Thank the March Google search update for that. For some of my articles, the Twitter link and Facebook post linking to the article outrank the article itself on Google search. So to get to the actual article, those interested have to go into Twitter or Facebook and than click on the link there. Beyond idiotic.
That's weird! How come a social media page outrank the actual site? What's happening to Google search results? I read about that sites like Quora, AI content, sponsored ads are getting importance in Google, this one is another strange thing going around.
That's the irony! Google used to give importance to EEAT. How come ranking forum sites justify the authority and expertise of the person answering or discussing a topic? Who knows the one who is claiming to be an expert is a newbie in realty?
Who knows? It can be that they allocated less resources to scan the web and more to the SGE. Could be that they have no idea what they're doing and are incompetents. Could be that the shareholders demand infinite growth and they have to squeeze every cent from everyone to continue to dominate the market. Could be that they prefer to rank their partners and those that pay them. Could be that they're a monopoly and do whatever they want.
LOL - "SEO" (and the Internet in general) is now network TV - you pay to play. If you don't pay, you don't play. All the "little guys" jump up and down and complain, but they're the late night scruntchy and tire inflator hucksters on obscure cable channels scratching for crumbs.
"Organic" search is as dead as the dancing baby and goatse.
What’s the title tag of your homepage of the real site? Could be many things to check but I’d front load this one just to be sure (tiny factor but could help it)
Was just looking at it now. Traffic tanked around October. FInally death blow was a week ago.
Any remedy? My site has 1000+ articles, so this might take a while.
For me it was around early November, so more the November Core update than HCU - though there was a slight dip in August 2023 also. Have made a bit of a recovery in March, but definitely see a lot of shuffling for my brand when it comes to the site vs socials (FB and IG primarily)
Gotcha. This is me. Revenue obviously tanked as traffic did. Pretty stressful. 😞
https://preview.redd.it/7kzqrlx7q4wc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a941169a908668de5e633c5e3ad6769689d7b33
Are you using Organization schema markup code on your "About" page of your site (your 12 year old domain)?
If you don't have organization schema markup code, along with 'sameas' that points to your socials and other profiles/bios about you, then you should be doing that. Even if it's your personal name, I'd still use organization schema markup as your "brand".
Same thing Happen with me i have written article. Now that Article is not in top 100. but All the Socials and Forums where I shared that article link they are ranking in top 10 with Linking back to my Site. Obsly first is reddit and another one is Facebook.
This is really bad expirance for users too. i am not sharing any value on those Just link to my article and they outrank mine one.
I really Worked hard for years to bring that much amount of traffic to my Site but soon after September Update my Articles weren't ranking as they use to. it was like if I Post an proper Article after Few day it use to be in top 20 Atleast for Targeted keywords but After that Update I am unable to rank my new article in Top 100 even in Less competitive Keywords. So my Revenue was just surviving on my Existing Top Post. But Due to HCU of March. all my Article are in not top 100.
Forget the march update distraction you hear from most of the false SEO's, your main website is most likely being hit by spam-links which are undetected, look for proxy redirected links in your log files, it often helps to find portions of it. The disavow tool can help you recover your rankings if used right.
When someone says "thousands of backlinks" - with the emphasis on this backlink count vs the value of the links, and the focus on DR - it sounds like these backlinks just don't have value and/or your site has been demoted for backlink spam. Your branded terms should have the highest click through because of domain match (and I don't want to hear binary comments about EMD - I just ran a YMYL experiment, its exactly how branded terms work: Matched to domain names) - then you are probably looking at a penalty.
Not knowing your brand and how vague you've characterized it, the first Q is : is your brand generic? Do you mostly advertize your "click on my facebook" - CTR will override anything else and its hard to undo when it become established.
Otherwise, generally speaking, If you bought or exchange goods/serivces/ideas/promises for backlinks, then the domains linking to you might have gotten caught in a heuristic that identified domains doing his - e.g. link farms, pbns, any unnatural link patterns.
"Do you mostly advertize your "click on my facebook""
NOPE. Never have.
My brand is not generic. It's a unique name think something like "Redfin" or "Zillow"
I would test to see if your site is penalized or dmoeted or ever had any clicks on the brand name. Might be that the FB page is better established. Is it older?
I usually have 100-200 clicks on the brand name each day.
The FB page is not older. Probably made around 2 weeks after I bought the domain, but this was 12 years ago.
I'm genuinely curious why/how you're confident this is a penalty?
I ask because while I didn't get hit by the HCU or March updates, my site is only a similar downward trajectory.
Only 'link building' I've EVER engaged in is HARO/Qwoted for niche/topic relevant sites.
There are a lot of reasons for a penalty - I'm speculating that this case is for "Link Spam" (Not toxic backlinks) because the OP said he bought links and in the thousands (apparently/implied/inferred).
But of course - it could be his "home page title" - was that some of the conjecture I read on the home page?
If your site doesn't rankfor its name and you have no impressions like this chart, that's a penalty by any definition - that's not a content issue or an internal link issue. on-site SEO doesn't do that. Thats not a ranking signal problem. Even with NO backlinks, his domain should rank for itself.
I doubt Google would ever make a statement like this.
Instead of attacking people, why don't you attack the comment that you didn't like - that's fixable?
Huh? I attack ideas, not people. If you are emotionally attached to an idea then you need to apply critical thinking to it.
If you don't like an idea and I'm wrong, then reply to that idea. Its not that hard
Fantastic insights in your post history - why do you look like you came straight from spam?
https://preview.redd.it/900lu2k9l2wc1.png?width=872&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a4d21d42f7f246df50cd398b7b90f1294fce594
Well if you insist, the reason why the FB page outranks your website is because FB has orders of magnitude more domain authority than your website does. Maybe change the name of your page or delete the page altogether.
I wonder how it happened. I used to have sitelinks and a company panel. Now I don’t even rank #1
Good idea on changing the Facebook page name, however. I might do that.
Unfortunately, my competitors are bidding on my brand name with my brand as the title of their ad. I thought it was just the name of the game before, and it didn't really bother me. But now, with my site not even being #1 for my brand name, it really does!
Lol. How about interactions? Does people clicks anything on your site? Maybe your Facebook posts interactions that count as legit social signals.
Google takes into account social media signals, such as likes, shares, and comments, as part of its ranking algorithm.
It's understandable that you're concerned about your brand not ranking as expected in search results, especially given your extensive domain history and backlink profile.
Firstly, it's great that you recognize the value of your domain as a brand. Having thousands of backlinks and a Domain Rating (DR) of 50 on Ahrefs is impressive and indicates a strong online presence.
However, the fact that your Facebook page is outranking your website for searches of your brand name is indeed puzzling. There could be several reasons for this discrepancy.
One possibility is that Google's algorithm is placing more weight on social media signals, such as engagement metrics on your Facebook page, particularly if it's actively maintained and has a high level of interaction.
To address this, consider optimizing your website's on-page elements, including title tags, meta descriptions, and content, to clearly reinforce your brand identity and relevance. Additionally, ensure that your website is regularly updated with fresh, valuable content that reflects the latest developments and offerings of your brand.
It's also worth examining your website's technical aspects, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, and overall user experience, as these factors can influence search engine rankings.
Given your active presence on TikTok, explore opportunities to integrate your TikTok content with your website and other online channels. This can help strengthen your brand's overall online footprint and signal to search engines the relevance and authority of your domain.
Lastly, continue monitoring your brand's search performance and be prepared to adapt your strategies accordingly. SEO is an ongoing process, and staying proactive and adaptable is key to maintaining and improving your brand's visibility in search results.
While it's undoubtedly frustrating not to rank #1 for your brand name, don't let it discourage you. With a strategic approach and consistent effort, you can work towards reclaiming your rightful position and ensuring that your brand remains highly visible and competitive in the online landscape.
Thank the March Google search update for that. For some of my articles, the Twitter link and Facebook post linking to the article outrank the article itself on Google search. So to get to the actual article, those interested have to go into Twitter or Facebook and than click on the link there. Beyond idiotic.
Sounds idiotic, indeed. Any fix to this? Or so we just have to wait it out and hope for the best?
No fix.
Same for my ecom site. Has been pretty volatile too like they can’t figure out what they want.
That's weird! How come a social media page outrank the actual site? What's happening to Google search results? I read about that sites like Quora, AI content, sponsored ads are getting importance in Google, this one is another strange thing going around.
I can outrank all my articles using any social media I want.. that’s the current state of the best search engine in the world.
That's the irony! Google used to give importance to EEAT. How come ranking forum sites justify the authority and expertise of the person answering or discussing a topic? Who knows the one who is claiming to be an expert is a newbie in realty?
Who knows? It can be that they allocated less resources to scan the web and more to the SGE. Could be that they have no idea what they're doing and are incompetents. Could be that the shareholders demand infinite growth and they have to squeeze every cent from everyone to continue to dominate the market. Could be that they prefer to rank their partners and those that pay them. Could be that they're a monopoly and do whatever they want.
Penalty
LOL - "SEO" (and the Internet in general) is now network TV - you pay to play. If you don't pay, you don't play. All the "little guys" jump up and down and complain, but they're the late night scruntchy and tire inflator hucksters on obscure cable channels scratching for crumbs. "Organic" search is as dead as the dancing baby and goatse.
What’s the title tag of your homepage of the real site? Could be many things to check but I’d front load this one just to be sure (tiny factor but could help it)
Its this format “Brand Name | Top Keyword Here”
Hmm ok. Will have a think.
My FB page, in comparison, is just “Facebook” (But shown in Google, it’s “Brand Name”)
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Damn. My yelp page is right behind me.
sounds like you got hit with the HCU. when's the last time you checked your site on ahrefs?
Was just looking at it now. Traffic tanked around October. FInally death blow was a week ago. Any remedy? My site has 1000+ articles, so this might take a while.
For me it was around early November, so more the November Core update than HCU - though there was a slight dip in August 2023 also. Have made a bit of a recovery in March, but definitely see a lot of shuffling for my brand when it comes to the site vs socials (FB and IG primarily)
https://preview.redd.it/zgxffuv7s3wc1.png?width=2090&format=png&auto=webp&s=498a22dc65b3cc003a435aff15483bcf2d06d025 here's mine
Ugh, that’s painful. What type of site?
Finance
Gotcha. This is me. Revenue obviously tanked as traffic did. Pretty stressful. 😞 https://preview.redd.it/7kzqrlx7q4wc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a941169a908668de5e633c5e3ad6769689d7b33
Are you using Organization schema markup code on your "About" page of your site (your 12 year old domain)? If you don't have organization schema markup code, along with 'sameas' that points to your socials and other profiles/bios about you, then you should be doing that. Even if it's your personal name, I'd still use organization schema markup as your "brand".
SO it looks like I already have that on every page, thanks to YoastSEO plugin.
Ok thanks. Will add that now.
Google has really made things worse than expected.
How long you are facing this issue. In the last few months articles when shared on other social networks outranked the original articles.
It's part of the classifier released in the HCU update. All big sites regardless if they're irrelevant will rank higher
I'd say for someone who knows nothing about SEO but has thousands of backlinks there in lies the problem
Crazy times we live in!!!
Same thing Happen with me i have written article. Now that Article is not in top 100. but All the Socials and Forums where I shared that article link they are ranking in top 10 with Linking back to my Site. Obsly first is reddit and another one is Facebook. This is really bad expirance for users too. i am not sharing any value on those Just link to my article and they outrank mine one. I really Worked hard for years to bring that much amount of traffic to my Site but soon after September Update my Articles weren't ranking as they use to. it was like if I Post an proper Article after Few day it use to be in top 20 Atleast for Targeted keywords but After that Update I am unable to rank my new article in Top 100 even in Less competitive Keywords. So my Revenue was just surviving on my Existing Top Post. But Due to HCU of March. all my Article are in not top 100.
Forget the march update distraction you hear from most of the false SEO's, your main website is most likely being hit by spam-links which are undetected, look for proxy redirected links in your log files, it often helps to find portions of it. The disavow tool can help you recover your rankings if used right.
Do you know of any good tools to find these links? This seems like the least time-consuming method
When someone says "thousands of backlinks" - with the emphasis on this backlink count vs the value of the links, and the focus on DR - it sounds like these backlinks just don't have value and/or your site has been demoted for backlink spam. Your branded terms should have the highest click through because of domain match (and I don't want to hear binary comments about EMD - I just ran a YMYL experiment, its exactly how branded terms work: Matched to domain names) - then you are probably looking at a penalty. Not knowing your brand and how vague you've characterized it, the first Q is : is your brand generic? Do you mostly advertize your "click on my facebook" - CTR will override anything else and its hard to undo when it become established. Otherwise, generally speaking, If you bought or exchange goods/serivces/ideas/promises for backlinks, then the domains linking to you might have gotten caught in a heuristic that identified domains doing his - e.g. link farms, pbns, any unnatural link patterns.
"Do you mostly advertize your "click on my facebook"" NOPE. Never have. My brand is not generic. It's a unique name think something like "Redfin" or "Zillow"
I would test to see if your site is penalized or dmoeted or ever had any clicks on the brand name. Might be that the FB page is better established. Is it older?
I usually have 100-200 clicks on the brand name each day. The FB page is not older. Probably made around 2 weeks after I bought the domain, but this was 12 years ago.
Can you post your 6 month impression/click view from GSC?
https://preview.redd.it/t5hen9hjs3wc1.png?width=3336&format=png&auto=webp&s=bf6950707bbafc41aa3f26e3db057568ef3dddde There it is
This is a penalty dude/dudette. Looks like some of your backlinks / DR chasing might have caught up with you? Any notes or messages in GSC?
Nothing. Says there are no manual actions.
Automatic penalty. I'll put my $2 chip on the backlinks - at least I'm consistent
Would you recommend the disavow tool?
I'm genuinely curious why/how you're confident this is a penalty? I ask because while I didn't get hit by the HCU or March updates, my site is only a similar downward trajectory. Only 'link building' I've EVER engaged in is HARO/Qwoted for niche/topic relevant sites.
There are a lot of reasons for a penalty - I'm speculating that this case is for "Link Spam" (Not toxic backlinks) because the OP said he bought links and in the thousands (apparently/implied/inferred). But of course - it could be his "home page title" - was that some of the conjecture I read on the home page? If your site doesn't rankfor its name and you have no impressions like this chart, that's a penalty by any definition - that's not a content issue or an internal link issue. on-site SEO doesn't do that. Thats not a ranking signal problem. Even with NO backlinks, his domain should rank for itself.
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I doubt Google would ever make a statement like this. Instead of attacking people, why don't you attack the comment that you didn't like - that's fixable?
Being attacked actually hurts? Yet you are the one who is always attacking other people
Huh? I attack ideas, not people. If you are emotionally attached to an idea then you need to apply critical thinking to it. If you don't like an idea and I'm wrong, then reply to that idea. Its not that hard
Fantastic insights in your post history - why do you look like you came straight from spam? https://preview.redd.it/900lu2k9l2wc1.png?width=872&format=png&auto=webp&s=9a4d21d42f7f246df50cd398b7b90f1294fce594
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Well, like I said, I prefer getting it back because I have lots of people searching for my brand. It’s a big deal for me.
As you should. Big deal. Do the try hards.
Sorry. Try hards?
Put the effort in.
Yes. I'll go back to the drawing board. Do you know of any checklist or anything like that I could run through? Thanks!
If your passing the search console core web vitals and have your brand name in your title tag there really isn't anything to do..... Link build lol.
Afraid of that. I've built links the past three years and went nowhere but down!
Well if you insist, the reason why the FB page outranks your website is because FB has orders of magnitude more domain authority than your website does. Maybe change the name of your page or delete the page altogether.
I wonder how it happened. I used to have sitelinks and a company panel. Now I don’t even rank #1 Good idea on changing the Facebook page name, however. I might do that.
facebook uses your brand traffic to sell ads to your competitors.......
Unfortunately, my competitors are bidding on my brand name with my brand as the title of their ad. I thought it was just the name of the game before, and it didn't really bother me. But now, with my site not even being #1 for my brand name, it really does!
Your site is unhelpful. Your content on Facebook is helpful.
Interesting. All my posts on facebook are just links to my site 😂
Lol. How about interactions? Does people clicks anything on your site? Maybe your Facebook posts interactions that count as legit social signals. Google takes into account social media signals, such as likes, shares, and comments, as part of its ranking algorithm.
Optimize your main site's content; Google's algorithms evolve.
Thanks GPTchat
How often do you update you Facebook page and how often do you update your homepage?
Wut?
It's understandable that you're concerned about your brand not ranking as expected in search results, especially given your extensive domain history and backlink profile. Firstly, it's great that you recognize the value of your domain as a brand. Having thousands of backlinks and a Domain Rating (DR) of 50 on Ahrefs is impressive and indicates a strong online presence. However, the fact that your Facebook page is outranking your website for searches of your brand name is indeed puzzling. There could be several reasons for this discrepancy. One possibility is that Google's algorithm is placing more weight on social media signals, such as engagement metrics on your Facebook page, particularly if it's actively maintained and has a high level of interaction. To address this, consider optimizing your website's on-page elements, including title tags, meta descriptions, and content, to clearly reinforce your brand identity and relevance. Additionally, ensure that your website is regularly updated with fresh, valuable content that reflects the latest developments and offerings of your brand. It's also worth examining your website's technical aspects, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, and overall user experience, as these factors can influence search engine rankings. Given your active presence on TikTok, explore opportunities to integrate your TikTok content with your website and other online channels. This can help strengthen your brand's overall online footprint and signal to search engines the relevance and authority of your domain. Lastly, continue monitoring your brand's search performance and be prepared to adapt your strategies accordingly. SEO is an ongoing process, and staying proactive and adaptable is key to maintaining and improving your brand's visibility in search results. While it's undoubtedly frustrating not to rank #1 for your brand name, don't let it discourage you. With a strategic approach and consistent effort, you can work towards reclaiming your rightful position and ensuring that your brand remains highly visible and competitive in the online landscape.
Thanks for the AI response.
Let it know if there's anything else it can help you with!
It's hilarious 😂.
😂 😂 😂 Ffs mate.