July 26th, 2010 by Nick

Sometimes it can be the case that the rankings for a site are not matching expectations. A search engine optimisation campaign is something which should go on for a considerable period of time. Given the competitive nature of most sectors, it would be surprising if the rankings did not dip from time to time. Hence it would be misguided to panic at every minor fluctuation in the search engine results pages. It is also worth noting that it can be a wise move to monitor traffic and conversions as much as rankings, because it is these things which will come down to boost your bottom line. Despite these points, however, any sustained slip in the rankings is an obvious matter of concern and it can be worth looking at potential explanations.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we ensure that we have effective communication with all our clients because their SEO concerns are our concerns. This enables collaboration which can be useful in getting a site to move up the rankings and acquire more traffic as a consequence.

Sites can be underperforming for a diversity of reasons. One such reason relates to the site hosting. If this is not done well it means that there can be a problem of accessibility. If neither potential users nor web crawlers find that accessibility is enabled then the major search engines can unfortunately take a dim view of a site. It is difficult to quarrel with this judgement, because it is hard for visitors to be impressed by a shop or a museum which is rarely open.

Another explanation for a downward ranking shift is simply that other sites are putting more effort and skill into their search engine optimization campaigns. It has to be remembered that the struggle over rankings is unending and highly competitive. It might be that your site is overtaken by some sites which have transgressed ethical boundaries. This is because there are no automatic features of the search engines which stop black hat methods being temporarily efficacious. If the slide down the rankings is not just a small downward movement, it is worth getting an expert to take a look at the issue.

One problem with diagnosing reasons behind disappointing results is that there is a time gap between something happening on a site and something happening on the rankings. It may be that some duplicate content appeared on your site a while ago. It could be that some copywriter inadvertently engaged in some keyword stuffing. It could even be that there is a problem with your anchor text. Basically, an investigation is necessary if a site is suffering in the rankings.

An investigation should be carried out to ascertain whether the drop in performance is of minor significance or if it is actually a sign that a search engine penalty has been applied. This clearly means that it is not the case that recommendations for resolving the issue can always be made swiftly. It is worth exercising a little patience to ensure that the correct steps are devised and taken.

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