Lost 24 places with one keyword
-
Hi All,
Hope I could get some help. Moz has just finished crawling 1 of our 4 business sites and one of our keywords has dropped 24 places (21st to 45th).
Is this the new algorithm at play? (our site is responsive)
Cheers
-
First of all David, I would wait until the next refresh before making any decision on what could / couldn't have caused this. The MOZ tracker might have just caught the SERP in the middle of a bit of a Google dance, so it may return to where it was originally.
If not, then we can look at other alternatives - it certainly doesn't sound like changing the page title as you suggest, could do this.
Cheers,
Andy
-
Hi Andy,
Im using the keyword rankings tool in Moz. I first saw the drop today after the crawl compared to last week. I have made a change yesterday as the Page title wasnt correct (it was some random content) and the meta descirption was the same content as the page title - neither which included the keyword that im targeting.
Hope this is the right direction ?
Cheers
-
Great - Thanks as always mate
-
Hi David,
Very difficult to say with any degree of certainty. There is so many reason why this could be but if you are seeing the drop in rankings on a desktop machine rather than mobile, it won't be the mobile algorithm.
When did you first see the drop? What are you using to do your tracking? Have you made any changes to the site recently or undertaken any off-site work such as link building?
Cheers,
Andy
-
Hi David
I would line up the drop with the algorithm history; from there you can assess the following:
-
Do I need to do a content audit?
-
Do I need to do a backlink audit?
-
Are my issues mobile related?
-
Just because a site is responsive doesn't mean there arent other issues
-
Do I need to look into my local SEO?
If it was a recent drop (within the last week) I would say it's probably based on mobile, but you would have to check your mobile traffic in your Google Analytics.
I would specifically look into that page and check your Google Webmaster Tools to see if any other issues have been happening or seen. Make sure your on-site SEO is on point, content is well kept and optimized, look into your backlinks (and your competitor's who may now be ranking - this is to be used as a guide - not a copycat), and you should find out pretty quick where the issue is.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
-
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
-
Old homepage in google on branded keyword
Hello there, I have a strange problem: if you search "probike" (romanian google.ro), i get an OLD homepage with https://www.probike.ro , and my new homepage is https://probike.ro, the real problem is that title/meta description are not available (see attachment). Redirect 301: Ok
Technical SEO | | Shanaki
Robots.txt: Ok
Sitemap: Ok Help, is annoying 🙂 With respect, Andrei I33gThc0 -
Words order in keywords phrase
Hello, I read that Google can "read" in all directions a while ago. Does this mean that keyword quires "Santa Monica appliance repair" and "appliance repair Santa Monica" are the same? Would you track both of them, or tracking only one would be enough? Thank you!
Technical SEO | | kirupa0 -
Avoid Keyword Self-Cannibalization
I'm working on the SEO for a page on my website for using a specific keyword. When I do the on page grader, It has unticked - 'Avoid Keyword Self-Cannibalization'. What is the best way to sort this issue? I've noticed that the page is using 2 URLs - does this play a role with this and my ranking in Google?
Technical SEO | | Jaybeamer0 -
Domain Switch - With lost control of original domain.
Hey all, A client finally sold a domain name after being harassed to sell for many years, without talking to us about it first. They moved the site to a new domain, and the purchasing company took over the original domain. Then they called me, wondering why the site is no longer showing up in Google. I've done some initial research, and everything I find for advice assumes that you have control over the original domain. We don't. I'm hoping someone here has some creative advice, so we don't have to start from the beginning, and/or painfully update links we've acquired. My only thought was that the new company may be kind enough to post 301's for us if we provided them.... Any thoughts / advice / life rings will be greatly appreciated! 🙂
Technical SEO | | KBK0 -
Keyword in Domain or not?
My on page optimization grade is an "A" with the following factors; Factor Overview <dl class="scoreboard clearfix"> <dt>Critical Factors</dt> <dd>4 / 4</dd> <dt>High Importance Factors</dt> <dd>7 / 7</dd> <dt>Moderate Importance Factors</dt> <dd>8 / 9</dd> <dt>Low Importance Factors</dt> <dd>11 / 11</dd> <dt>Optional Factors</dt> <dd>5 / 5</dd> </dl> The main thing I appear to be missing is keywords in my URL. How truly important is that in today's SEO world and how much time or ranking would be lost if I do not have control to change the external links to my website if I decided to migrate to a keyword relevant url?
Technical SEO | | classa0 -
Hyphens in keywords
Anyone know if hyphens affect the SEO value of keywords? So is: Sandwich-making course Worse than: Sandwich making course I'm talking about in titles and body text. I already know that too many hyphens is a bad idea in URLs and domain names.
Technical SEO | | JacobFunnell0 -
Keywords
Hi All, If I had a site about a cartoon character (for example). When I add keywords to the 'keywords' meta tag, would I be best to put specific phrases such as Cartoon Character, Cartoon Character on TV, Cartoon Character on Television or would the following have the same effect: Cartoon Character, Tv, Movie, Television I was wondering if having the above instance might be less effective as the search engines might read TV, Movie, Television as less relevant to Cartoon Character. Hope that makes sense! 🙂
Technical SEO | | wedmonds0