Severe loss of ranking after changing host and cannot find out why????

[69thelememt]

I've just been forced to change hosting company from an extremely poor service delivered by justhost.com in the US to a UK based service at vidahost. I only wish i had read the real reviews on the service from justhost and the amounts of server crashes and slowing they had before i went for them.

Anyway I had 3 seperate accounts/domains over at justhost which I transferred over to my new single account UK server along with the domain reg's.

Thing is now out of the two money sites I have one has completely kept all its rankings, and I'm pritty sure a couple of keywords have gone up due to the improved speed and location

Though another site, which is older than the first and ranked #1 in google has dropped to page 2 for the most searched terms (steam shower, steam showers) and completely gone for most our seconary words (steam bath, hot tub, whirlpool bath)

the thing is because this was just a straight transfer, so nothing has changed set up wise, there was no downtime ECT and the fact that the other site has kept ranking I'm really struggling to find why this has happened????

I wondered if anyone else has every experienced this fall when changing host?????

 

[OldWelshGuy]

This is the second such post today. Did you move host on or around the 27th Feb? if so, that is when Google rolled out Panda 3.3.

 

[lynxus]

This is the second such post today. Did you move host on or around the 27th Feb? if so, that is when Google rolled out Panda 3.3.

Havent changed hosts however have noticed a drop in "impressions" on organic searches since that date.

Im hoping that it will start to climb again soon. Fingers crossed.

 

[69thelememt]

Hi mate,

site was moved over on 16th feb with a couple of days delay for domain reg moving so probably just before 27th.

Both sites links are very similar in source though the one that has dropped has even more quality links than the other that kept ranking

 

[martinbailey]

Part of it could be the change of geographical location. Google takes physical location of a website into account, as well as whether it's a .com or .co.uk.

Speed can also be an issue, as google also takes a site's speed into consideration. Note that the speed you see may be different to the speed Google sees (from where it's coming from on the Internet).

But I agree it is a little strange!

 

[fisicx]

It's also possible that when Google noted the change in IP it checked the site to make sure everything was still tickety boo and decided that you didn't really deserve the ranking you had.

Or maybe it's just that google's having a bad hair day and all will be well again in a few days.

 

[DomainsRegistrar]

I think it is as fisicx stated the change in IP which in my opinion is most likely. There are other reasons why it may have done this such as being "Pandalised" but there is also a chance that is just coincidence when you moved as opposed to it being the move itself.

 

[amhsolutions]

I would say it has nothing to do with the host, just a coincidence. I think you have been hit by the recent panda update.

 

[Abu A]

I think you have been hit by the recent panda update.

Is this the stock answer for optimisers these days?

 

[lynxus]

Is this the stock answer for optimisers these days?

In this case, it may be real?

My search impressions have taken a big hit recently..
The last few months my rank has been slowly climbing and suddenly its dropped right through the floor.

Either way, This happened last time and im sure it will sort itself out again.

 

[DomainsRegistrar]

No I don't think so but it is a "stock" possibility as Panda did happen

 

[Abu A]

In this case, it may be real?

My search impressions have taken a big hit recently..
The last few months my rank has been slowly climbing and suddenly its dropped right through the floor.

Either way, This happened last time and im sure it will sort itself out again.

What are you meaning by 'search impressions'. Where are you getting impression data from?

 

[Sara windsor]

something similar happened to me but that was in June two years ago. Not sure why but I did find that when you the site url without the www. it went to a dead end, got that fixed and the the site improved no end.

 

[Abu A]

No I don't think so but it is a "stock" possibility as Panda did happen

It happened a long time ago now, panda.

 

[Abu A]

Not sure why but I did find that when you the site url without the www it went to a dead end, got that fixed and the the site improved no end.

Maybe this is the problem for the thread starter. They might have lost redirects.

 

[fisicx]

It happened a long time ago now, panda.

Panda 3.2 happened a few weeks back.

http://searchengineland.com/google-panda-3-2-update-confirmed-109321

 

[Abu A]

Panda 3.2 happened a few weeks back.

Oh my, they have been busy.

 

[Ali-v-8]

@ABU A - why are you dismissing all the suggestions - You are disagreeing with all answer - Provide one yourself.

I agree with OWG and positionSEO - There is a high possibility that the website was affected by Panda and to top it up a server change to the UK doesn't always yield positive results.
If the server you have moved to isnt dedicated take a look and see what is on it . Try this http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/web-sites-on-web-server/
It will tell you who is on your server and possibly if there is an issue with any of them.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

It happened a long time ago now, panda.

panda 3.3 was released on the night of the 26th Feb, which is why I asked the question as to the date of the move and when the traffic and rankings dropped. It is a fair assumption to make that if traffic dropped away on the 27th, the day that Google admit they rolled out Panda 2.3, that THAT is the reason, most possibly.

I agree that many 'SEO's' will blame panda when it is not to blame, but if you can pinpoint the date, and eliminate any other possible causes, then what is left is more than likely the answer. This is how forensic SEO works.

 

[Abu A]

I agree that many 'SEO's' will blame panda when it is not to blame, but if you can pinpoint the date, and eliminate any other possible causes, then what is left is more than likely the answer. This is how forensic SEO works.

Yes that is the trouble, many post it when it is unlikely. In this case it does seem like it may be the cause. For the thread starters keyphrases to lower and vanish all together, you would presume his junk content containing anchor links has been de-indexed. That or he has lost some quality links.

 

[69thelememt]

now-now guys let not fight over me......Although i'd never dismiss OWG (he's like a welsh Obi-won-Kenobi of the internet world only with beer and rugby) the reason i'm swaying away from panda is the fact the some keywords have absolutely vanished not just fallen and these words are subject to only ''good'' links and the fact one of my sites which is younger, has less links and similar content has become stronger since the change.

Even my major keywords, i've never struggled to rank them in comparison to others in the past and on panda update or even initial roll out has even moved me in the rankings.

As a site transfer is as such a straight transfer. Its got to be something to do with the actual site, surely???

 

[Ali-v-8]

do a simple test - look for the exact term on the website - and description

 

[OldWelshGuy]

It could be down to something as simple as server configuration, i.e. the old server is handling things differently to the new server with regard redirects etc.

As you say (and having looked) it might not be panda.

here is the funny thing though, the algo isn't black and white, it is a sliding scale algo, for instance what appear to be iidentical things can have different outcomes, based on something a step away. sitea could have a load of crawl errors, which lower its trust value, which then impacts on other areas and see's a drop in rankings for a set of related phrases. once the trust level goes back up, those related phrases that were previously classed as 'suspect' are now OK PURELY due to the increase in trust. Nothing else has changed anywhere, it is purely down to the trust level lowering the bar with regard other elements. once trust drops, the bar is raised, those other elements suddenyl fail the test.

 

[69thelememt]

There does seem to be a lot more crawling errors than what i can remember or would like I.E none, though i'm not sure how even the server setting would affect this, all i can think is the transfer didnt happen 100% proof

Crawl errors
In Sitemaps 2 Not found 11 Restricted by robots.txt 245 Soft 404s 70 Unreachable 1

the site map errors i've removed from the site map,
the restricted by robots.txt seems to be resized images so i'm not sure if this affects rankings or what to do to cure this.
the soft 404's seem to be old product pages that have since been taken off the site but still held within the site, if you get what i mean, so for now i've put all the pages/product back onto the site till the next crawl then i'll 'unpublish' the pages to the public eye.

as for the not found and the unreachable, and any of the other issues. is it possible to fix these errors by stopping crawler access to the url's????

 

[Mystro]

If your site is the link from this hxxp://steamshowerinstallation.co.uk/ please read below

if the link you posted and its not your site please ignore its a different site


I would run a Xenu report, i just did and i see loads of 404, 403's and broken links, 402 links

301 links from myspace product page redirected to myspace home page

Loads of errors,

I personally think it was going to happen sooner rather than later and its just coincidence when you moved your site things dropped.

The site needs a tidy up especially the coding of the site

 

[69thelememt]

i'll have to get someone to look into those crawl errors as I'm not sure how best to slove shizzel like that. Still strange how these issues where not effecting the site before the transfer.

I've just been talking to the internet guru over at one of my suppliers, not sure how much he knows, even though hes a paid professinal, he offered the following theory, which I'm not sure I believe though he says it happened to a previous client of his

He reckons because I've moved 2 sites, under 2 different from the top of google, to work under 1 IP address that google has discredited one of the sites to allow 'fair competition' and because google now reconises the two sites has the same 'owner' that it will never come back up as the domain has a mark against it??? is there any truth in this.....personally I cant see it??

 

[Kevin H]

Hi 69,

oooo so many things to say I nearly had a brain freeze and didn't say anything. Luckily, brain working again so I thought I'd add my 2 penneth; but only on three of four points.

To be Panda, or not be Panda - doesn't really matter; BUT it would be good to remember that at roughly the same time that the Panda update was happening there were (from memory, someone will correct me if I'm wrong I'm sure ) 40 other changes.
Most wouldn't affect businesses/people in the UK, but one that is likely to have affected everyone, noticed or not, is with regards to a change to one of the signals in backlinks.
So?! Well, a site that could have 'better' backlinks, may still have 'better' backlinks, but they are not as 'better' as they used to be. This could affect ranking.

Server move: If on the previous server canonical issues (mentioned in passing before) were handled on the server and they are now not on the new then Google 'could' have 'lost' some backlink authority for the site. Worth checking and fixing whether the cause or not.

Shared IP Discredit: I too think this is unlikely; HOWEVER, if you interlink the sites and previously it was very unlikely that Google would have known the sites were related, then it is entirely possible that now you share the same IP that Google 'may' have devalued those links as they are 'more likely' to be related sites. (I don't have access to G's algo, so may not even play a part, but ...)

404s: Google wont like 404s, but in and of itself not sure how badly they would 'hurt' you; but, IF the old site was offline during the 48hrs (usually roughly 48hrs, but could be different) that it takes for a change in IP to register with all the DNS sites around the world it its possible that Google 'lost' some of your backlinks as a DNS server was sending the relevant 'bot' to the old, now defunct site. Over time I would expect these links to 'reappear' or 404s to 'disappear' depending upon your point of view. Give it time to see if these resolve themselves (I would say a couple of months, but I can be laid back at times)

The thing I try to keep in mind (and point out to customers. And my boss!!!) is that I don't worry why we've dropped in rankings (never happens of course ) per se, just that we have dropped and I need to get us back again.
So, grab all the ideas you can from these posts, all the suggestions on what could be wrong (404s, canonicals, etc), fix 'em if they need fixing, keep building good links, blog, tweet, and be social and you'll be back again

 

[69thelememt]

Well looks like sites been crawled again this morning, dropped 5 places for 1 major keyword.......

Which continues dropping makes it less likely to be IP related???

anyway i'll get everything else as it should be then if all else fails look to the IP

 

[Mystro]

Well looks like sites been crawled again this morning, dropped 5 places for 1 major keyword.......

Which continues dropping makes it less likely to be IP related???

anyway i'll get everything else as it should be then if all else fails look to the IP

Its only been a few weeks let it have its 6 weeks for all changes to take effect, When i changed server I glitched then came back after about a month..

Its not like you have disappeared i see the site for your 2 main keywords at 11 and 15 which is not that severe

Also for that site you just moved from a US to a UK server make sure your geo location is set to UK which it should be based on being a .co.uk

 

[69thelememt]

site seems to have stabled abit for my 2 major keywords at positions 12 and 13 down from positions 1 and 2. though my other 15 to 20 keywords we used to be in top 3 or 4 for are still disappeared. Seemingly there was some server issues effecting the Sef404 mod in joomla, not sure how much this has effected the site.

My only other thought is that because i previously had the two site on different IP's in position 1 and 2, then 2 and 4 for differing URL'S, I'm concerned that google now has taken issue with the site being under the same IP and all held within the same folders???? anyone herd of any issues here?? O r got any ideas of how best to move things along, concentrated link building, content pages ETC

been around 3 weeks since the migration so i'll leave it another 2 weeks of fingers crossed then its panic time

 

[69thelememt]

I'm coming to the conclusion that this must be the recent panda update, (though this must mean my link building is less than perfect, hhhmmmmm), i've tried smashing alternative anchor text and ''dead'' anchor text for HPBL and i'm sorry to say the site has gone up a few postitions.....*******.......weather this was gonna happen anyway or weather i have over done particular anchor's time will tell.

I thought i was diverse but maybe not

 

[Mystro]

I'm coming to the conclusion that this must be the recent panda update, (though this must mean my link building is less than perfect, hhhmmmmm), i've tried smashing alternative anchor text and ''dead'' anchor text for HPBL and i'm sorry to say the site has gone up a few postitions.....*******.......weather this was gonna happen anyway or weather i have over done particular anchor's time will tell.

I thought i was diverse but maybe not

As posted before your site is full of broken links and 301, 302 404 500 errors

example of a few

http://www.rosco-cabinets.co.uk/ (server not found)
http://www.coralseaspas.com/steam-showers-c-47.html (404)
http://delicious.com/posturl=http:/...tle=Enquiry+-+Sanford+1200+Right+SALE+PRICE!!



Broken image links

Have you a Web master tools account,? do you see any errors there

Google is promoting quality sites, from the looks of things they have picked up on the errors,

many of you social plugins are not working correctly such as Reddit, Google Buzz, Delicious.com.

From your positions i do not think you have been penalised, but are being hit on a quality measure,

What i mean by the above is the are 100's of those low quality links pointing to your site with 100 of links on a page, probably link packages bought for $20 - $50 which have now been devalued and your ranks followed suit

http://www.vodzone.com/search.php?q=features.&page=2
http://www.houstonasphalt.org/resources.php?cid=12&page=33

Sounds a little harsh but if you can clean a lot of that mess up, the site is fine otherwise, you may be able to salvage some rankings

stop the link building to those low quality spammy sites, they will not help you 1 little bit now, from the 100 or so i checked all but a very small handful had a greyed out PR bar

Your going to have to stop waiting and take action on this as i pointed these out over a week ago and nothing has changed.

Fix your errors you may see a change, do you really need those social book mark buttons plastered all over your site, SEO has moved on from that and you need to keep up

Do check your WMT account and see if you have had messages there warning of these errors

Good Luck

and sorry if any of the above sounds harsh,

 

[DomainsRegistrar]

I hope this may help some of you guys on the Panda issue


We found that the way to get out is as follows:-

· Move each section to a new sub-domain
· Ensure text is unique or at least substantial and very well written
· Add videos and images to improve time on page and reduce bounce / exit rates.

Here is an example page which recovered back up by 95% following that

http://icarcadavicio.articlealley.com/sinus-infection-and-dizziness-symptoms-161058.html

It's a tough one to incorporate on a large scale but for your site you would need to add a lot of extra information and some original thinking etc.

So far we have re-worked a few 100 pages out of 2.5 million so whilst we know recovery is possible it's a very long time line to recover substantial income.

I recommend that you do a trial on a single page that used to perform before, use the above approach and see the results, that way you know if its worth investing in that approach for your whole site and the likely cost benefits.

Panda appears to give each website a threshold which varies each time Google re works its calculations, if you improve your sites average then you get given a lower threshold next time around, which means more of your website can escape the grip of Panda. Of course to get anywhere that's worthwhile you need to rework a large % of your site so as to shift the average meaningfully