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
-
Rankings-- Red & Green
Question - you can see the green positive and the red negative. If I optimize a certain keyword, and it turns red - how long should I wait before I optimize it again? The same with green - I had a keyword ranking up 20 points...which of course is good...should just wait for a a few months or use the keyword again next month? Not use how I should address the ups and downs (green & red) of rankings. thank you..
Keyword Research | | WalkieTalkie0 -
Optimising page for branded search terms
Hi, new to keyword research and have a question on branded search terms. I'm optimising the product pages of a manufacturer's site and assume that the primary keyword for each product page (and therefore the H1 header) should be a detailed product name e.g.'Aqua Power wet and dry cordless vacuum cleaner'. Is it good practise to add the manufacturer's name to the beginning of a product title? I can't determine this by looking at search volume or competition for the two versions of the keyphrase as they are too low to get stats in both cases. Previous SEOs have set up the product titles on my pages without including the brand name but this seems to me to be loosing out on the opportunity to rank for both '[brand name] [detailed product name]' and '[detailed product name]' with the one keyphrase. On the other hand, this site only sells products from one manufacturer so maybe it looks fussy to include the brand name on every product title. I would of course add the manufacturer name to the page title e.g.'Aqua Power wet and dry cordless vacuum cleaner | cordless vacuum cleaner | [brand name]' so Google would be able to associate a brand with the product even if I didn't include it in my primary keyword. Thanks for any guidance on this!
Keyword Research | | Alli70 -
What is the best way to search across my entire sub domain for a keyword?
What is the best way to search across my entire sub domain for a keyword? Any good tools out there?
Keyword Research | | absoauto0 -
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 -
What is the best way to do a one time rankings check of 10000+ keywords
Title pretty much sums it up. At the pricing moz offers this is not practical. Even at their highest tier i would only get 3700 keywords, so it would take several months to get the results.
Keyword Research | | adriandg0 -
Error Being Displayed While analyzing keyword Rankings
While searching for Rankings for a couple of NEW keywords I got this message : (Whoa! We're dusting off the cobwebs from your keyword history. Don't worry, your data is fine. Check back soon to see your updates.). I don't know what this means, can somebody please provide some info on this error message as to what it means
Keyword Research | | Arfath0 -
What's the best way to find ranking keywords and phrases?
What's the best way to find ranking keywords and phrases? I have tried Google Keyword Tool but it just doesn't do the job for me (or I'm using it wrong). My main focus is people who are looking for energy saving tricks, but I'm not sure if this is the right keyword / keyphrase. The goal of this question is not to get other people to do the research for me, but rather to find the right tools and usage of those tools for the job.
Keyword Research | | nickhoe0 -
Can't get ranking history
Hi everyone. I have added a couple of keywords to one of my campaigns and everytime I try to check the rankings I get the message below... Whoa! We're dusting off the cobwebs from your keyword history. Don't worry, your data is fine. Check back soon to see your updates. Any idea what's going on here or how long it'll take to get this info? Thanks.
Keyword Research | | AJLComputers0