Rankings for products are gone, but still ranking for main keyword

[webdevfv]

I used to have good rankings and some top spots for individual products, product categories and three/four word phrases.

These are now almost all gone - bar one 3 word phrase which is No 1.

My site still ranks top 4 in google.co.uk for the main 2 word search phrase and plural.

So where have my rankings gone. I did make changes to all product pages a while back - removed same set of right hand column links served from a database and updated header.

So has my site been hit with a penalty and will it recover - been a couple of months now and still no improvement.

[Robert Charlton]

Just to get some bearings...

What's the time frame on this? How old is the site, and is it a competitive area? Have you made any changes in navigation? How large is the site? Are you well linked? Do you have deep links to product pages? How many levels down are your product pages?

And, is your product content original, or is it derived from supplier sources?

[webdevfv]

We've been online since 2004 and were one of the top ranking sites in our area. It is not a highly competitive area.

All pages:
Our header has had changes - we expanded it as screen size has increased and 800x600 is no longer the large % it used to be. We added drop down menus with 1. supplier names and 2. shop by occasion

Product/category pages:
These were changed by removing a right hand column with picture links - we then moved some standard content (gift packaging / delivery etc) from below the product to the right hand column - still below it on the page code.

The layout was also slightly changed.

I'm thinking it may have something to do with affiliate program websites (legitimate) using our content to drive traffic to us - what with all the changes maybe google now thinks we are a new site again and has given them our rankings. Does this sound plausible?

I'm working to change the affiliate program content so that it becomes significantly different to our original content.

[tedster]

it may have something to do with affiliate program websites (legitimate) using our content - what with all the changes maybe google now thinks we are a new site again

That is one possibility, and a challenge when you use the same content on a parent site and its affiliate sites. How long ago did you lose your rankings for the products?

[webdevfv]

We lost our product rankings some time ago - I can't say exactly when as last time I was doing regular analysis was just after Valentines Day. But the thing is I'm pretty sure it was before I made these changes to the web pages.

[tedster]

That's quite a while ago in Google time. I guess the thing to acknoweldge is that you've lost the window for meaningful analysis. Since you've made many changes in the mean time (and so has Google) you need to start in understanding the current situation without concern for rankings that are long gone.

We do have a regular monthly thread where webmasters comment on Google changes. If you can pin down the approximate dates when your product rankings went away, then you might get some insight from that monthly thread:

Dec 2007 [webmasterworld.com]
Jan 2008 [webmasterworld.com]
Feb 2008 [webmasterworld.com]
Mar 2008 [webmasterworld.com]

[Robert Charlton]

I'm working to change the affiliate program content so that it becomes significantly different to our original content.

I push clients who have distributors to put a non-duplication clause in their contracts with them, and also... to remove the temptation to duplicate... to have a second version of all marketing materials that distributors and affiliates may use.

[webdevfv]

Thanks for your help guys. I did use to do almost daily research and seo but when you get to the top (or near enough) you have to deploy your time elsewhere to other areas of the business that haven't been devoted as much time.

Recently (okay I know they've been going ages) I started a blog which is propelling me into the rankings at about 11 each time - is it possible to get higher we shall see.

The thing that gives me a little confidence is that my home page still ranks on 1st page for google.co.uk at #3 for main keyword and #4 for main keywords (plural) - my main keyword is two words. I used to be #1 for both and also top 3 on google.com. Only recently I had fallen to #7 or lower so it looks as though my stock is rising a little - even though my product pages are nowhere to be seen.

Running my analysis software on the top 500 (used to check top 100 - shows how I've fallen) to see if I can predict any further patterns.

[edited by: tedster at 9:30 am (utc) on Nov. 6, 2008]
[edit reason] no specific tools, thanks [/edit]