Ask HN: Getting deranked in Google due to a link list?
Two months ago I posted a list of 61 QUBO formulations and cited every single one (which resulted in 33 links to papers) [0].
After seeing this post get crawled by Google, my traffic dropped permanently by more than 50%. It has also stopped growing (which it did before). Of course, afterwards I noticed my mistake (I suppose Google thought I had become somewhat of a 'link spamming' site?!). Hindsight is 20/20.
But I refuse to remove this page, since I find it extremely resourceful and use it all the time in projects (I work on a Quantum Computing startup) and to send that list to others.
I guess the point of this post is two-fold:
1. What does HN think about Google aggressively deranking people due to one simple mistake? Could others share their stories?
2. Is there anything I can do to get back my original traffic without removing this post? Should I remove the links and just keep the text citation? Did I fuck up permanently, with Google flagging my site or something?
Appreciate any input.
[0]: https://blog.xa0.de/post/List-of-QUBO-formulations/
2 comments
[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 17.9 ms ] threadThe non-gamey way to approach this would be to expand your content by adding a summaries and comparisons. This is what I imagine Google wants to see. Aside from improving metrics like time on page and external links vs unique content, you'll be addressing the underlying factors they're trying to measure - unique, useful content which users can't get elsewhere.
GoogleBot can be fickle. Consistently publish more content, worry less about sudden variations.
You can also fix one webfont issue here:
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=...