Google is full of SH*T - Quality? Haha! My site is cursed since 2010.. What to do?

FuryFit

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Since 2008 I've been building up a strong authority site in a competitive niche.
It was a pretty basic content site I'd say was kinda thin. It ranked very well - #2 for one of the most competitive terms... which costs $20+/click in adwords.

In August 2010 I redesigned it to add more useful content like training, tutorials, etc... my coders really screwed up the site so there were hundreds of pages with duplicated content (archive type pages) that I didn't know existed. There were also many 404s created and it took me months to get all the 301 redirects set up by going through webmaster tools. On August 29th, 2010, I went from #2 for that term to #24... Then every 2 weeks I kept falling. Now it's around 207.

Many of my other rankings have suffered. In particular, the "reviews" section of my site got removed from top 500 after the redesign. So I tested 301 redirecting it to another category name like "reviewed" and the pages shot back up for 30 days or so...then kicked down again. This happens every month since March 2011. I'm so sick of this site.

Note that a "my site name" search is filled with my site at #1 plus many social results, citations and references etc under it. :) So I'm not banned.. Just seem to be punished more and more every month.

My same linkbuilding/quality content strategy works on all my other sites so far. But since the redesign, this site seems to be doomed/cursed for life.

If you were in my situation, what would you do? Keep building quality links and adding quality content? I have full time employees who write without search marketing in mind.... just useful content to help my audience. My competitors are all spammy.

This is my biggest site - should I just stop trying on it, and spend all my budget on building up the "on the way up" properties?
 
Maybe you should just switch to a simpler platform like Wordpress.
 
I'd just flip it. Sounds easier.

Any tips on flipping a $25-$35k/month site that is slowly dying AND a pain in the ass to keep alive? I wouldn't feel comfortable lying to potential buyers.

When you get into that revenue territory buyers get so nervous since the investment is huge.

Thanks for the suggestion - open to advice
 
It depends how quality your content actually is and what kind of keyword you are targeting. Judging by your cpc I guess you are targeting shopping keyword and for shopping keywords google wants actual online shops, not affiliate websites. If you are targeting a keyword which sells products or services then forget that website. They already marked you as an affiliate spammer.
 
It depends how quality your content actually is and what kind of keyword you are targeting. Judging by your cpc I guess you are targeting shopping keyword and for shopping keywords google wants actual online shops, not affiliate websites. If you are targeting a keyword which sells products or services then forget that website. They already marked you as an affiliate spammer.

it's a comparison keyword "Best widgets"

also the keywords that keep dropping out of top 500 monthly are "widget reviews" keywords.

All competitors are affiliate review sites. Many outrank me these days with only blog comment spam and a blast of articles... whereas I have tons of age, those kinds of links plus natural links, more quality content instead of just "buy this" doorway pages like they all do, etc.

it's like google made an exception saying well we know all the other results are shit but we don't like your site so you're out.

Ever experienced the same?
 
it's a comparison keyword "Best widgets"

also the keywords that keep dropping out of top 500 monthly are "widget reviews" keywords.

All competitors are affiliate review sites. Many outrank me these days with only blog comment spam and a blast of articles... whereas I have tons of age, those kinds of links plus natural links, more quality content instead of just "buy this" doorway pages like they all do, etc.

it's like google made an exception saying well we know all the other results are shit but we don't like your site so you're out.

Ever experienced the same?

Then keep building. Try to submit your website for reconsideration in webmasters tools. With this panda update google is acting weird sometimes. Also customize your about us, contact us, privacy policy, terms of use pages and include as much info as you can. Add photos of the actual people behind the website and physical address and phone numbers. Believe me when they review your website they will pay special attention to these pages. They want real businesses. One more thing is to reduce your adsense ads or affiliate links (whatever you are using). Don't put any affiliate links inside your content. Affiliate links must be asside from main content and easiliy identifiable as such. And don't forget to include that affiliate ftc disclaimer.
 
I am in a very similar situation regarding one of my sites.

Someone recently made me a 'favor' by sending my link to 30k or so forum profiles. Soon ater the site started to drop: from top of first page to bottom, to top of second page, to bottom of second page, to 5th, 6th, 7th page. Now it's beyond 100th place.

There are no warnings on GWT. The site is not banned. It stll ranks for other keywors, even badly.

My readings tell me to keep creating quality content and high pr links but of course it takes time, with no guarantee. Some other people just sat and waited, after correcting the issues, then months later their sites returned to normal, or stronger.

I also would like to know of a better and faster solution. Losing a $xx.xxx/m earner is not an option.
 
Then keep building. Try to submit your website for reconsideration in webmasters tools. With this panda update google is acting weird sometimes. Also customize your about us, contact us, privacy policy, terms of use pages and include as much info as you can. Add photos of the actual people behind the website and physical address and phone numbers. Believe me when they review your website they will pay special attention to these pages. They want real businesses. One more thing is to reduce your adsense ads or affiliate links (whatever you are using). Don't put any affiliate links inside your content. Affiliate links must be asside from main content and easiliy identifiable as such. And don't forget to include that affiliate ftc disclaimer.

If i remove all the affiliate links from my content then I'll lose all my revenue anyway since almost nobody clicks on my ads/buttons tested elsewhere. Plus all my competitors have more aff links than I do already and they've been here solid for more than the past year of panda updates.

My about/contact/privacy/terms are all very customized and personal/professional with photos. I also have an ftc disclaimer, as do my competitors, so I'm not worried that's a factor.

Do you think I should request reconsideration? The site just ranks poorly (moreso every month) but it's not banned.
 
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Then keep building. Try to submit your website for reconsideration in webmasters tools. With this panda update google is acting weird sometimes. Also customize your about us, contact us, privacy policy, terms of use pages and include as much info as you can. Add photos of the actual people behind the website and physical address and phone numbers. Believe me when they review your website they will pay special attention to these pages. They want real businesses. One more thing is to reduce your adsense ads or affiliate links (whatever you are using). Don't put any affiliate links inside your content. Affiliate links must be asside from main content and easiliy identifiable as such. And don't forget to include that affiliate ftc disclaimer.

I have a camera site which I have get rid of all the ads and keep adding new and unique article every few days. But it been six months passed and the site still no sign of bouncing back.
 
I am in a very similar situation regarding one of my sites.

Someone recently made me a 'favor' by sending my link to 30k or so forum profiles. Soon ater the site started to drop: from top of first page to bottom, to top of second page, to bottom of second page, to 5th, 6th, 7th page. Now it's beyond 100th place.

There are no warnings on GWT. The site is not banned. It stll ranks for other keywors, even badly.

My readings tell me to keep creating quality content and high pr links but of course it takes time, with no guarantee. Some other people just sat and waited, after correcting the issues, then months later their sites returned to normal, or stronger.

I also would like to know of a better and faster solution. Losing a $xx.xxx/m earner is not an option.

I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. I also have people doing me "favors" all the time - scraper sites... Causing tons of 404s in webmaster tools plus making it look like I'm doing really spammy link building. I really hope you see that recovery soon.
 
Yes submit for reconsideration. But remove the affiliate links for a while until they reconsider. If there is no effect for 2 months or they get you back on page 1 put them back. Generally affiliate links in content is a big NO for them.
 
Yes submit for reconsideration. But remove the affiliate links for a while until they reconsider. If there is no effect for 2 months or they get you back on page 1 put them back. Generally affiliate links in content is a big NO for them.

Ok that will be my last option, if I would throw the site away otherwise. What about 301 redirecting the site to a new domain name?
 
And you've checked your keyword density, and made sure nobody is copying your content as well I assume?
 
Damn! $25-$35k/month!? Earning that much, I definitely wouldn't quit on it yet.

How versed are you in SEO? Would you consider yourself an "expert"? If not, have you considered consulting one? There are a number of guys on this forum who I would definitely consider SEO experts.
 
If you're making 25k to 35k a month, create a massive blog network on different IP's to prop up your site. Buy a ton of link pushes to your new blog network. But a ton of link pushes to your link pushes. Buy a ton of link pushes to your link pushes of your link pushes.

It sounds like most of your "improvements" are on-site SEO, but with that kind of budget you can buy enough link juice to make Google more forgiving of your crappy on-site SEO fiasco.
 
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And you've checked your keyword density, and made sure nobody is copying your content as well I assume?

Yes my keyword density is ideal, but tons of scraper sites copy my content.
 
Damn! $25-$35k/month!? Earning that much, I definitely wouldn't quit on it yet.

How versed are you in SEO? Would you consider yourself an "expert"? If not, have you considered consulting one? There are a number of guys on this forum who I would definitely consider SEO experts.

I would consider myself near-expert, I guess.. I've been doing this for 6 years. I also sold a site that dominated one of the biggest pharma keywords for years and still does, from my white hat methods. So I feel like I'm well versed, but I also feel like my redesign of this site may have PERMANTENTLY damaged it in Google. The 404s, the 301s, the dupe content that was eventually found and removed, etc... Maybe all those points just added up to permanently destroy rankings?

I would like to consult with anyone considered an expert by other members - Can you refer me to anyone? I am always looking to learn, not be proud.

If you're making 25k to 35k a month, create a massive blog network on different IP's to prop up your site. Buy a ton of link pushes to your new blog network. But a ton of link pushes to your link pushes. Buy a ton of link pushes to your link pushes of your link pushes.

It sounds like most of your "improvements" are on-site SEO, but with that kind of budget you can buy enough link juice to make Google more forgiving of your crappy on-site SEO fiasco.

I think you're right - I will go heavy back on to my best linkbuilding techniques for this and see what happens. For me, creating a blog network is new though - Do they have to be IPs on different C-Classes or what? The only services I know of for that charge ridiculous fees.
 
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$25k-$35k a month and your still having issues? My god with $1k - $2k a month I could have a site easily ranking first, just spend a little and check your onpage seo
 
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