Posting this here so that it might help others. This is the response I've had from Carey.
No problems with speed at my end (TSOHost, Google downloads it in 550ms average). Not sure which links he posted to, but I'm happy its not the speed.
No messages in Webmaster Tools.
The site doesnt only have unique content on the homepage, every page is unique right down to the privacy policy. All product names have been tidied up and all product descriptions are unique.
I dont think that adding the extra content would make any difference considering a single HTML page (this is one of the ones I had a holding page on rather than a wordpress install) was ranking on the first page for this prior to FSB.
I appreciate Carey taking the time to respond etc, although Im not going to put any more time into it at the minute. I'll continue building links to this domain which is now the only one that has FSB on, but I dont think I'll be using it for any more sites - at least not at the minute anyway.
How long had your sites been live before the rankings dropped?
The most important thing is patience - everyone who has had problems from Acorn did not give it enough time. Do the right things and it the rankings will come back.
The site does seem to load a bit slow - did you check this via the links I posted in the thread?
Any messages in Google Webmaster tools?
I just noticed your site also only has unique content on the homepage. I always recommend *at least* 5 pages of good, unique content. To make sure with your site and as your rankings dropped, add a couple more also. I recommend:
- 200 words minimum on the two categories
- 3 articles about ##SITE KEYWORDS##
- homepage (this is good already)
- 200 words on at least a couple of popular products (as many as possible)
No problems with speed at my end (TSOHost, Google downloads it in 550ms average). Not sure which links he posted to, but I'm happy its not the speed.
No messages in Webmaster Tools.
The site doesnt only have unique content on the homepage, every page is unique right down to the privacy policy. All product names have been tidied up and all product descriptions are unique.
I dont think that adding the extra content would make any difference considering a single HTML page (this is one of the ones I had a holding page on rather than a wordpress install) was ranking on the first page for this prior to FSB.
I appreciate Carey taking the time to respond etc, although Im not going to put any more time into it at the minute. I'll continue building links to this domain which is now the only one that has FSB on, but I dont think I'll be using it for any more sites - at least not at the minute anyway.