Google's John Mueller told one publisher that "it's possible that there's just no SEO solution" to your Google ranking issues. He said sometimes it is not a technical or link building issue, sometimes it has to do with your content and your product and that "the site strategy is now obsolete."
John Mueller said this on Reddit when asked "If I hire an SEO expert service would they be able to find out whats wrong with my website and help me improve it?" Here is the full question:
Over 6 years ago I lost all traffic to my google news website, I just blog, I don't do any coding or anything, I don't do link building either, but I was so nervous I hired some SEO expert and used some of the last money I had left and they basically robbed me blind.I spend $$$ and they just got back to me a few days later and sent me a check list you can find online no help at all. I was gutted, Its been years and I still blog on my website but have no clue why im not ranking well. If I hire an SEO expert or service how do I know which ones are quality and not a scam crook like the one last time?
John Mueller replied in full saying:
One of the things to keep in mind is that it's possible that there's just no SEO solution. 6 years is a long time, and the web + Google News + everything around it has evolved quite a bit. Sometimes it's not a technical issue, sometimes it's not something you can fix by just "buying a bunch of links", sometimes it's just that the site strategy is now obsolete. You can have a fantastic website, make it super-fast, have "high authority & trustworthiness" (however you want to define that), but if you're selling VHS cassettes, you're going to have a bad time. It's more obvious when there's a physical product involved, but if content is your product, it applies just as well.
I guess the only strategy here would be to have your content talk about something else, a service or product that isn't obsolete. The deal is, I suspect a lot of people reading this do write content on products and servers that are not obsolete but yet also saw their traffic from Google Search see a similar gradual decline?
Forum discussion at Reddit.
