No progress in 3 months!!

[mker]

Hi All
I have been using Moz for about 3 months now and love the tools and support.   I have been working really hard on seo improvements, fixing lots of coding errors and adding content to my site.   My last 3 keyword reports have been very disappointing.   I have lost rankings in many of my keywords and some have been ranked very well for years. (talking google)  I see only 2 factors that have changed.  1. My 'improvements' and 2. the google update.    As everyone knows seo is very time consuming and I am so disappointed with my site going backwards after such a dedicated focus.   An example would be the keyword 'christmas return address labels'.   I am not even ranked in the top 100 and the last report put me down 50!

Here is a link to my category page for funny christmas cards for another example:

http://www.stonehousecollection.com/cards/funny-christmas-cards.html

BTW I sell greeting cards and I am so frustrated that Zazzle seems to dominate every keyword and google shopping result.  It seems they are gaming the system.

P.S. If you are an seo professional I would be interested in your services as well.

Thank you

[Adam_Cochran]

Hey Mker,

Here are a few things to consider:

1. You are in a sector that is hit pretty hard with an authority domain (Zazzle), you have to remember that the closer to the authority source a link is the more value it holds. Perhaps even opening up a Zazzle shop with an external link, or trying to get some craft blogs to write about your service could be some very valuable routes.

2. Integrate the product schema (http://schema.org/Product) not only will it help your SEO rankings but it's sure to boost your CTR and conversion rates simply because of the additional visual stimuli

3. Do some detailed keyword analysis, perhaps they keywords you are fighting for simply aren't the right fit for you. Try finding a number of easier ones that have smaller traffic but by grabbing a few of them you could equal the traffic of a more challenging word

4. Consider further segmenting your products so that you can have pages that target specific keywords - just like too many cooks spoil the stew, too many keywords spoil the SEO. If it makes sense to split your products and optimize your pages give it a whirl

5. SEO isn't the only strategy, consider inbound marketing some PPC ads or a Facebook fan page running a promotion make work wonders at the holiday season. Believe it or not even if you were ranking first organically some users would still only ever click the ads, and users that are ad shoppers are far higher when it comes to converting.

6. Off-site is going to be key in such a competitive industry, but far to many people make the mistake of trying to go for big high-quality links and as many as they can muster. Remember Google sees everything and hates SEO their main goal is to find sites that naturally and organically gain authority across the internet. When considering such things you may want to look at what seems reasonable for your industry. Appearing on popular mum blogs, craft blogs and holiday blogs or forums would be your best bet. If suddenly you had a ton of wikipedia links it would likely seem a little sketchy!

7. Watch out for any SEO now a days who doesn't talk about inbound marketing and buyer personas. SEO as a tactic is a dying breed, SEO is now a part of a much larger strategy - and the key reason why SEOmoz is now Moz. People who talk to they are blue in the face about building you links and optimizing your on page are likely to hurt you in the long run. Take the time to invest in someone who is going to give you a holistic and complete approach to inbound marketing. When the user is happy, Google is happy and ranks are high!

8. Last but not least use a tool like ahrefs and scan for sketchy links, maybe despite all your hard work something is dragging you down. Try and contact those webmasters of any spammy links you may have to get them removed, and if worst comes to worst try the Google disavow tool

Oh and PS don't forget a site map, eCommerce and a beautiful sitemap with product schema markup is sure to be a great hit!

[Mike_Davis]

Adam has some great advice!  I would like to reiterate Adam's comment about diversifying your online marketing efforts.  Think past SEO.  With Google's affinity for smashing ads all over the top of the SERPs driving organic further and further down the page, online marketers need to think about alternatives.  Organic traffic is nice (FREE!) but sometimes you have to spend some green to make some money!

A couple additional recommendation:

1. I think that a cute social campaign would be a terrific way to increase traffic to your site and build engagement.    You have a fun product, leverage it!  If you can think of a way to get people to engage with your brand you'll see increased revenue. I love Youtube for this.  Here is an example of an unsexy brand crushed it.

<a>http://worldsbestcasestudies.com/dela-say-something-wonderful/</a> - Try and watch this without crying!  I dare you!

Follow it up with promoted posts,

<a>http://moz.com/ugc/a-comprehensive-guide-to-facebook-ads-a-30-minute-crash-course-in-facebook-advertising-17132</a>

<a>http://www.salesforcemarketingcloud.com/blog/2013/04/social-media-advertising-guide/</a>

2. PPC campaign focusing on the Long-tail.  You aren't going to beat Zazzle, but maybe you can be more strategic with your keywords.

<a>http://www.wordstream.com/ppc-advertising</a>

Good luck!

P.S. Remember that Moz is no longer SEOmoz for a reason.  There is a ton of content here on alternative online marketing outlets.  Spend some time in the blogs section and research.  Go out there and kick some ass!

[mker]

Great answers.   Thank you for taking the time.