Issue with Category Ranking on Page 1 vs. Homepage Ranking on Page 2
-
A client has a high-volume keyword that is rendering different results, whether it is on page one or page two of Google SERPs. If the keyword is on page one, ONLY the category page is ranking. When the keyword bumps off to page two, BOTH the category AND the homepage are ranking. This is happening on our IP and theirs, incognito and personalized searches. This has been happening since February.
Any thought/insights would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!!!
-
Robert
Hmmm ok - this could possibly be an architectural and/or internal linking issue confusing Google as to which page it should rank. Or maybe it's your keyword targeting on both pages. Would you say the subcategory page is more optimized/focused on the keyword than the homepage?
-
Hi Dan - Yes, it is a product subcategory for eCommerce vs. the homepage. I would definitely say the product subcategory is more relevant/better conversion rate, which is why the homepage showing up WITH the subcategory on page two is strange. And to be clear, this isn't happening all of the time, just some of the time.
-
Robert
To clarify - is this a product category for eCommerce or a blog category? I am assuming eCommerce product category. So the user is presented with a list of products in this category?
If so - what I would do is try to first determine which is better for users to land on. Does one get a higher conversion rate than the other? Which page is more relevant to the query?
-
- Thank you Dan! Without giving too much away about my client, the query is something like "descriptive adjective + product" like "petite dresses." It is in the apparel industry. I just checked in Google Search console (great idea!) and it looks like the query in question has navigated 926 clicks to the category page and 550 clicks to the homepage in the last month. So, both the homepage and the category pages are ranking for this keyword. It is so strange.
-
Hi Robert
Some others have given some great ideas. Wanted to chime in and ask if you can give any more info? It's tough to say what's going on in such a general context. Anything would help - industry, a URL, keywords.
Also, as Andy suggested - do you have other sources of data to back this up? I would suggest actually looking in Search Console (Webmaster Tools) for your query and landing page data and see if you can tell how much it's happening one way or the other. You can filter by country, device and time period to segment things even more.
Let us know if you can provide more info or find any more data!
-
I would improve the category page and enjoy!
-
Robert
Tough question. I have a high volume keyword for a client - a competitors name that I have a similar pattern with that I follow v closely. Very low CTR though. I am not sure of the parallels, but here goes. I have formed the view their are three key problems with our clients page. The first is the page loading speed fluctuates. The second is the content is not strong enough on the page - so people pogo stick off - some days they stick but most they bounce. The third is the page & domain authority are not strong enough.
I appreciate they are universal type answers. But the combination of all three or anyone explain the behavior I am observing. I actually think stickiness is the key factor to the search result staying at position 4, but until I eliminate the other two they form part of my differential diagnosis.
Not sure if that helps at all, but there you go.
-
Hi Robert,
Do you have any external tracking setup that would confirm this for you? I'm always very cautious with always trusting results from my own desktop and like to have these verified.
-Andy
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
-
Rank brain and User stats
We have a company that has very good link metrics (much better than competitors), great content, conversions and generates 3x the amount of turnover the other companies do. The issue is we are being challenged on our number one keywords by this competitor selling lower value items to get to 70% of the same amount of customers as us and I feel we can put this down to Rank brain and us having a strong sales force and due to this very few make it back to the websites (30% are new and 70% are repeat and for repeat we have a strong sales force unlike that competitor which catch the reorder before the make it back to the site again) so we lose the ctr, brand etc from the repeat not returning (the competitor only sells though the website so all return) In effect they have 500 customers and we have 200 so Ctr, brand, back to serp would be stronger could this effect the rankings? If you look at it like this Two companies with 500 customers (200 new and 300 repeat) 500 customers to the first all have to order online so 500 customers going back to serps, CTR up due to them searching to get the site up etc 500 customers for the second but 300 (the repeat) go though the sales lines and find the number on the email or agents call them when predicted to order again so never have to go back to the site = 40% less CTR and staying on the site customers
Algorithm Updates | | BobAnderson0 -
Clicks are the ultimate factor to stick the page on position?
Hi all, We know many factors contribute to make a page rank at (top) position like somewhere in top 5 results. I have seen some of our pages suddenly spike to that positions and locked there. They been receiving clicks too. Will they be dropped if they don't get estimated clicks? I think many factors contribute to make a page rank higher but clicks are the one factor which makes the page consistently rank at its best position. What do you say? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Would having links on wikipedia help search engine rankings?
I am wondering that having a listing on Wikipedia would help search engine rankings in general? I know all of the Wikipedia links are no-follow links but I think it'd still help to rank higher on search engines. What are your thoughts?
Algorithm Updates | | ahmetkul1 -
Why Is The Wrong Page Ranking?
In the past two weeks, I've seen some movement in ranking for "Tampa Personal Injury Attorney." The problem is that this page: http://www.kempruge.com/personal-injury/ is the one that's ranking and not this page: http://www.kempruge.com/location/tampa/tampa-personal-injury-legal-attorneys/ which is the one I've been working on. Also, the former page has made it to page 4 (not great) but better than 7, which is what the latter page was. In addition, the latter page now doesn't rank at all (or at least not in the first 16 pages). Finally, according to Moz, the latter page (the one that no longer ranks) is my second best page after my homepage. I just don't understand this at all. Is this a fluke? Should I just try to work on the page that's ranking higher over the page I've put the time into? Thanks, Ruben
Algorithm Updates | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
What would you recommend i do to improve my rankings?
I am looking for some advice as to what I need to do to improve my rankings? website: www.funktiongolf.co.uk Thanks Ben
Algorithm Updates | | funktiongolf0 -
Does Google or Bing use words in the page title beyond the displayed limit for ranking purposes?
Standard good practice for on-page SEO includes keeping page title length below the maximum that Google displays in the SERPs. But words in the title beyond that maximum can be indexed, even if they don't show in the SERPs for end users. For ranking purposes, is there any value in words beyond the character limit in page titles that are truncated in the SERPs?
Algorithm Updates | | KyleJB0 -
If you rank first organically for a keyword, will you rank first for variations?
Hi everyone, Hoping that someone will be able to answer this question for us. If we rank first organically for a keyword, are we safe to assume that we'll rank first (or close to it) for variations of that keyword as well? E.g. If we rank first easily for "Hamilton Island", can we safely assume that we will rank well organically for close variations of that keyword such as "Hamilton Islands", "Hamiltonisland", "Hamilton Island Hotel" due to the fact that "Hamilton Island" is in those keywords? We're deciding which keywords to monitor in SEOmoz and we don't want to waste keywords on very similar terms if we don't have to. Really appreciate any responses! Cheers.
Algorithm Updates | | HamiltonIsland0 -
Ranking Riddle Who Gets the #1 Spot?
Out of these two competitors, who should receive the #1 spot on Google for Furniture Stores in Delaware and why or why not? [see attached images] fb-url-data.png cohen-url-data.png fb-anchor.png cohen-anchor.png fb-on-page.png cohen-on-page.png
Algorithm Updates | | Getz.pro0