Five reasons & solution why your Google rankings have dropped

Have your rankings dropped recently? Don't panic. Before you do anything, you should find the cause of the problem. The better you understand the reason why your rankings dropped, the better you can prevent future ranking drops.

There are five major reasons why your web pages are ranked lower than before:

Reason 1: your website changes

Most webmasters update their web pages regularly. As long as the changes are only small, this won't have a big effect on your rankings. However, if you re-design your web pages or if you optimize a page for a different topic then search engines might re-calculate your search engine rankings.

Many webmasters believe that Google has a filter for changed web pages (the so-called 'sandbox'). If you change your web pages, Google will temporarily downrank your website to make sure that you are not spamming them.

Solution: If you have web pages that have high rankings on Google for important keywords, only change these pages with great care. Make sure that most pages of your website are relevant to the topic of your site. Relevancy to the topic is as important as relevance to a particular keyword.

Reason 2: the links to your website are problematic

If you have an old website with a grown link structure then it's not likely that your site rankings will drop because of a link change.

If the links to your site are mainly paid links or automatically created links then it is likely that your website has been penalized by Google. Sudden changes in the link structure of a website make a website suspicious.

Solution: If you still use shady link building tools or services, stop it now. The links that point to your website must make sense to website visitors and search engines. If you don't work on your links that point to your website then your website will be replaced by websites with a better link structure.

Reason 3: the websites of your competitors change

Everybody wants to be on Google's first result page. For that reason, it's only natural that other websites will be listed better than yours if you don't work on your web pages.

Many websites target the same topics as you do. If these other websites have better content and better links than your site then it's only natural that these sites get better rankings.

Solution: You must offer better content than your competitors. Make sure that you offer many web pages that are relevant to the topic of your website and that you have better links than your competitors.

Reason 4: your web pages contain spam

Search engines don't like spam. If search engines find out that you use cloaking, hidden text, doorway pages or any other spam technique on your web pages then it is extremely likely that your website will be penalized.

Solution: Don't try to cheat Google. It's simply not worth it if you want to develop a sustainable business. Remove all spam elements from your web pages. Just because your website hasn't been penalized yet doesn't mean that search engines won't find the spam elements in the near future.

Reason 5: technical problems

Your web server can be the reason for a ranking drop. If your website is down when the search engine spider tries to access your website then search engines cannot give your web pages high rankings because they don't know your pages.

Some websites display the correct web page in the web browser but the server returns an error code. In that case, search engines won't index the web pages.

Some Ways to Market Your Blog

Here is a handy list of common and some uncommon ways to market your blog.

1. Promote it on your website. It’s surprising the number of small and large companies that actually have a blog, but it’s not promoted anywhere on the main site.  We like Top 42 blogger PR 20/20 that not only has the blog on the navigation, but also lists the latest three blogs along the right side of the website.
2. Include the blog URL in your email signature. All employees are part of your marketing team today. Every time they send an email, it’s a marketing opportunity.
3. Blog on Print. Put your blog address on your business cards, direct mail and print advertising.
4. Fan Yourself. Many business owners forget to tell employees to fan their own sites on Facebook and Follow on Twitter.  Be sure employees know that you’d love if they shared relevant posts with their networks as well.
5. Leverage Twitter Hashtags. When you promote your blog via Twitter, use relevant hashtags (i.e., #marketing) that prospects may follow (try Twitag for more).
6. Post your blogs on Facebook.
7. Post to your LinkedIn status.
8. Submit to directories. Here’s a huge blog directory list from TopRank).
9. Include in any press releases. By using services such as PR Newswire, Marketwire or PR Web, you can get your blog link placed in sites like Google, Yahoo! and sometimes hundreds of other sites (select the SEO option where they embed the links into the releases).
10. Post regularly. The more you blog, the more opportunity you have to be found. Consistency is key.
11. Guest post. Find blogs where your customers are hanging out and volunteer to blog. Be specific with the subject when you approach the blogger.  It shows you did your homework.  Also, bloggers are always looking to take a breather…as long as the information is relevant and valuable.
12. Interview. Bloggers love to be interviewed. Doing a post about them is a sure way to get your post spread around.
13. Submit your site to Google. Just in case your site isn’t getting picked up.
14. Put your blog on company invoices as well as other correspondence to customers.
15. Showcase your employees on your blog (see Indium). Employees love to promote their own blogs (remember, they are your most important asset).
16. Develop an opt-in eNewsletter out of your weekly blog posts.
17. Talk about your blog when you speak at events.
18. Listen to customer issues on Twitter and respond with links to blog posts that answer their problems.
19. Be human. Stop talking like a company and start talking like a human.  Write in your own voice.
20. Use the blog as your customer FAQ.
21. Focus on information your customers really need. If you provide valuable, relevant and compelling information via your blog, chances of success are good.
22. Use the right keywords. Leverage Google’s keyword tool to find the terms that your customers are looking for.
23. Post your blog on social bookmarking sites like Digg, Reddit and Sphinn (Here’s 233).
24. Don’t hide your RSS button. If prospects like your blog, they might want to subscribe via email or RSS.  Don’t hide those buttons.
25. Create a list of bloggers.  Then notify them that they made the list.  If the list is good, they’ll promote it, and possibly comment.
26. Use numbers in your title. Jay Baer found that his most popular posts almost always included a number in them (i.e. 9 steps, 4 types, etc.).
27. Comment on other blogs. It’s hard to be a blogger if you don’t share.  Show your expertise on other blogs and leave valuable feedback.
28. Link to your other posts within your current post.
29. Go back to older posts and add new links to current posts.
30. Don’t over complicate your site. Make it easy for people to get around and share.
31. Try a contest.
32. Find relevant forums to add your input (like Google Groups). Add your blog link to your signature line.
33. Have a point of view. If your posts are the same as everyone else’s posts, who cares? Be different and get noticed.
34. Define your niche. Focus on an area that you can be the leading expert in.  If your topic is too broad, you’ll never be able to make a dent.
35. Never ever stop. Your blog is a promise to customers. This post is my 500th post over the last 3 1/2 years and it has, without question, been one of the main reasons for our success.