Added some meta titles and keywords but my rankin went down why? Should I undo so I can rank high again.
-
I recently did some SEO optimization to my site and added keywords and meta titles etc..I was ranked #7 and thought I would go up a little but instead I went down to #20. Should I undo what I did to rank high again?
-
There is also something called the Google Dance. It is when google is making changes to its algorithm, indexing new sites, de-indexing sites and just trying to figure out where a site should rank. You can also use your google analytics to check your site.
-
Thanks for all the answers and advice.For some reason today I am back to #7 on Google! Whew...I'll keep checking to make sure it stays there...I did see some new sites below me so Google is obviously making changes.
To Bede, you are correct I meant "title tags". I went from not having any title tags to having my web guy add some after reading an SEO book. I kept them short..followed the advice of SEOmoz after I got flagged for one long title.
Mostly something like: Respiratory CEU course for respiratory therapist.
Key word I'm targeting is "Respiratory CEU"
The only other changes were adding meta keywords, meta description and other things that may or may not help but still good to have.
-
Hi Cesar,
It might be too late, but you should check to see if Google has even crawled that page yet (check out the cache, and whether or not your changes are showing up in the SERPS).
Can you be specific about what you mean by "Meta titles"? Do you mean title tags?
Title tags will certainly have an effect on your ranking. Meta descriptions and keywords will not (though the former will certainly affect click-through rates).
If you are talking about title tags, can you tell us what you changed them to? and what they were before?
Are there any other issues or changes that might affect rankings? For which phrases did the rank drop happen?
-
Have you audited your site using the page analysis tool on this site? Also check out your back links. See if anything has changed. What I also like to do is monitor the activity of my competitors on the SERPS. That way I can gauge what they are doing and when. Use the tools on this site and you will have an edge. Your situation can be because others are implementing seo tactics or just a change in the algorithm.
-
Google (Matt Cutts) has specified that meta titles and descriptions do not impact your ranking, it could have just been a change to google's algorithmic code.
-
The changes were done on May 23rd and the dropped occurred this week. So about a week and a half later.
-
When did you add the meta titles and keywords? I ask this because if you are ranking at position 7 on Monday morning and you then add these components and on Monday night or Tuesday your rankings drop, it's most likely not because of these additions. It could just be an algorithm change that impacted you.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
Duplicate meta and title in Google Webmaster Tools not updated?
Our canonical tags were removed by mistake for some time and our duplicate meta and title warnings in Google webmaster tools html improvements went up. We fixed the issue a week ago. I made sure the sitemap is picking up the canonical URL. Still the number went up after we fixed it (from around 5000 to around 7000 now) but when I click on details, it shows around 2000 in detail page. How long does it take for Google to update this? RB
On-Page Optimization | | rbai0 -
Ranking Oddities
In my local marketplace, I have competitors who have the following: unoptimized title tags and description tags (really long using keyword stuffing), stuffing keywords into the Meta keywords tag, lacking keywords in the body copy, using spammy footers or sections of text with a lot of local cities listed where no physical business is located, unattractive design (in my humble opinion), lower page authority, lower domain authority, lower number of back links and are organically outranking my site that I have tried to optimize using the MOZ tools, Market Samurai, other tools, and other great advice provided by people much more knowledgeable than myself about SEO. I don't understand how these sites that lack SEO continue to rank in the #1 or #2 spots in Google for my main keyword phrase + location, while my site is either not in the top 50 or in the top 40s range. How is it that sites with little to no optimization, no blogs, and very few backlinks, continue to rank quite well? These are not all new sites. Domain ages range from 1 to 10 years. What I am seeing appears to go against the grain of SEO recommendations. Any general thoughts?
On-Page Optimization | | ajgrossman1 -
Wordpress Duplicate Meta Title Issue
Hi, Google webmasters tools is reporting that I have 254 blog pages with duplicate metta titles. Sample below; /blog/2012/06/
On-Page Optimization | | UnderMe
/blog/2012/07/
/blog/2012/08/
/blog/2012/10/
/blog/2012/12/
/blog/2013/01/
/blog/
/blog/?s=boxer
/blog/?s=briefs
/blog/?s=cufflinks
/blog/category/swimwear/
/blog/category/uncategorized/ Can anyone advise what is the best way to address this issue as wordpress seems to assign the site title and tag line set in general settings as the meta title for all blog posts and pages. Thanks0 -
Can Rankings in Google differ so much from computer to computer.
I was telling my friend via facebook to go on my website, I told him to search 'nightlife forum' in google. To which, I believed it was 11th, top of second page. On his computer, its currently ranking at 1st place is it possible to have a difference of 10 places? even though he lives in the same city as me. Would be good to see what it ranks on your computers too google "nightlife forum" look for www.talknightlife.co.uk (don't get confused with the .COM one out there) Cheers Guys
On-Page Optimization | | Lukescotty0 -
Meta Description Question
Is it ok to put your domain name in the meta description if that is the name of your company? so if my company name is BlaBla.com and I want to have a meta description like Shop for your next Widget at BlaBla.com. We have Widget in 30 colors. Free shipping for orders over $50. and I am obviosuly promoting the widget page is this ok. I am concerned that Google will not like the domain name in the meta description. After Peguin I am paranoid about my shadow.....LOL
On-Page Optimization | | freestone0 -
3 keywords optomize for home page. Should I create page with thoses keywords or leave it like this?
My online store home page, Furnace Filters Canada has 3 keywords with good ranking in google.ca keywords: ''furnace filters canada'' rank #1 position in google.ca keywords: ''furnace filters'' and ''furnace filter'' are on 5 or 6th position of page 1 in google.ca Those keywords are bringing most of the traffic to our site. To achieve this ranking, I had to use the On-Page Keyword Optimization, tool from seoMoz Questions: It is possible for me to create a page with the URL: https://www.furnacefilterscanada.com/Furnace-Filters or https://www.furnacefilterscanada.com/Furnace-Filter Can this improve my ranking with keywords like, ''furnace filters'' and ''furnace filter''? Is this a waist of time? If I decide to create a new page for optimization with, do I have to create one for singular and another one for plural? Creating a new page also mean removing, '' Furnace Filter'' in the home page title, until the new pages are index, I'm afraid to loss that 5th position in Google. Should I leave the home page title like it is now, '' Furnace Filter - Furnace Filters Canada - Online Shopping Store NOTE: we only do business in Canada, that is why Google.ca is more important to us Thank you, Jean Nichols
On-Page Optimization | | BigBlaze2050 -
Title Keyword Question
I'm writing up keywords for new pages on a website. There are a number of variations on the way we can say what we're looking for, and I don't want to post the specific keywords but I'll give an example using fruits. Let's say I want to optimize for Granny Smith apples, McIntosh apples, Jonathan apples, etc. Could my title be Apples - Granny Smith, McIntosh, Jonathan and my page will come up when someone searchs "Granny Smith apples" or "McIntosh apples" etc. or do the words have to be repeated in order. Obviously I will also be repeating these in the description and on the page I'm optimizing. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | crlana0 -
Rankings lower than expected
It's an age old question, "why is my site lower in the ranking than theirs" But in this case, I'm really not sure!... and we perform the SEO on both sites in question. The problem site is www.esp-machinery.co.uk We are looking for ranking for phrases such as Used Machine Tools, Grinding Machines, Drilling Machines, Used Lathes etc. We aren't getting it as high as we have already with another customer of ours: www.bwmachinetools.co.uk We perform the SEO on both these sites, yet we've put far more work into the ESP one, and still not getting very far. There are more linking domains to ESP than BW, in truth the BW site has a higher mozrank, but by only a single point. We did not build the ESP site, whereas we built the BW one. There have been some URL problems with the ESP site, but we have hopefully improved things enough working with their original developer to be on the right track now. Any advice most welcome.
On-Page Optimization | | rowleysit-2598920