Why Did I Lose Traffic and Rankings on Google & What In The World Is An Algorithm Change?

As a website owner, business owner, or webmaster it is always important to know what is constantly going on with your website and the changes going on within the search engines you are placed in.  Some of the problems many are constantly faced with are loss of traffic, lost rankings, getting black listed, or other penalties.
When something like this happens, it is extremely important to figure out whether you have actually been penalized or if there is something more technical going on with your site. Some ways to figure out what is actually going on are listed below.

• See if Google has changed how they’re treating your particular space. Be sure to always track not only your own rankings, but those of your competitors as well. Is there something iffy going on? Or is it just you.

• Data center anomalies: The other obvious one is that rankings can vary depending on location. Be sure to have others check the rankings (from target market region) and cross reference Google referrer traffic in your analytics.

• Algorithm updates: Such as Panda, GooPLA and so on,Remember, recent updates such as the Google Page Layout Algorithm, (GooPLA) are in fact not a penalty. It is more of a filter/dampening factor. This Algorithm change can happen as often as 30 times a month if not more. It’s basically Google adjusting to the way people search the web and what keywords they are actually using.

Now if not faced with an actual Algorithm change, then what can be a cause for penalty? Check out this list below and make sure you aren’t working against the system.

• Link manipulation: Paid links, hidden, excessive reciprocal, shady links etc.
• Cloaking: Serving different content to users and Google.
• Malware: Serving nastiness from your site.
• Content: Spam/keyword stuffing, hidden text, duplication/scraping.
• Sneaky JavaScript redirects.
• Bad neighborhoods: Links, server, TLD.
• Doorway pages.
• Automated queries to Google: Tools on your site, probably a bad idea

How can all this be avoided? Hiring an honest SEO company Like E-Driven Concepts to manage all your online websites and rankings can keep you safe from algorithm changes, and properly place you on all major search engines. This way, your site is constantly being back linked and placed. E-Driven Concepts Website Services do not use tricks to help your site rank. Our SEO firm strictly follows Yahoo!, MSN and Google web master guidelines.