Is this a google dance?

[ragivan]

My website keeps moving up and down in ranking but stays within page 2 to 3. Everyday its at a new position.

[photoseo1]

Marie, I totally agree with you I have a site I am working on that keeps going from 2 to 7 then to 3 then to 7. It is hard to know what is working and what isn't and if it is working at all. I guess I will just sit tight for a while.

I agree, just keep making good content and you can't loose.

[ragivan]

My site settled in on the 2nd page. I think it had to do with google re-evaluating my sites back links. I had done some a few weeks earlier.

[Dr-Pete]

It can be really tough to separate the Google "dance" from "bounce" from daily fluctuations. The "Google dance" was originally a reference to monthly algorithm/data updates - that actual phenomenon has been gone for years now. Data is updated all the time, and the algorithm can change daily at this point. If you suspect an algorithm change has impacted your site (for example - a Panda update), you typically have to look at the dates of the updates and how the factors in that update are represented on your site. We keep an ongoing history here:

http://www.seomoz.org/google-algorithm-change

When I think of "bounce", I tend to think of sites that are moving up and down a lot for a sustained period of time (while other sites in the same rankings don't move). That can, in some cases, be a sign of an impending penalty or Google re-evaluating something about your site (your indexed pages, links, etc.).

Unfortunately, it can be really tough to separate "bounce" from daily fluctuations. I'm working on a project to track daily changes in rankings, and one thing I can tell you is that Google is far from stable. The average change in any given Top 10 day-to-day is surprisingly high. Anecdotally, the changes in deeper pages of the SERPs (2, 3, etc.) are even larger.

So, this could be perfectly normal. I'd keep an eye on a few things:

(1) Are you tracking using a 3rd-party tool, with personalization, localization, etc. off? It's really easy to see different SERPs these days, just by changing computers, being logged in, etc.

(2) Are you bouncing up and down daily, or is it a gradual change?

(3) Are other people in the Top 20 bouncing as well?

(4) Is this bounce having any real impact? This gets into @stubby's reply - if the bounce isn't impacting search traffic, the number of keywords you get traffic from, the pages that get traffic, etc., it may not be worth worrying about. Dig into Google Webmaster Tools and your analytics and find out what impact these ranking changes are really having on visitors to your site.

[ragivan]

My site just disappeared from rankings. Just my home page for my main keyword. Other pages of my site can still be found. In fact, one of my pages are on the 5th page. This is the 2nd time this week my home page dropped out entirely from SERP. Should I now be worried?

[MarieHaynes]

Something funky is definitely going on in the SERPS in one of my niches for the last few weeks.  For our main keyword, our site is jumping from #3 to #10 or anywhere in between.

I can see why people would say not to do any linkbuilding while this is happening, because if your position dropped or increased you wouldn't know if it was due to your linkbuilding efforts.  However, I look at this a different way.  I wouldn't do any risky linkbuilding in this time period.  Gaining great quality links by developing great content, for example, is only going to help you.

I do personally think there is a major shakeup going on with the algorithm right now...and who knows how long that will last fror!

[AlanMosley]

I have to disagree on the page 2 or 3 being useless. 70% of visits come from long tail searches. the better you rank for your keyword, even if not on page one, the more long tails you will get. Sometimes we get too raped on main keywords when the real money is in long tails.

[SeattleOrganicSEO]

I wouldn't worry about what you call the "google dance."  SEO can be done at any time.  The key is to do it properly.  You can do as much of it as you want as long as it's not creating problems like the recent "over optimization" penalties being leveraged.

Keep building up your on page optimization, keep doing what it takes to get great natural links and if possible, continue to build relationships both offline and on and you should be fine.

[ragivan]

I was told not to do SEO stuff like link building during a google dance. Also, im just curious since I was also told that after the google dance is done, I might position much better than before, possibily on page 1.

[stubby]

I hope you don't find this harsh:

The question is irrelevant.  If you are on page 2 or 3, who cares if it is page 2 or page 3, you might as well be on page 10.  Take some good action to improve so that you get on page 1, then worry about what nickname you wish to call the minor daily fluctuations.

Good Luck!