Still not Recovered from Caffeine

[rdreich49]

In June of 2010, we lost rankings for four of our best key terms for our website http://tinyurl.com/6e73q52.  No other terms were majorly impacted, so our assumption was that is was either due to Caffeine or a filter on those terms.

We have worked with several companies using various strategies since then with little or no success.  We later found that their linking strategies were less than white hat (I'm being polite) The best advice I was given recently is that we were over-optimized for those four terms (life insurance, life insurance quotes, term life insurance, term life insurance quotes) and we need to balance that out by linking with other terms.  I know this will not be a fast process.

My problem is I see many of my competitors in this extremely competitive space using black hat (grey at best) techniques and rising quickly to the first page of Google.  Some of the SEO companies working with my competitors offered help to us, which I consider ethically questionable.  These four terms convert the best, as you would imagine, so it has become very cut-throat in this competitive environment.

We want to keep our hats white, as we are interested in longevity, not a quick hit and run (our site has been live and working for 8-plus years, by the way).  I have become extremely gun-shy and generally suspicious of working with a new SEO company, so my question (finally) is:

I would like some recommendations and success stories you have had with working with SEO companies (white hat only).  Thank you for listening to my rant.

[RDK]

I like your approach! You are doing what most will probably recommend- play it safe.  As it has been said, markets fall faster than they rise...  and you may be the victim of this.  You have a much better profile than most 1st pagers, so my initial thoughts are that you have some black magic to rinse from your site.

I'll stick my neck out for the SEOMozzers to wring and suggest that you do some due diligence on your own before hiring another SEO.  I've worked with companies that have used SEOs on both sides of the coin and am usually hesitant to pick up a project after significant "black-hat" work has been done.  The first place I'd look is at your link profile... where have they spattered your link? If this turns out to look similar to your better ranking competitor's, the issue is probably something to get an SEO involved in.  SEO consultation might be another option to consider.  Better yet, this forum is a perfect first step!

[rdreich49]

Thanks RDK.  Love your profile picture, by the way.   I am definitely playing it safe, but I might be suffering from a bit of paralysis as a result of my past experiences.  However, doing nothing is probably not going to get me back on page 1, so I am considering hiring a consultant,   Thank you for that suggestion.

[RDK]

You do have a slew of spammy links, but it doesn't justify the drop that you're seeing.  I'll look a little deeper over the next couple of days and let you know if anything else jumps out at me.

Were you working with an SEO company when you noticed the drop?

[rdreich49]

Thanks, I'd appreciate anything you could find.  We were working with an SEO company when we dropped.  We had just switched companies when it happened, so my guess is the previous company was the culprit.

[RDK]

Too bad I don't have your link profile before the drop...  maybe the previous company had some heavy-duty paid links holding you up.  I'll check back later.