New site vs. Sticking with old site - for algorithm penalty?

[xelaetaks]

Any idea what be smarter to do?

For around the past 8 months to a year or so the site went from page 1 on google from keywords to around page 8 and even 10 on some. Hundreds of links and domains have gone to a disavow file a few months ago and also it appears penguin hasn't been updated in months as well.

Site used to get around 100 organic visitors a day or week, now it gets a few people a day sometimes and so far hasn't really picked up much despite efforts to clean up backlinks and on site checks out fine as well. Bing and yahoo seem to get traffic sometimes tho.

It seems like a new site done right might pass be able to page 8 in not too long on google (just a guess) and can be worked on from there - quality links, content, etc. As it stands though it seems like the current site is in a google limbo at the moment.

Any ideas what would make more sense - work on new site or current one?

Thanks

[goodroi]

Before you rework an old site or build a new site you might want to conduct a critical analysis of your SEO knowledge and business model. You might find that you don't know enough in certain areas or an underlying weakness.

Maybe you know everything and were just unlucky but too often we (myself included) can assume we know enough when we are missing something. Without knowing enough it is near impossible to succeed with an old site or a new site. We just end up repeating mistakes.

[xelaetaks]

Ranking on google isn't the only plan to keep the site afloat but it sure would help for a boost right now and adwords seems like too much money for a small business like my site.

We used to be on page 1 for keywords that now on our page 8 and 10. It seems Google hit our site likely due to some web directory and article backlinks from past seo work. Seo companies also think it is likely an algorithm penalty.

Investment wise it is a question if doing a new site could be more worthwhile. Our site seems to be updated more than other ones on page 1 and also has some infomartional content. It seems the site has been hit on google, and kn other search engines like Yahoo and Bing it is one page 1 for some of these keywords.

Also I've learned from the past now not to any questionable linking and pretty much look for oppurtunities to promote the business or try to add quality to reputable sites through business partnerships or deals, etc.

[aristotle]

If you think that the site was demoted by Penguin, and you already disavowed a lot of backlinks, then it might make sense to wait and see what happens on the next Penguin update before making any major decisions.

[xelaetaks]

Thanks. We may try to give it a little more time. Hopefully an algorithm update comes out soon.

[Planet13]

Your mileage may vary, but it basically took over a year for one of my sites to recover from Penguin 2.

Lots of people have been bemoaning the difficulty in recovering from Penguin. I think if most people are going to get hit, they would prefer to be hit by a manual penalty than Penguin algo since the former seems easier to escape from then that latter.

Just thought you should know. Hope this helps the decision making.

[xelaetaks]

Thanks. I think for people hit with Penguin it may come down to when the update rolls out (assuming it will) and seeing if sites ranking on Google changes or not. Hopefully Google will respond to people complaining about their algorithm effecting quality sites that made a mistake hiring seo companies that used anchor text and site directories, etc. If quality was Google's main concern it wouldn't make sense to hit sites like they are with Penguin.

[JD_Toims]

New site vs. Sticking with old site

I'd go with new, but leave the old one as is and rework things to be unique and individual -- The "two chances is better than one" theory is what I've been working with lately, especially since Google obviously [to me at least] can't detect nSEO or non-requested links on their own and haven't run a Penguin update in nearly a year to get those who have been wrongly demoted back where they belong.

[edited by: JD_Toims at 11:33 pm (utc) on Aug 5, 2014]

[Planet13]

"I think for people hit with Penguin it may come down to when the update rolls out (assuming it will) and seeing if sites ranking on Google changes or not."

My penguin-affected site was releasee from Purgatory with the latest Panda 4.0 update - not a Penguin update. Your mileage may vary.

"If quality was Google's main concern it wouldn't make sense to hit sites like they are with Penguin. "

Ask four SEOs about whether sites should be penalized for spammy links, or whether the links should just be discounted, and you will probably get 6 opinions.

Personally, If I were paying a bunch of engineers six-figure-salaries to try and identify spam and eliminate it from the index, I would probably be a little bit vindictive myself...