September 11, 2012 by Shane Jones

Top 6 Reasons Why Your Site is Underperforming on Google

Search engine optimization is a complicated beast, especially with Google’s tweaking and updating of its algorithm. If your site isn’t appearing as highly as you would like in Google’s search results, you may have fallen victim of one of these common problems.

1. You have been caught using black hat techniques

There are certain tricks of the trade that Google frowns upon, and if you have been caught using these techniques then you can have your site penalized or even removed from Google results completely. While it can be tempting to use keyword stuffing and linkspamming for a temporary boost in your rankings you will almost certainly be found out sooner or later.

2. You missed Panda

If you found that the Panda update destroyed your rankings, you may have instituted some changes to your site and its content to repair your standing. The next day you search on Google but your site still hasn’t recovered! This is very common and is simply down to the fact that Panda is not an ‘always-on’ update – instead it runs every few weeks. You might just have to be patient.

3. Users don’t like your content

When users visit your website from Google and then immediately hit the back button that is taken into consideration for your ranking. It’s important to always provide useful information that those searching for a particular keyword would be interested in. There is no point targeting the keyword ‘investment in oil’ on a page that talks about olive oil in cooking! You may get visitors but they will quickly realize that your site is not what they are looking for.

4. You have neglected the fundamentals

Are your pages loading quickly? Have you designed a logical architecture for your site? Does each page have relevant text in the URL? Have you included the right metadata? These SEO techniques are absolute fundamentals, and if you have redesigned a site or added in new content without keeping them up to date you could be suffering in your Google rankings.

5. You don’t update enough

Your content may be good and relevant, but if you have not updated it in a few years, then that is going to harm your Google rankings. Consider giving your site a spring clean and updating your content so that it is fresh and regularly renewed.

6. Your keywords have high competition

Certain keywords are just more difficult to rank highly for than others due to increased competition from large well-established sites. If you can’t increase your SEO activities you might want to consider reoptimizing your pages to focus on less-competitive keywords in the same niche.

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Shane Jones

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Shane Jones is a Senior Social Outreach Specialist with management roots in online PR. A strong proponent for the power of personal, "humanized," digital collaboration, Shane shares his opinions and knowledge on Social Outreach and Digital Marketing. Additionally he blogs about his life's adventures, as he continues to "Empty his Bucket." He's always on the lookout for more bucket list ideas. Follow me on Twitter @ShaneJones15, Google +, and LinkedIn.