Advice Needed Just Dropped From PR 8 to PR6 - What Do I Do

[althecat]

Hi SEOMoz,

I am the GM of http://www.scoop.co.nz

Today (or possibly yesterday) we dropped  from PR 8 to PR6.

Have we been penalised by Panda 2?

If so what do we do? I have seen posts about seeking a reconsideration, or something but do not know who to contact or what to ask.

best regards

[EGOL]

There was an update of the toolbar pagerank over the weekend.  Lots of sites up, lots down.  Just because your visible PR dropped does not say you are in trouble.

Here is the important question.... How are your traffic and rankings?

[evolvingSEO]

HI

I would not worry about PR too much.  Check your traffic, rankings and other key metrics over the next week or so.  If they hold steady, I wouldn't worry about it.  Just keep doing everything with the best practices possible.

A 10 second look at your site and nothing "panda-like" jumps out at me.

-Dan

[EGOL]

Also, the pagerank that you see on the toolbar is at least a month and a half old... the most recent pages that have pagerank are from early may.  So, if this pagerank was a problem for you you would have seen the symptoms a while ago.

My guess is that you were barely an 8... then your site lost a few links, got bigger or didn't gain as fast as the rest of the web.... and now you are a very high 6.

[althecat]

We were still 8 at the weekend. We have moved between 6 and 7 in the past... and moving back to 7 would be sad but not alarming. 8 to 6 is a big change. But the reassurance is good. None of

Traffic is showing a slight drop off. On a week to week basis we are down 10% but today is the lowest thursday in two months (in google referrers). Rankings? Do you mean keywod rankings?

[althecat]

Thanks Dan. Its helpful to know not to panic

[althecat]

That's something I didn't know. We have seen a bit of a decline over the past month but this seems to happen to us every June.

We have been an 8 for several years since 2007 I think. We have incoming 34,000  domains with incoming followed links.

Another thing is that our sub- domains do not appear to have been effected badly.

We do have far too many links per page (including a fair few outbound ones) . Could this be responsible in anyway?

[althecat]

Question: Is thare any way to know if you have been penalised?

[mattbeswick]

One thing to remember is that PageRank is just one of many ranking factors, and Google themselves say not to worry about it too much. The thing to look at is your traffic - if you're seeing a sudden drop-off then you may have been penalised. If it's gradual or seasonal then there are other things at play such as not gaining links as fast as everyone else, outdated architecture, etc.

Finally, google.com actually dropped from a 10 to a 9 in the recent update and I'm pretty sure they aren't having any traffic issues

As for being able to tell if you've had a penalty - the only real way is a sudden drop in rankings / traffic across your site. Sadly Google don't tell you anywhere so it's all guess work!

Hope that's helpful,

Matt

[EGOL]

If you have been penalized you will know right away.  Your traffic will TANK and so will your income.

... btw... I am seeing PR8 on your homepage here in USA.

Traffic is showing a slight drop off. On a week to week basis we are down 10% but today is the lowest thursday in two months (in google referrers).

My traffic is showing the same thing.... if your site is like mine and pulls global traffic... you probably see a traffic drop  in June each year because of lower academic search in the Northern Hemisphere.  (I know you are in NZ)

Rankings? Do you mean keywod rankings?

Yes

[Charlessipe]

One of my blogs fell from a PR4 to a PR3 but traffic might be the best in 5 years. The toolbar page rank is a pretty poor indicator and I prefer to look at Mozrank and SEOMoz Page Authority.

Here is a good post on the topic of why toolbar PR is a poor metric: http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2011/06/pagerank-8-reasons-dont-care.htm