Why do rankings show differentley when checked from different computers
-
When I check for keyword rankings directly in Google or Bing, I find relatively high ratings. when my client checks at his location, he gets another ranking, much lower. What accounts for the difference?
-
Welcome Beth! So glad to have you here, and happy to hear about your experience in Q&A. Feel free to come back with any other questions you have!
-
Thanks to all. I think I've figured it out now. First time on here and am very impressed with the quick help.
-
It can be one of many reasons, however if you want to be sure... The SEOmoz RankTracker will suffice correct placements.
-
Use the SEOMoz rank tracking tool (http://ranktracker.seomoz.org/) for objective - non personalized or influenced - ranking results.
-
Google uses your unique IP address to give you the most relevant results based on your past search activity through Google’s personalized search. Your location can also play a role in this.
Not only is this the answer but I am providing the solution to help you get your accurate rankings:
http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=54048
-
Personalized results.
-
Location. If you are pegged as being in a different geographical location (San Francisco vs Palo Alto) you will get different results.
-
User History: If you're logged into Google, you will get results based on your personal search history, +1's, etc.
When I'm doing my rankings checks, I make sure I'm logged out and my location is set to the most generic for my use case (in my case 'United States', but yours may be a state or nearby metro region).
-
-
Are you and your client in the same location/ city? If not, that could just be the answer as Google gives different results based on location.
Also, are you 'logged in' to Google Account while searching? Personalized (logged in) search results are different from search results that show up when you are not logged in. For e.g. If you searched for a phrase, and clicked on your site, then the next time you search similar phrase, your website will show up higher than it actually is for majority of users (including your client)
-
One or both of you probably has personalized search results on, or localized search results on
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
-
Traffic drops when showing post dates?
Hello. My blog is 9 years old and i just got serious with regards to earnings. I have observed that whenever i showed published date traffic drops immediately. For years i stopped showing dates. But now, i feel dates are an important factor in Rich snippets because most of competitors who are shown in rich snippets are also showing dates. So i started showing "UPDATED ON" in the Genesis theme framework. Traffic drop is the same as before. Why is traffic dropping whenever i show dates? Even when i show updated dates, wherein all articles show dates of just 1-2 years and none of them are showing how old the site is. And yes, quality is high, content is high. URL is www.marketing91.com
Technical SEO | | marketing910 -
My rank suddenly drop
Hi before i subscribe for MOZ i have hired a seo expert to do an optimization for my escort website, it was really hard since im not knowledgeable and have no clue about it also my niche is kinda hard as what everyone says. The SEO did a good job ranking my site but in less than 2 weeks my ranking goes down and every time it happen what i do is call him and tell him about the situation and in just few days my rank goes up again and im in page 1 of google. My question is, is that normal? like ranking drop in less than 2 weeks and he could easily rank me up in just few days? I pay just to make sure that im on page 1, so every time he put my site on page 1 i pay for it. Gawd i still have no clue whats going on, i have a lot to learn, black hat, white hat, proper back linking, etc etc so i'd really love to know if its normal cause if it is then no point for me to learn SEO as he is doing job well done. I was just afraid that he is doing this to rip me, not that i dont trust him but you know this days everyone needs something for a living 🙂
Technical SEO | | geefex6nsy0 -
Eligible To Rank For Few Queries
I can't figure out why this site (www.liveathomeseniors.com) is eligible for so few search queries on Google Webmaster Tools. I know there is a lot of work to be done, but this is my biggest puzzle right now. What am I not seeing? 379 pages are indexed and yet the site is has only been deemed eligible to rank for 3 queries over the past 3 months. Is it all the repetition in the way the content has been structured? I'd appreciate people's thoughts on this. I can't see the forest for the trees. Donna
Technical SEO | | DonnaDuncan0 -
Why is Google's cache preview showing different version of webpage (i.e. not displaying content)
My URL is: http://www.fslocal.comRecently, we discovered Google's cached snapshots of our business listings look different from what's displayed to users. The main issue? Our content isn't displayed in cached results (although while the content isn't visible on the front-end of cached pages, the text can be found when you view the page source of that cached result).These listings are structured so everything is coded and contained within 1 page (e.g. http://www.fslocal.com/toronto/auto-vault-canada/). But even though the URL stays the same, we've created separate "pages" of content (e.g. "About," "Additional Info," "Contact," etc.) for each listing, and only 1 "page" of content will ever be displayed to the user at a time. This is controlled by JavaScript and using display:none in CSS. Why do our cached results look different? Why would our content not show up in Google's cache preview, even though the text can be found in the page source? Does it have to do with the way we're using display:none? Are there negative SEO effects with regards to how we're using it (i.e. we're employing it strictly for aesthetics, but is it possible Google thinks we're trying to hide text)? Google's Technical Guidelines recommends against using "fancy features such as JavaScript, cookies, session IDs, frames, DHTML, or Flash." If we were to separate those business listing "pages" into actual separate URLs (e.g. http://www.fslocal.com/toronto/auto-vault-canada/contact/ would be the "Contact" page), and employ static HTML code instead of complicated JavaScript, would that solve the problem? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.Thanks!
Technical SEO | | fslocal0 -
Ranking in Bing
My frustration with Google currently has led me to try bing out more. I don't rank as good in bing as Google, so I was wondering if anyone had any great tips of what bing looks for to rank website well? So far I can see they seem to favour keyword domains, take 'cheap holidays' for example. Always reading about what Google want but what do bing want? Any advice much appreciated.
Technical SEO | | pauledwards0 -
How different should content be so that it is not considered duplicate?
I am making a 2nd website for the same company. The name of the company, our services, keywords and contact info will show up several times within the text of both websites. The overall text and paragraphs will be different but some info may be repeated on both sites. Should I continue this? What precautions should I take?
Technical SEO | | savva0 -
Increase Search Ranking for CEO
Hi guys My company CEO is concerned that when her name is googled pictures of a glamour model appear in the image results area. The glamour model shares a second name with our CEO and this is why the model's images are appearing. I have been asked to rectify this situation. My CEO has a linked in page and twitter account which are underused but no personal page on our company website. I was thinking of buying the url for the CEO's name and optimizing a small site for her name with bio etc and links to twitter, lined in etc. Would this be the best strategy? Thanks Gavin
Technical SEO | | gavinr0 -
Third Party Ranking Software
I have used a number of different tools for getting ranking information and have been using Cuterank but it now seems to be report the wrong results. Any suggestions for the best third party ranking software. It would allow me to check google, yahoo and bing ranks, compare month on month and produce branded PDFs. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Technical SEO | | highwayfive0