One more that plummeted!

[2dogsdesign]

I FINALLY had this site on what I thought was a positive track and then the last week of September it began a major nosedive - and now in Google is completely invisible for its main keywords in both local and organic, and may be losing traction in Bing as well. The site was doing well in Local and just OK in organic (2nd page for most keywords). It has been an ongoing issue with this site with peaks and valleys so I thought I would finally reach out.

In a nutshell:

1) Client has 2 physical locations which we do have listings for in local (and one Google + page for the main location)

2) There are 3 other local listings (which have since merged to create a Google+ page), they have been out there for a while and we have no idea when or who created them, but they have never posed a problem since they were never claimed. I did claim them last week - waiting for pin so I can delete (I have noted them as duplicates in the hopes Google would delete but they never went away)

3) There were some major "linking" pages on site but I have since removed those - pages filled with keyword stuffed links....

4) We have been working hard on disavowing links.....

the site is (http:// carpeylaw .com) --- main term is "philadelphia personal injury lawyer"

I am at my wits end since he is been up and down for months and I just cannot get a hold on it....

Can anyone see anything that would be causing him to plummet out of existence in the last 2 weeks?

Can those extra places listings be affecting organic rank?
Thank you again for any help or direction....

 

[Dustybones]

First thing I noticed is that I'm getting a 404 error for a /sitemap.xml

 

[2dogsdesign]

ughhh.....of all the things I looked at I never looked at that! They have programmers who work on that part of the site....and when I looked in Webmaster Tools I did see sitemaps in there. Guess I need to investigate that further.....this is why it is good to post here!

ETA - They do it differently using /page-sitemap.xml, post-sitemap.xml and sitemap_index.xml.....which I have never seen before.....but it is being processed and pages are being indexed...

Although pages are being indexed.....and today I did see a few terms that were totally off the google charts are back in.....so wonder is some of what I did yesterday actually worked.....

 

[Linda Buquet]

I found a bunch of issues, but short on time.

1) What's with the site? I've never seen anything like this. Thought I was going crazy or my browser was borked, but tried 2 and that's not it. Went to site to get phone to search on maps. I can't highlight, right click and copy. None of the text is plain text. Tried to view source and can't do that either. Really weird.

If I can't get text or view source I wonder if spiders can see what they need to?

2) Main G+ L page is KW stuffed: "Carpey Law - Personal Injury Lawyer"
Could get the whole account suspended. Could cause ranking penalty.

3) That 2nd location may be iffy. Is it executive suite, virtual office or shared office? There is another atty in same suite. Pennsylvania Motorcycle Accident Attorney PA | The Cycle Attorney

Atty's are getting busted for additional offices if they are not really there.
Both listings have same hours. He can't be in 2 places at once.
Need more info but I doubt that 2nd office qualifies.

4) REALLY IMPORTANT - Do not claim dupes. It's a violation to have more than one claimed listing.

PLUS deleting in dash no longer works. You can even try to delete your main listing if you decide you no longer want to be on maps. You can even threaten to sue Google. They WILL NOT delete listings just cuz you say delete in dash. If there is a record of the business online, it will stay live.

You need to report the dupes to Google to get them removed. Can use phone support, it's faster. Or report a problem or troubleshooter.

Link to that phone to show some of the dupes but not all: http://goo.gl/maps/bMPNN
(Mainly for me so if I need to look again I don't have to go searching and type in the phone since I can't copy from the site)

 

[2dogsdesign]

Thanks Linda - this was INCREDIBLY helpful!!!!!!!!! The dupes issue was the biggest I think and I did not realize claiming those would be an issue --- I thought we had to claim them to get them deleted......but I will do your recommendation instead!!!!!

Not sure about #1, the client wanted the right click deactivated which the programmers did, but I can view source with a plugin in Chrome.....the site is all text......but with the right clicked deactivated you cannot copy and paste....the spiders can read everything fine though.

Thank you for #2 --- about the "personal injury lawyer" --- I have seen so many other lawyers do that and did not think it would be an issue.

I have learned more in your one post than I have in reading for 2 days!

 

[jtweav]

My friend Mike might be a good guy to follow when doing law: NiftyLaw: Online Marketing and SEO Blog for Lawyers He stays squeaky clean and has some really good advice.

Thanks Linda, I think she gave you a great start to getting rankings back.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks jtweav, you drop the best links! Mike and his info is always awesome!

Thanks Linda - this was INCREDIBLY helpful!!!!!!!!! The dupes issue was the biggest I think and I did not realize claiming those would be an issue --- I thought we had to claim them to get them deleted......but I will do your recommendation instead!!!!!

No worries, common mistake. In my course you just requested info about, I cover dupes in detail.

Thank you for #2 --- about the "personal injury lawyer" --- I have seen so many other lawyers do that and did not think it would be an issue.

That is by far THE BIGGEST reason listings get suspended. But yes many get away with it until they are caught. Usually any type of edit in dash will cause listings to be re-evaluated and slammed for that violation.

Thanks Linda - this was INCREDIBLY helpful!!!!!!!!!

I have learned more in your one post than I have in reading for 2 days!

Happy to help!

 

[JoshuaMackens]

I wouldn't be too worried about local at the moment, such as citations, phone on page, or local hooks.

If you can't rank in the universal or non-local listings and you're on page 2, you need to work on your website first. Get all links deleted that you think are spammy, disavow the rest with proof that you have been working hard to get links deleted and that the links that are left, you tried to get them deleted but got no response back.

Start building quality links.

When you run out of on-page and off-page things to do or you're pulling your hair out, I would go back and work on all of Linda's fantastic suggestions.

The reason I say work on those last, you're not going to rank in the local results if your website isn't up to par considering your website is responsible for, at the least, 50% of your local ranking. If your website isn't ranking, you're not going to rank in local normally. All issues not related to your site are non-issues, at the moment.

They'll be very important once your website is back on the right track and Linda is probably the first person to track down on that. She's already given some fantastic suggestions, it might be worth it to pay her for her time to make sure everything is good to go if you're still having trouble after your website is taken care of.