Algorithm Updates
-
Hi
I wanted to ask if anyone had any methods of checking whether you've been affected by a Google refresh? We saw a drop in visits back in July 2015 and I'm trying to pinpoint what from. I saw their was a refresh, but this only affected 2-3% of sites.
I wasn't working on the site back then so I'm not fully aware of what was happening
Thankyou
-
Great thank you. I'll use the tips you have given me to try and work through projects.
-
Great to hear you are setting up SEMrush. I hope you like it.
I check it every morning and when I see green on my projects it gives me energy to work all day. SEMrush isn't cheap but the energy that I get back from it powers me to a lot of money.
-
Yesterday and today visits to a couple of my sites are taking a small decline. But, it is not my rankings. It is being caused universities in North America being off for semester break or taking final exams.
-
Ah yes, I am setting SEM Rush up this week so I can get started.
Your tips on using this are really helpful
-
I use SEMrush and check it every day.
It allows me to make projects (keyword categories). Each project folder can contain all of the important keywords for that category. This is really nice because I work on lots of projects and I can group those keywords together.
It also saves a history of the ranking for each keyword over time.
It also allows me to watch competitors and compare their rankings and rankings changes side-by-side with my own. I know which competitor is moving up or down the SERPs before they know they are moving.
-
Hi
Do you monitor your SERPs manually? I can't go back now but this is something I can do moving forward.
Thanks
-
A lot of people talk about their "visits" going up and down. It can be difficult to tell exactly what Google did, if they did anything to alter the number of visits that you receive.
Google can change their ranking algorithm and that will raise or lower your position in the SERPs. That will influence "visits". You can monitor your rankings using Moz tools, or SEMrush or many other services.
Google can also change the format of the SERPs by including more ads above the organic SERPs, including shopping results, including image results, changing the local pack. These can influence "visits" with no change in rankings. And, the amount that format changes can influence your "visits" is far greater than a change in your rankings - especially if you are ranking on the first page of the SERPs.
"Visits" and "rankings" can both be changed when your competitor's site or your site is moving up or down in the SERPs because they are stronger, more popular, or the opposite. This type of change is normal. I take positions away from my competitors all of the time. Google didn't do anything to them but their rankings and visits were changed because I am working to take turf in their niche.
So, anytime people are talking about a change in "visits" or "traffic" you can't know what Google has done or even if Google has done anything. To figure out what's happening here, you gotta go out and snoop the SERPs.
Half of the chatter on forums about "updates" is done by people who are watching traffic, and not considering SERP format or competitor actions/inactions.
-
If you have access to the analytics i would recommend the panguin tool
Very useful for comparing traffic against Google algo changes
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
-
Does Google giving more important to internal pages than homepage recently? Especially after the recent Major algo update?
Hi everybody, I can see the change Google brought in the SERP. Previously website homepages will be shown for primary keywords, now it's slowly and almost switched to showing most related internal pages in a website. You can check same for keyword "SEO", Most or all the results are internal pages. I can see this change for our primary keyword from last one month. So basically Google is trying to show a page explaining about the primary keywords rather than website, that's how "what is seo" pages are ranking than homepages. If there is no such pages existed or not well written, Google is just showing the website homepage. But I noticed that websites ranking with homepages are dropped compared to the websites with dedicated page about that primary keyword. Please share your thoughts. Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Doorway Algorithm Update Affecting Location Based Pages?
Hi all, I read this article concerning the doorway algorithm update - http://searchengineland.com/google-to-launch-new-doorway-page-penalty-algorithm-216974 This quote is what got my attention: "How do you know if your web pages are classified as a “doorway page?” Google said asked yourself these questions: Is the purpose to optimize for search engines and funnel visitors into the actual usable or relevant portion of your site, or are they an integral part of your site’s user experience? Are the pages intended to rank on generic terms yet the content presented on the page is very specific? Do the pages duplicate useful aggregations of items (locations, products, etc.) that already exist on the site for the purpose of capturing more search traffic? Are these pages made solely for drawing affiliate traffic and sending users along without creating unique value in content or functionality? Do these pages exist as an “island?” Are they difficult or impossible to navigate to from other parts of your site? Are links to such pages from other pages within the site or network of sites created just for search engines?" We utilize location based pages for ourselves and a few clients too. **Example Case: ** -We attempt to rank for "keyword city/state" - "keyword city/state" - "keyword city/state" The keywords will often be the same such as "AC Repair" or "Physical Therapy" etc. with city / state combination such as "Tulsa, OK" "Seattle, WA" etc. The goal is to rank locally for those terms (NAP is applicable in some circumstances). Does the above case classify as a Doorway page? According to that definition, it does. However, this is a business that services that area. Some don't have physical address there but they do service that area (whether it be AC Repair or Website Design). Please advise me as to what a doorway page is exactly & if my practice is in-line. Thanks, Cole
Algorithm Updates | | ColeLusby0 -
Penguin 3.0 Site Dropped after Update
Hi We was hit by the Penguin update a long time ago and we lost a lot of traffic/positions because of this. For a long time we worked really hard to identify all off our links that may have caused us to recieve this penalty. After Months of work we submitted the disavow file and reconsideration request and in June 2014 we recieved confirmation from google in webmaster tools that the manual spam action had been revoked. over time we then started to recieve more traffic and better positions in the serps, however since penguin 3.0 we have dropped again for a range of keywords. many going from page 1 to 2 or page 2 to 3/4 Any ideas what we should do here , any help will be really appriciated as I'm totally confused We havent done any link building at all since the penalty / recovery
Algorithm Updates | | AMG1000 -
Do you think this page has been algorithmically penalised or is it just old?
Here is the page: http://www.designquotes.com.au/business-blog/top-10-australian-business-directories-in-2012/ It's fairly old, but when it was first written it hit #1 for "business directories". After a while it dropped but was receieving lots of traffic for long tail variations of "business directories Australia" As of the 4th of October (Penguin 2.1) it lost traffic and rankings entirely. I checked it's link profile and there isn't anything fishy: From Google Webmaster https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AtwbT3wshHRsdEc1OWl4SFN0SDdiTkwzSmdGTFpZOFE&usp=sharing In fact, two links are entirely natural http://blog.businesszoom.com.au/2013/09/use-customer-reviews-to-improve-your-website-ranking/ http://dianajones.com.au/google-plus-local-equals-more-business-blog/ Yet when I search for a close match in title in Google AU, the article doesn't appear within even the first 4 pages. https://www.google.com.au/#q=top+10+Australian+Business+Directories&start=10 Is this simple because it's an old article? Should I re-write it, update the analysis and use a rel=canonical on the old article to the new?
Algorithm Updates | | designquotes0 -
Any Google Panda/Penguin, etc updates late October 2012?
Not sure why my website traffic is dropping down late Oct 12. It showed a boost with the last Panda update in early Oct. Anyone know of a current update?
Algorithm Updates | | ChrisTS0 -
SEO updates and rank changes
We have been updating page titles and meta descriptions for a client (not changing ANY links and the content we are replacing is "fluff," no major keywords or any relevant information) yet in the past few weeks, rankings have plummeted. I used the SEOMoz grader to check and make sure we have the keywords in there, in the right places for the updated page source info, and we're getting A's yet for those same keywords, the website is nowhere to be found. For example for the phrase "organic t shirts," we get an A for this page: http://greenpromotionalitems.com/organic-t-shirts.htm but when searching organic t shirts, no Green Promotional Items... Ideas?
Algorithm Updates | | laidlawseo0 -
Toolbar PageRank Updated
Just reporting that there has been a public toolbar PageRank update. What did Santa give you this round?
Algorithm Updates | | Dan-Petrovic1 -
Did google change their algorithm over the past week?
I did some home page optimization with the seo moz on page key word optimization tool and we are now back in the top three in the past week (after dropping to page 3 a month or so ago). It seems that google has gone back to combining google places with organic searches. Has anyone else noticed this type of change? I did read some posts about panda 2.2, which seems to explain some of these findings. I am wondering if things are in flux or they may be more stable this way? Thanks for the insights.
Algorithm Updates | | fertilityhealth0