Where In The (Internet) Hell Did My Website Traffic Go?

Ever have one of those days...

When you just don't know, if you really know, what you actually think you know?
Sorry I couldn't resist using that line:)

Well I'll tell you what, I'm having one of those days and it's causing
me to question things. Maybe someone can help...

My website has been MIA in the rankings for nearly a week now.
I've looked it over so many times I can't stop picturing it in my mind
even after I leave the computer. My cpanel seems etched into my brain.

Normally I wouldn't sit down and write a post on it or for that matter
tell anyone. I'd fix it right off! But today after several new attempts of
trying to understand the Why?, I decided I could use some input from
other experienced marketers like yourself.

I should start by telling you that I searched high and low for the
answers to this problem. I searched forums and asked lots of questions,
I read everything I could find and then some. I went through my webmaster
tools to see if I had changed something that Google was unhappy with.

I though for certain, my site had been BANNED!

Luckily however, this wasn't the case and it had not been
banned but merely deranked to some extent. My site and all it's pages
were still indexed. It was merely caught up in the google shuffle or
google dance, as many of you might refer to it.

So, for a site that had been consistently showing up in the top of search,
for it's theme keywords for over 6 months and much of that time in the
top 3 or 4, it was now no longer ranking in the top 100 :(  Go figure!

Again luck played it's part because although Google had sent
the site backwards, Yahoo and Bing both had moved it up to #1.
What do ya know?

But how does one engine consider a website valuable and another a lump of coal?

I think it's all because of screwy metric and algorithm changes that
are done far more often than probably necessary. Then again....
I really don't know for certain. It's hard to keep up with someone that
changes their algorithms more than little girls like to change clothes.

So again, I ask myself, do I really know what I think I do?

Of course I do! Doubt is the obvious response when something throws
an unexpecting curveball your way. You're never certain you can hit it out,
you just rely on what you've learned and know to help you hit it.

When it comes to rankings, I have stood on top of the engines,
as tens of thousands of established and competing sites
sat seemingly complacent, in the valley below. I know many of you
know the feeling.

Content, SEO, indexing, bookmarking, article submissons,
the list, as you know, goes on and on. You could always be busy
with something site related if that was your plan.  And the there are
countless networks that you can join that have ways of helping sites
to rank higher but be careful, some of these can only help for a while.

In the end, they are not all created even nor are they all what they are
cracked up to be. Some could potentially get you banned from the engines
all together. Avoid the sneaky tricks and gimicks at all costs.

So where should focus be now???

I believe I just need to replicate the process and continue to keep myself
up to date with changes, new techniques as they develop and above all,
never stop learning.

Something else that I need to work on when dealing with giants like SE's
is patience because ultimately, we all know, rankings and standings
dictate our traffic which in turn brings our customers. And without customers,
I'm sure we all agree, we're broke. For now, I'll just be patient and see what
happens once the dance Is over.

So now I'd like to know your thoughts on the matter.
When it comes to dealing with search engines and fluctuating rankings.....

How often have you personally dealt with fluctuating rankings?

What were the necessary steps you took to find a solution?

Or, were you never able to make it back on top?

Please take a minute to share with the readers what you think.

Thank You for taking time out of your busy schedule to visit the Comeback Marketing Blog
I hope you found this useful if not helpful.

Cheers From Wyo