Can you be penalised in Google for excessive internal keyword linking?

[sparrowdog]

I have an online shop and 3 blogs (with different topics) all set up on sub-domains (for security reasons, don't want Word Press installed in the same hosting space as my shop in case one gets hacked).

I have been on the front page of Google for a keyword, lets say 'widgets' for months now. I have been writing blogs about 'widgets', probably about 1/4 of all my blog posts are linking to the 'widgets' page in my shop. I write maybe 1-2 blogs a week, so it's not excessive.

This morning I have woken to fine that the widgets page in my shop has vanished from Google's index.

So typing in 'widgets' brings up nothing. It hasn't dropped in the rankings, it's just vanished. A few weeks ago I ranked 3 or 4. Then I dropped to about 6. A couple of days ago, i jumped back up to 5 and now it's vanished.

If you type in 'buy widgets', or 'widgets online' or 'widgets australia', I have the #1 spot for all those, but for 'widgets', I just don't exist anymore.

Could I have been penalised for writing too many posts and keyword linking internally? They're not keyword stuffed and they're well written. I just don't understand what's happened.

Right now I"m freaking out about blogging and putting internal links on my website.

[zoicaremus]

Hello Joanne,

You should not worry about it, unless it's taken to an extreme.

Here's a video from Matt Cutts that explains this very clearly:

Will multiple internal links with the same anchor text hurt a site's ranking?

So basically you can't be penalized by links similar to breadcrumbs or links used for navigation. Unless their number is amazingly high. And like you said - if the pages are not keyword stuffed and they're well written - this should not be the problem.

[partyrama]

Good response and good link

I think its all blown over with the link spamming.

If you got lots of relevant content to support your links then I am sure you would be fine

[sparrowdog]

Thanks for the responses.

Within 12-24 hours, I actually bounced back on to the front page. In the last 2-3 weeks I have seen this particular ranking be anywhere between position 3 and position 7 and then not even in the top 200 for a couple of hours.

It seems to be quite a bouncy & unstable ranking. Most of my others sit very solidly and don't move around too much. I now don't think it's the internal linking, but just some weird thing happening and I guess I'll just have to wait for it to settle.