What you can also do is change the search domains. So go to google.co.uk and make sure you aren't still on Google.com or Google.in - I do this a lot when testing and works really well. For example, I have one client right now in Ireland so if I want to see what they do, I change to google.ie

Andy

Another point here is 'don't try too hard' - you can actually knock yourself out of the SERPs by doing too much SEO, so just keep the site content fresh, unique and share it everywhere you can.

Also, don't chase highly competitive phrases - start with long tail that you have a chance of ranking for and work back from there.

Andy

I would need to see this to give you any real feedback on it John but general rule of thumb is if Google looked at these links, would they see and understand the reasoning for the links to be there?

Andy

I can't really help you with the htaccess stuff John, but regarding links from the homepage to another external site, this has always been a questionable practice. Why would you want to direct someone to another site as soon as they got to your homepage? Google see this in a similar way.

However, if there is a very good reason for the link to appear there and if it formed part of a good sentence with accurate anchor text and wasn't trying to push people there just to get traffic up, then I can see no harm - bit hard to judge without seeing though.

Andy

First of all, be careful with off-site links from your homepage unless there is a very good reason for it. If there isn't, I would always no-follow it so Google doesn't see an unethical link.

With reagards what you are seeing in Majestic, when you hover over the link, what do you see? Is it just a normal HTML link or has it been completed another way?

Andy

Hard to say without looking at everything in more detail Steven. Could be clutching at straws all day, but happy to have a chat in more detail if you want to get in touch.

I still suspect a penalty has happened that has knocked the .ie site off the radar.

Andy

Thanks Dana - quite effective and I start all my clients' sites like this now - advantages are what we make of them now

Andy

If you haven't already done so Curt, setup a Google+ account, setup authorship through your site and G+ and start sharing your content. You can find it is indexed with results much faster

I have had content in the SERPs in a matter of days using this method - days of the 'sandbox' are all but history.

Andy

OK so from 3,600 indexed pages, after typing site:www.site.ie -inallurl:www.site.ie you see 10?

That seems to suggest that a lot of pages have been dropped from the primary to supplementary index and if that's the case, it it more than likely an algorithm update that has caused this.

So just to understand, which site in WMT has the geotag set to Ireland? But to be honest, that isn't really much of a problem and wouldn't have caused a loss in traffic.

What do you see if you hop on Google.ie Steve? I am inclined to think that the problem is related to the fact Google has dropped the site from the SERPs for whatever reason, but always a little hard to see exactly what is going on from this end.

So you still see 3,600 pages when you do a site:?

Try this for me:

site:www.site.ie -inallurl:www.site.ie (replace domain both times with your own)

How many pages do you see then?

Hi Steve,

So just to be clear, is the .ie site hosted in Ireland or the UK? And this is the primary site with just a .co.uk pointing at it as a domain forward?

I don't think that Google would re-index the .co.uk as they know it's a forward but to err on the side of caution, remove the forward that is currently in place and concentrate on putting right any issues with with the .ie - I suspect duplication features heavily?

Andy