A few days ago our Website <www.coloredcontacts.com> stopped showing
up on Goggle using the keywords "colored contacts" or "colored contact
lenses".   We had enjoyed the #1 or #2 position for years with these
keywords.  We still have a 4 page rank.  Can you tell us what happened
and what should we do to correct the problem so we can get back on
Google as soon as possible?

Hi there,

The recent Google Dance presented a new Google index and a new
algorithm. Everytime this happens their are some sites that rise in
rankings and some that drop. Never before have I seen the drop happen
to such a specific group, so dramatically, and so seemingly unfairly.

The group are successful commercial websites, who previously had
rankings close to the top for popular keywords, who almost certainly
were doing well from such ranking, and now they can't find their site
in the results, despite their PageRank remaining the same.

Last week a big clue appeared in the Search Engine Journal - an
article that describes what may have happened to your site:

"Google recently introduced a new keyword phrase filter during its
most recent update. Some phrases were unchanged, but many highly
optimized and highly competitive phrases were drastically altered.

Some webmasters saw their sites drop from top listings to not being in
the top 1,000 sites. Unlike other filters, this spam peanalty does not
affect a page or sites overall perceived value. The end effect is
lowered rankings for various specific searches for that page."
http://searchenginejournal.blogspot.com/2003_11_01_searchenginejournal_archive.html#106933768963966352

The writer suggests that the filter can be overridden by placing a -
character between the terms. So, if you search for colored-contacts,
you are currently in 24th spot:
://www.google.com/search?q=colored-contacts

From reading through the thousands of posts at WebMasterWorld on the
"Florida" Google update, and seeing similarities between queries
posted here and received personally, I believe this is what has
happened:


1) Google has identified a number of popular search phrases that it
believes have too many web pages doing well due to reciprocal linking
and link text.

2) For those phrases, Google has removed any ranking that arises from
reciprocal links (regardless of whether they are part of a scheme or
not), and from internal link text.


That was what I thought before visiting your site, and I think I found
the reasons why your site has lost ranking.

Over half the links on your sitemap contain the phrase "color contacts":
http://www.coloredcontacts.com/site_map.htm

And on other pages, instead of the normal text of "home" or "home
page", links to your home page are called "to colored contacts".

In the past Google has given importance to the text contained within
internal links. Consequently many webmasters have taken advantage of
it, and placed their keywords within internal links.

Google is probably also ignoring the value of the keywords in the text
of reciprocal links you have from:

http://www.clear-lens-and-colored-contact-lenses.com/
http://www.contactlenses-onsale.com/
http://www.contactlensesourfocus.com/
http://www.wildcontacts.com/

... and possibly has worked out that these are all run by the same
people as your website.

The most likely reason why your site was ranking higher than your
competitors is the keywords in those internal and reciprocal links.
Now that Google is ignoring them for your site, your ranking has
dropped significantly.

Google gives weight to keywords in URLs, and I am going to add that to
factors Google is choosing to ignore for sites targeting particular
popular keywords. Otherwise I'd be expecting your site, with a domain
name that precisely fits the keywords, to be ranking higher.


What can you do?
----------------

First of all, you could wait. It's possible that Google might reverse
the changes it has made. No-one can predict whether they will of not.
If I were pushed I'd say they won't.

I suggest that you accept that the new algorithm is here to stay, and
you should ease up on the internal link optimization. My guess is that
this is the single thing that triggers the filter. Make the links more
natural, so that the links to your home page are simply called "home".
And reduce the number of times the same keywords appear in links to
other pages.

One thing that your home page is missing is a H1 heading tag. Placing
your keywords within one at an appropriate spot (like above a
paragraph) can help with rankings. Google might choose to ignore such
a tag on your site, but it can't do any harm.

Get links from quality sites that are not your own. I appreciate how
difficult such a task can be.

------------------

To sum up, the way to look at this is not that your site has been
penalized, but that smart SEO techniques managed to keep it at a great
Google ranking for a long time.

You may wish to read a recent answer I provided for a business with
the same changes in ranking that you are experiencing:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=278087


Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by robertskelton-ga on 24 Nov 2003 15:41 PST

Removing the Filter
-------------------
I don't really understand how it works, but by adding -mt-tb.cgi to
your search query, you get the unfiltered results.

The information first appeared at The Register, before the latest
update, and referring to the filtering of blog content:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/35/33448.html

So, with the filter removed, you are at #1 for "colored contacts":
://www.google.com/search?q=colored+contacts+-mt-tb.cgi

How the New Filters Work - Sorta ;)

The new filters subtract page rank "points" if you want to call them
that, for certain (overused) search engine optimization techniques,
affecting many commercial sites that were actively competitive for
what are considered "money" keywords. By adding a minus nonsense term
(any nonsense words or characters not likely to be found will do)
after the desired search terms, the filters are circumvented for that
particular query. A different, earlier method of testing the new
algorithm was discovered during this particular update process, but
quickly plugged by Google over the past week end. Better to think of
this test as a window of opportunity to see what's different between
the old rankings and the sites now in the top positions.

Try colored contacts -theNewResults 

Your site is shown as the first result. Many believe the current
filter settings are tweaked just a bit too tight. Be that as it may, I
don't think that they're likely be turned down, since the intent was
to cut down on certain types of spam sites, and to to provide the best
possible results for the searcher, rather than as a convenience for
the retailer. Unless all three billion indexed webpages were examined
by human hand, there are going to be some industries and topics that
are more drastically affected by any automated algorithm and
filter(s). If you think about bricks 'n mortar equivalents, it's
difficult to imagine being "given" a billboard in a favorable
position, just because the billboard company has the space. And to
keep it for several years? They normally lease by the month. The race
has almost always gone to the company that recognizes and adapts most
quickly to changes in the business environment. The web is really not
much different. Rob has given excellent pointers and advice that can
help you climb back into a high position in the Google Search results.

---l