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Google Confirms Panda 3.3 Update

Joe,

Would you share your thoughts as of why your site/one of your sites went down in the rankings VS classified sites?
I'd have to co-sign this request--I tried a few terms we go after and found no real change. Which means that either:

a) I haven't gotten the updates yet,
b) We're that darn good (but if Uncle Joe's getting dinged, I'm inherently skeptical), or
c) You and I aren't looking at the same things...
 
Heads up everyone, Google's made another update: Google Confirms Panda 3.3 Update, Plus Changes To How It Evaluates Links, Local Search Rankings & Much More

Check your rankings for car searches, I've vanished off page one and I see a sh*t load of classified sites coming in places where dealers usually are.

Quick reading of the article suggests that perhaps "where" the search was conducted is playing a larger role than a few weeks ago? (Or am I reading that wrong...)
 
Off the charts busy here. I check my SERPs at 3-6 times a month. Nothing scientific. One look I make is at Google Analytics. I look at top organic keyword traffic*. All top 10 KWs are off page one.


ALSO, possibly related, HomeNet just moved my site to faster servers about 10 days ago.

*KWs that do not contain the dealers name (aka yellow pages traffic)
 
Off the charts busy here. I check my SERPs at 3-6 times a month. Nothing scientific. One look I make is at Google Analytics. I look at top organic keyword traffic*. All top 10 KWs are off page one.

*KWs that do not contain the dealers name (aka yellow pages traffic)
At your suggestion, I went into Google Analytics myself and ran a similar report (one that excluded keywords containing "hudson" or "jimhudson" in my case). I've had pancakes that are less flat than that graph...a tiny bit of a trend down, but nothing alarming. But it is on my list of things to monitor.
 
... I look at top organic keyword traffic*. All top 10 KWs are off page one.

ALSO, possibly related, HomeNet just moved my site to faster servers about 10 days ago.

*KWs that do not contain the dealers name (aka yellow pages traffic)

Good news, we're back in the saddle. Found some technical problems on the server swap. Google likes us again ;-)
 
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Good news, we're back in the saddle. Found some technical problems on the server swap. Google likes us again ;-)
Really, who doesn't like y'all?

To show my math for anyone else trying this at home (I have it saved as a widget on the dashboard, my new favorite thing about Google Analytics, but the terms apply if you just use advanced filters on a regular report too):

Screen shot 2012-03-01 at 2.40.36 PM.jpg
 
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✨ AI Highlights

A dealer reports that Google's Panda 3.3 update caused his site to drop off page one for key search terms, with classified sites like Cars.com and CarGurus taking over dealer positions. After investigation, he discovers the ranking loss was caused by technical problems from a recent server migration by his hosting provider HomeNet, not the algorithm update itself—once fixed, his rankings recovered. The thread underscores the importance of distinguishing between actual algorithm changes and site technical issues when diagnosing search ranking drops.

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