Potential problem for my Google position?

Sign of things to come?

[phantombookman]

Hi
one of my sites is dedicated to one author, www.authornamebooks.com, it has PR5 no bad backlinks etc. When I search on Google say authors name rare books or authors name information etc I get numerous #1 matches. I am very pleased with the results.

However if I just type in the authors name I do not appear anywhere in the results (been back 35 pages) and I used to be on the 2nd page.

Is it possible that I have a penalty of some sort and is it about to get worse?
Thanks in advance for any input
Regards
Rod

[DerekH]

Is it possible that I have a penalty of some sort and is it about to get worse?

I suspect not. I check one of my sites against 64 search phrases each 2 weeks. Sometimes a search phrase on the site will vanish - from 2 in the SERPS to "not in the first 200". And then a few weeks later it comes back.
And no changes to my page in the meantime.

Although, when you read this forum, you might get the impression that the Google search database is being polished, refined, glossed and prettified systematically every update, I think it's more the case that Google has a hunt around each update and sometimes one does badly on a particular phrase for a while.

I certainly have lots of search phrases where I'll sometimes vanish for 2 weeks and then return to where I was.
I've given up worrying. I spend my time on trying to make visitors click on my site in the SERPS, and to stay when they arrive.

DerekH

[phantombookman]

Hi Derek
thanks for the reply and reassurance, much appreciated.
I must admit that the more I read & learn here the more there seems to be to worry about.
Possibly ignorance truly is bliss!

I am sure, as you say, Google is so huge there must be millions of anomolies.
Presumably the best thing to do is plenty of good content, not break the rules and hope for the best?
Regards
Rod

[Hissingsid]

Hi,

I'd look very carefully at what is on the pages and in links pointing to those pages of the ones that do come top for author name. Then compare these with yours.

There have been significant changes in the algorithm and if you don't do these checks now, and asuming you don't come back then you will have to do them later.

Google is great at teaching you by example.

Best wishes

Sid

[phantombookman]

Hi Sid
thanks for the input, the site does not have many links back to it because relative links are either competetive sites or institutions.

However it is PR5 and is one of the most complete sites about the author.
The biggest puzzle is why so many #1 placings and yet when you trim the search to just the authors name it does not even show.

I am not sure what has just changed on google but I am seeing some spurious barely relevant pages beating me on some of my other sites as well?
I don't employ any 'tricks' they are just bog standard HTML sites - confusing situation
Regards
Rod