single domain on the first page of Google's SERPs with a domain authority of less than 30 (and most are upwards of 40) while your DA is 29.

You need to build some quality links to this page from a diverse range of domains with a diverse range of anchor text.  In order to do that you need to give people a compelling reason to link to this page - unique content, contest giveaway, socially viral content like a video, etc.

Link building takes awhile but it's the most reliable way to build rankings, especially for competitive keyword terms.

In the meantime, don't forget to target longer tail variations for which you have the domain strength to rank well - "anvil organic t shirts" or "wholesale organic cotton t shirts."  These terms don't get nearly as much traffic but if you put together enough of them you can see some real results.