Do the search engines kind of test you out at a higher ranking for a short period of time?
-
I ranked very well for my keywords. They are not competitive. Nonetheless, I got convertible traffic to my blog. Suddenly, I run a search for the keywords and there is this other website ranking higher than me. it seems to be a new website. No data on opensiteexplorer. So, the only thing that I can conclude and which I've been thinking that google does is to test new webpages out for a bit higher up on the rankings. If the bounces are lower than average, then I suspect that they will give you better rankings in the future. Is this somewhat how it works?
-
You can be fairly confident any automated method of moving through a website will be quickly discovered by Google. They are a multi-billion dollar company which employs many of the world's best educated and foremost experts on the topic.
Live people have specific patterns and automated methods attempt to mimic those patterns and normally fail in a detectable way. If you want to try your hand at black hat SEO you are welcome to do such, but it is likely a waste of time, money and effort which could be directed towards providing your customers with real value.
-
it would be quite expensive. for that money, shouldn't we just pay for ppc.
-
I'm thinking that is how they can test for quality. Low bounce rate = high quality. I used to be able to compare how my site did with others in my area. Is there still a way to do this through google analytics?
-
So then wouldnt the idea be that when your site gets its boost if lots of people spend along time on your page
it sends google the signal that your page is worth keeping in that position. Could this be yet another opportunity to game the system by having lots of people(paying lots of people to spend time on your site click trough all the links and pages or even worse automate that to give the illusion that your site has great user experience. Could it be that this type of thing will be another trick up an SEO's sleeve sorry for putting bad ideas out there but I have been thinking about this for a while and I want to hear an expert opinion..We "know' that bounce rate effects rankings and google is watching to see how people engage with your site I guess they have methods of detecting unnatural behavior but there are ways of open.mimicking that behavior ie coming from different IPs and randomizing the amount of time spent on a page and the order which a site is browsed in.
Good luck with your page I hope your ranking comes up I am sure it will if you continue to do the right thing!
-
Thanks Ryan. I am learning new things not only from SEOmoz, but also from you too
The best part is that your answers are always explanatory.
-
The closest I could find as a word from Google was a reply from a lvl 14 on the Google forums. Since John Mu is a Google employee and lvl 15, I am guessing lvl 14 is as high as a non-employee can go.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=7f20e3124fd3fa41&hl=en
"New sites get a short period (honeymoon) were they are "boosted" to see how they do and to get some traffic etc."
Also you can take a look at a blog article from Rand where he touched on this topic.
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/googles-sandbox-still-exists-exemplified-by-gradercom
The topic is touched upon a number of times but I was unable to find any official statement from Google or Matt Cutts.
-
Very insightful answer Ryan.
Is there any official word from Google regarding this. ( That they reward new sites for a short period ).
So, you mean to say that after a short period ( what is short period 1 month, 3 months, few weeks ), the sites are pushed down and the initial advantage is lost.
-
Based on what we've seen you DO get a quick boost initially for your new URL.
As for opensiteexplorer, that will take some time...
It's really all touch and go...
best of luck!
-
Do the search engines kind of test you out at a higher ranking for a short period of time?
Yes. New pages will commonly receive an artificial ranking boost for a short period after they are discovered. Google loves new content and rewards it. It makes sense from a freshness perspective and also it adds a little balance in that new pages don't have any backlinks so they are otherwise at a disadvantage.
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
-
Should I concentrate keyword ranking locally or nationally?
Hi all, I have spent few last days reading here in community and watching Moz videos about keyword research. I used keywords planner tool. Here is the question. When I researched keywords I took into account search traffic nationwide UK rather then my local search volume. My photography business operates more for local customers rather then nationwide. Does it mean that I need to concentrate on my local city/region search volume rather then nationwide. After I have done Nationwide keyword research I realised that most of those keywords which are with really high search volumes are pretty much non existent in my local search results. I meant to the point that keyword search volume is under 10. Considering that I have small number of pages i could use them for, my guess is that it is no point to target those high search volume keywords as most likely those won't be my clients anyway. I might be getting all this wrong, but wanted to ask here. Thank you all, Regards, Armands
Keyword Research | | A_Fotografy1 -
Keyword tracking over time
Hi is there a recommended amount of keywords that I should try and optimise for on my site?
Keyword Research | | Hardley1111 -
How can a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition?
Sometimes I notice in Google keyword tool that a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition? Why would anyone go for a keyword with very less search volume ?? (note: If Checked in Google keywords tool with Exact match) Though I understand this tool doesn't always have exact data but still any explanation to that question?
Keyword Research | | Personnel_Concept0 -
Rankings not working
It appears that my search rankings in my SEOMoz profile aren't working - either that or something really bad has happened to my rankings. I left it a few days thinking it was updating but nothing seems to have changed. Can anyone help?
Keyword Research | | rachelbuck0 -
How does Title keyword order, number and puctuation factor into rankings?
Hi, I am new at SEO and really trying to dive right in and do some thorough keyword research before I put my efforts into on-page optimization. In my research I have found a bunch of keywords that have low competition and decent search volume for my niche. I was thinking that I could be quite clever to combine a few of these phrases together in order to target them all. I realize that the first few positions for title tag placement hold extra value so I do not want to overdo it with my word choices and therefore not rank for my keywords. For example "pink girls room" has the highest (but not a ton) searches out of the keywords that I have found. "pink room decor" is also a decent and relevant keyword. So if my title is "Pink girls room decor" at the beginning of my title will I hurt myself instead of thinking that I am clever enough to get both keywords with one shot. Also, if I add more keywords in a natural way after this important beginning phrase, will it help me get more long tail search terms or will it just dilute my original keywords? Finally, how do search engines view punctuation? I have noticed that when I search for terms myself that Google appears to ignore punctuation.. Does that mean if I am strategic I can get more keyword terms in my title and still sound human by taking advantage of this? Thanks so much!
Keyword Research | | ColorfulConcepts0 -
Ranking history
I am having trouble on getting a ranking history for some of my keywords. Is this feature still working? thanks
Keyword Research | | cardif1 -
Why was there a big drop in a lot of my rankings today
I just checked my campaign and ALL of my Google ranks have drop by 2-40 spots for the 10 keywords I track. I know this is always a tough question to field, but what could cause should a drop across the board? ...a penalty? ...a late Google April Fools joke? 😉
Keyword Research | | TerryS9990 -
Organic vs Places (Maps) Searches
I realize one can use the google adwords keyword tool to get rough organic search volume, but Is there a method to see how much a keyword is searched within specifically google places? That is, seperated out from the organic search? Ideally i would like to see how often certain keywords are search for in google, v.s. in google places/maps directly. maybe it is not possible. cheers, storwell
Keyword Research | | adriandg0