Why are Google ranking changes so drastic?
-
Hi SEOmoz community
I'm sure this question has been asked numerous times before. At the same time there must be plenty of people out there wondering about the same thing:
Why are Google ranking changes so drastic? It's like the diva of search engines. When checking the SEOmoz ranking reports, sometimes lots of keywords improve, the next week it's vice versa. Mind though that the ranking changes are not in proportion.
While improving keywords climb up by approx. 1 - 10 positions, declining keywords always get a smack with a 15 - 25 position drop, even though these very same keywords are being targeted onsite through new content. It seems to make no difference after all
Is it possible, that keyword fluctuations are stronger for younger sites? The site I am talking about is about a year old. Is it possible that more competitive keywords see more drastic fluctuations?
Would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Thanks!!
-
Hi sherohass and Wendy Ang
Thanks for your replies! Ha, I like the one about Google continuously changing their algorithms to their own benefit. Yeah, even though some people would disagree, it's a constant battle with a monopoly that has grown out of proportion. Therefore, if you want to rank profitably before 10 years have gone by and before you've smothered your identity across all them social networks out there, I believe there is no other way than applying a bit of black hat.
Personally I don't do heavy black hat (some I guess you even do unintentionally) as my knowledge in the area is not good enough to risk it and loose out altogether. But as mentioned before, it's annoying to see some keywords crawl up 3 positions, while another one gets the boot with a 25 positions drop.
Well, so long...
-
Google the king of search engines is the Major Dominant force here. They change their alogarithm constantly to their benefit. Some people who had good ranking websites that displayed lots of google adwords have dropped their rank cos google I gather do not want to pay more for ads for websites that are highly ranked especially in google searches.
Most of the websites that have dropped Rankings have not been growing or changing. Adding new content in form of Blog and Forums seems to be very popular now.
Hope this helps.
-
my site is more than 10 year old but i experienced dropped from one of my keywords. i've been holding a page 1 position for that keyword for more than 5 years until last month. My competitor on the other hand, owns a very young domain but climb up to no. 1 ranking. I noticed its because they have a lot of government website clients and they added hidden links from those websites that they developed for the government.
we recently revamped our website to make it more search engine friendly (with longer content even though i hate long content). i've seen minor improvements but hopefully we'll get back to our original ranking in a few weeks.
my site is www.myoptimind.com and the keyword i lost ranking to is web design philippines
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google Analytics Tagging
Hi. I'm trying to figure out a solution to three questions one of my current clients has asked me in regards to Google Analytics tagging, and I'm unsure how to respond. Can anyone help? See below the questions, 1. In Google Acquisition > Overview, their paid media is reporting as "Other". They do not run any Google paid ads. They only run Facebook paid ads. Is there a way to update the source so that it says "Paid" versus "Other" within the default channel? The current solution was advised to create a channel group that the client has to then tick on overtime they want to see this data with the correct labeling. They would prefer to see it in the default. Is it just a matter of going into the *default channel, choosing the "Paid" option, and then specifying the source/medium that contains Facebook, CPC, or referral to be categorized under this channel? Or is it something else? *Aware that changes to the Default Channel are permanent changes and will change how new traffic is classified. 2. In Google Acquisition > Overview > Referral, the clients website is showing up as a referring domain, both the TLD and the subdomain. My understanding is that it should actually be reporting under the "Direct" channel. How do I correct this? Is it just a matter of updating the Direct channel to include those domains? Or do I need to update the settings? The domain's www. http: all 301 redirect to their https://domain.com and https://subdomain.domain.com. Within settings it has been specified as www.domain.com and URL is http:// - also noticed that Bot Filtering has not been checked, assuming this could mess up the analytic data if not define? Do you know? 3. Audience segmentation > The client wants to be able to define it's audience by shopping intent and informational intent. Is there a clear way to do this, for example, by keywords used, e.g. buy, product name, entry (shopping intent), versus e.g. non-purchase intent, entry to the blog, length of time on site (info intent). Would be happy to have a conversation about the last question, since I'm conscious that there are probably multiple ways to define this - thanks. To the group, thank you for readying my questions and helping me with these solutions - your time is appreciated and valued. Sincerely, Amanda
Search Behavior | | AmandaValle.Digital0 -
Search Analytics update in Google Webmasters Tools? Where can we find search queries bringing traffic to website?
I just got up and see Search Analytic's being updated today totally. Their is no option to see old reports. As Search Analytics only share 999 keywords.
Search Behavior | | csfarnsworth
Whats next now?
How can a webmaster finds all search queries bringing traffic to his website?
Any paid or free tool?
Google Analytic's > Acquisition > Search engine optimization > search queries will this area helps? Whole question revolves around. Any good tool that will help you find all the queries bringing traffic to my website?0 -
How come this one google places listing is the only one to show up google maps?
Hi there, I found a really weird thing about google places. I'm working on a google places listing optimization for a locksmith company in Houston, TX. When I was searching google maps for "locksmith houston" only one listing came up. However, when searching for "locksmith near houston" 880 results came up. This changes from time to time, but most of the time this one competitor is the only listing that shows up which is really really weird. Anybody has an idea what this competitor did to get rid of the other 879 results and show up alone on google maps??
Search Behavior | | activechase1 -
Visitors via Android App in Google Analytics
Hey there Mozzers! For one of our clients, we've developed an application on both Android and iOS. In the app, there is a link to the regular website. Can I see these visitors from the IOS/Android app in Google Analytics? Can I find them via Refferals? Thanks a lot in advance! Partouter
Search Behavior | | Partouter0 -
Ranking Problem (my most important Q so far on here)
Hi, I have a keyword which is location specific and without any work doing to it, it ranked page 4 position 7. I did 4 guest posts all in one go and the it moved to page 3 position 5, I then left it for a week (position didn't move) and did another guest post a day after the guest post had been indexed I lost rankings and moved back to page 4, position 4. Has anyone got an idea why this happened? Is it a case its just fluxing and I could see in a few days it come back to page 3 position 2 or do you think I got an initial boost because the guest posts all went up and its just a fluke that it dropped when the 5th one went up? This is a big deal for me because I rely on guest posting a lot, I've even got a copy writer pumping out 500 quids worth of content a month just for guest blogging. I need to understand what is happening, this is one of the most important questions so far on here so I would appreciate some talk on the matter.
Search Behavior | | activitysuper0 -
Have Google changed something in Analytics
Hi Mozzers, I have a client that gets loads of traffic and since the 15th February there has been a decrease in New Visitors and an Increse in Returning. Traffic levels are the same. The returning is up and new are down by a long long shot. Have Google changed the way these visits are calculated? I can't see anything on the blog - anyone experiencing similar issues Bush
Search Behavior | | Bush_JSM0 -
Google Rel="Next" & Rel="Prev"
Hello, I have a catalogue website and I am implementing the rel="next" and rel="prev" to the website. My question is that we do have a view all page also, which apparently Google likes over a 'page1'.. Should I add the canonical to this page? I already have it set to WEBSITEURL/sonos (which is going well) I don’t want to have to change this to [URL]sonos/view-all (which is my view all link) as the first page is getting ranked well I am then telling Google no, the view all page is the parent. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks Rick
Search Behavior | | Lantec0 -
Google button +1 ( SEO point-of-view )
Hello Folks, First of all, I want to start by: this is a "discussion" topic, which theres no right or wrong answer. I would love to hear from everyone your toughts about the GOOGLE +1 BUTTON , for the SEO point-of-view indeed. I assume that I did not add it to my websites yet, theres some reasons why. You guys added it? How is your audience behaviors against the button, they often click on it? It changed anything in your ranks, after they clicked on it? Thanks in advance.
Search Behavior | | augustos0