A Sinking Ship!

[murphypj]

In a truly global economy, why couldn't you optimize around jewellery for a com.uk or co.uk domain and jewelry for the .com? I visit sites everyday that have globalized versions of the same content. Some target by source IP others just offer some localization options.

As I mentioned in my earlier response, it would seem that, for the phrases still ranking well, google.co.uk ranks the US spelling almost as well as the UK one, and also google.com ranks the UK spelling just a few spots lower, so, with respect, I don't think that this is something which needs the most immediate attention - I would be strongly of the opinion that the link profile is the reason for the drop in SERPs.

Again, from conversations on other posts, it seems that Google is informing some owners on Google Webmaster Tools that they have detected a 'dubious' linking profile - I can't recall the exact message, but I understand that if this is the case, there is an option to submit a list of the linking sites you think might be 'dubious', with a disclaimer that you did not invite these links.

If no such message is showing on GWT, chances are that G has just devalued these links, rendering the site less relevant in the Google index, in which case a fresh, targeted link-building campaign would perhaps be the most immediate task. There are experts here with much more experience than myself, but I would suggest local, national and industry-related directory sites, links from authority supplier sites ( reciprocal if necessary ); check the backlink profile of the competitor sites on Page 1 for your targeted terms ; generally run searches for every phrase you might want to be listed for, make a list of those which are non-commercial and non-competitive ( Yalwa, Qype, Yelp. Brownbook, Hotfrog, Tuugo, YourLocal etc ) and create entries on these ( some of which are pretty much micro-sites ).

Oh, and most importantly, create a Google Places account and go the whole hog on completing all of the options - photos, opening times, contact details etc. I didn't catch your location, but if you run a search on google.co.uk for 'jewellery in liverpool' ( I'm a 'Pool fan, Wembley here we come! ), 'jewellery in lancashire, or any other location , you'll see that Google presents it's Google Places results at the top of SERPs, most of the time. This will at least help with your local marketing, while links from respected directory sites should help your UK-wide and global reach.

It's a real kick in the teeth when you've relied on traffic from search terms on Google which have delivered for years, and then suddenly disappear, I feel your pain. I hope you find enough good advice from the experienced bunch of people who contribute to this forum, I certainly have.

[morestar]

A new Age is about to began.

It can't be any more clear than this!

[briguy]

I just read through all the postings here..and again I am learning something.

Hey there marknc! (Not saying it is a SEO tip or it works, others are more qualified to say if it is or helps but)
Just wondering why your site you're concerned about is not in your forum signature or as your "homepage" ?

[marknc]

I believe that this is one of those instances in which Google will do what it's good at, Ron, and find the site for searches in either spelling, much as it does in favor/favour or flavor/flavour. Given the location of the business, the UK spelling is probably the wiser way to go, and optimization (or optimisation) for both is unnecessary, IMO.

I have included a few instances of the American spelling around the site. Strangely though we are on Page 3 of serps for "costume jewelry" and for"costume jewellery" we have disappeared altogether. Perhaps there may be something in ronchalice's suggestion.

[marknc]

It's a real kick in the teeth when you've relied on traffic from search terms on Google which have delivered for years, and then suddenly disappear, I feel your pain. I hope you find enough good advice from the experienced bunch of people who contribute to this forum, I certainly have.

A few days ago, or maybe a week, I signed with a business called 247trafficprodotcom. As soon as I got into their site I realized it was a link farm, I think it's called. Hundreds of gif animated banners all link-exchange. My immediate thought was to get the hell out of there. I must have given them the url of my website because now i get lots of referers like "internettraffic247" and "polarhitsdotcom" and "trafficdodgems" mostly with php extensions or "surf" in the directory path. So I went back to their website and logged in and found a Cancel Account option which I've done now. Hopefully, some of the crappy stuff will disappear and I can proceed with your very sound advice.

[SteveGerencser]

Check Google Webmaster Tools, if anything new happens to your site then a message comes there always

No, not always. In fact, rarely. And when it does happen it's not always timely. It can be multiple years after the fact as well.

[deepsand]

Using IP you can only ever optimise for one langauge though as all the crawelers are US based.

Crawlers have no geographic base or frame of reference. Using dynamic load balancing, both the crawling and indexing functions can be executed from any of Google's 40+ Data Centers, with each function being independent of the other.

[marknc]

Before we finally digress too far from the origin of this discussion I would like to encroach one more time on the marvelous help you have all given me. I have started my link building project using IBP. I have not ventured very far as yet but have submitted my site to a few high ranking directories. Only thing is that they all want a reciprocal link. So my question is this: How does Google view reciprocal links? Do they count for anything?

[deepsand]

IMO, the best that can be said re. reciprocal links is that they are not inherently of no value, and that those which well serve your visitors should be entertained.

However, having an inordinate proportion of the totality of ones links be reciprocal could be deemed "unnatural," and may result in some/all such being discounted.

[marknc]

The answer to my next question might be one of the great seo secrets! So how does a small, relatively unknown business get a backlink? Nothing seems to be "free" any more! Why should a quality website with a page rank of 4 to 6 provide exposure for another website of lesser rank for nothing? What's in it for them?