Unexpected Search Engine Rankings: When Store Archive Pages Surpass Optimized Product Pages
In the competitive world of e-commerce, maintaining high search engine rankings for individual product pages is crucial for driving traffic and conversions. However, there are instances when the expected performance shifts unexpectedly. Recently, I encountered such a scenario that underscores the complexities of SEO dynamics within online stores.
The Situation
Approximately a year ago, one of my product pages achieved a prominent position on the first page of search engine results for its target keyword. This placement significantly contributed to organic traffic and sales. However, over the past year, that page’s ranking has declined markedly. Surprisingly, the store’s archive page—seemingly devoid of substantial content—now outperforms the product page in search rankings.
The Surprising Shift
This phenomenon leads to several questions:
– Why has the archive page overtaken the optimized product page?
– What factors are influencing this shift?
It’s important to note that the archive page currently lacks the rich content or detailed information that typically benefits a product page’s SEO. Despite this, it now ranks higher.
Backlink Profile Analysis
Examining the backlink profiles provides some insights:
– The product page has accumulated numerous backlinks, including a substantial number of spammy or low-quality links that I did not intentionally acquire.
– Conversely, the archive page has no significant backlinks.
Backlinks remain one of the most influential factors for search rankings. The quality and relevance of links are critical; spammy backlinks can lead to penalties or diminish a page’s authority. On the other hand, the absence of backlinks on the archive page better ensures it is not penalized, at least from a backlink quality perspective.
Potential Causes and Considerations
Several hypotheses emerge:
– Content and Optimization Factors: The product page’s content might have become less relevant or less optimized over time, while the archive page, despite its minimal content, benefits from structural SEO factors such as internal linking.
– Link Spam Impact: The low-quality backlinks to the product page could be negatively affecting its ranking, especially if search engines interpret them as spam.
– Indexing and Crawling Dynamics: Google may have reassessed the relevance and authority of individual pages based on various signals, including backlink profiles and user engagement.
Moving Forward
To address this situation, consider the following steps:
– Audit the Backlink Profile: Use SEO tools to analyze backlinks pointing to your product page. Disavow spammy