Jump to content

Google ranking disappeared

Recommended Posts

Site URL: https://www.richardsaltermusic.com/

Hi everyone.

Sorry for the long rambling post. I've got a question about SEO if anyone has a moment to answer please.

I'm not very web savvy but have built my site. I tagged all the images on there, but with the benefit of hindsight I unknowingly used keyword stuffing. That was a few days ago & yesterday I noticed that my ranking, which was page four of Google has disappeared. Well, it's still on Google but is not even in the first ten pages. The site is my portfolio, and there's probably close to a hundred images, in three galleries, on there. which I've tagged in descriptions. I have revised all the image tags to just three keywords: "Richard Salter Music." Is this still going to be considered keyword stuffing? I really wanted to know if these revisions are sufficient to restore my previous ranking, or is there anything else I need to do? There's no manual action notices on Google search console. Some say that my ranking will just restore, others say it's not that simple. Any suggestions or guidance gratefully received! Thanks in advance. x

Link to comment
  • Replies 4
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Hi Richard,

The site looks good – I like the aesthetic 🙂 

Here's a short answer to your question about keyword stuffing and alt text for images: the alt text for each image should be a quick description of what's in the image – something that would help explain the image to someone using a screenreader to view your website. So using identical, non-descriptive alt text on all of your images is not the right approach. Better to use the alt text to describe what the images capture (e.g. movie or tv show titles, etc.)

For your site's rankings in Google overall, finding the right strategy depends a lot on your goals for the website. It sounds like your primary goal is simply to show up in searches for your name + relevant industry terms, which means you need to teach Google who you are and how you are different from other Richard Salters on the internet. You can achieve some of this with on-page SEO tweaks to your website, but you'll want to integrate that with some off-page SEO tactics as well to build up your presence in the search results page for the keywords you want to rank for.

I also noticed your site is built as a single page site, with anchor links for each section. It can often be harder to rank a single page site, particularly when there is enough content on the site to spread the sections out into separate pages.

If you're interested, I'd be happy to talk about some of these options in more detail. There's info about SEO consult services here.

Ed

 

--

Blue Hills Digital
Support with website optimization, SEO and finding a digital marketing strategy that works.

Latest resource: Squarespace SEO Services

Link to comment

@edharris

 

Thanks Ed!

 

This is all really great info, much appreciated.

 

Thanks for the offer of a more detailed chat, but I'm totally out of budget on this I'm afraid.

 

The two things I was eager to find out though is if I've lost my Google ranking, and incurred some kind of penalty for keyword stuffing, will it be restored now I have removed all the tagging?

 

Also, my current tagging in the description of the images are: "Richard Salter Music, then name of whatever record label, publisher or TV channel I've worked with after that. Is this still going to be considered keyword stuffing, or something that I'm going to lose my ranking over?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

x

Link to comment

I think including "Richard Salter Music" in the image alt tags is unlikely to make a big difference in your search ranking. I think it's unlikely to provide any benefit, since it's clear to Google's crawlers that the website is all about "Richard Salter Music"! As you add more images, I'd advise sticking to a clear accurate description of the image itself.

--

Blue Hills Digital
Support with website optimization, SEO and finding a digital marketing strategy that works.

Latest resource: Squarespace SEO Services

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

×
×
  • Create New...

Squarespace Webinars

Free online sessions where you’ll learn the basics and refine your Squarespace skills.

Hire a Designer

Stand out online with the help of an experienced designer or developer.