Is this a google dance?
-
My website keeps moving up and down in ranking but stays within page 2 to 3. Everyday its at a new position.
-
Marie, I totally agree with you I have a site I am working on that keeps going from 2 to 7 then to 3 then to 7. It is hard to know what is working and what isn't and if it is working at all. I guess I will just sit tight for a while.
I agree, just keep making good content and you can't loose.
-
My site settled in on the 2nd page. I think it had to do with google re-evaluating my sites back links. I had done some a few weeks earlier.
-
It can be really tough to separate the Google "dance" from "bounce" from daily fluctuations. The "Google dance" was originally a reference to monthly algorithm/data updates - that actual phenomenon has been gone for years now. Data is updated all the time, and the algorithm can change daily at this point. If you suspect an algorithm change has impacted your site (for example - a Panda update), you typically have to look at the dates of the updates and how the factors in that update are represented on your site. We keep an ongoing history here:
http://www.seomoz.org/google-algorithm-change
When I think of "bounce", I tend to think of sites that are moving up and down a lot for a sustained period of time (while other sites in the same rankings don't move). That can, in some cases, be a sign of an impending penalty or Google re-evaluating something about your site (your indexed pages, links, etc.).
Unfortunately, it can be really tough to separate "bounce" from daily fluctuations. I'm working on a project to track daily changes in rankings, and one thing I can tell you is that Google is far from stable. The average change in any given Top 10 day-to-day is surprisingly high. Anecdotally, the changes in deeper pages of the SERPs (2, 3, etc.) are even larger.
So, this could be perfectly normal. I'd keep an eye on a few things:
(1) Are you tracking using a 3rd-party tool, with personalization, localization, etc. off? It's really easy to see different SERPs these days, just by changing computers, being logged in, etc.
(2) Are you bouncing up and down daily, or is it a gradual change?
(3) Are other people in the Top 20 bouncing as well?
(4) Is this bounce having any real impact? This gets into @stubby's reply - if the bounce isn't impacting search traffic, the number of keywords you get traffic from, the pages that get traffic, etc., it may not be worth worrying about. Dig into Google Webmaster Tools and your analytics and find out what impact these ranking changes are really having on visitors to your site.
-
My site just disappeared from rankings. Just my home page for my main keyword. Other pages of my site can still be found. In fact, one of my pages are on the 5th page. This is the 2nd time this week my home page dropped out entirely from SERP. Should I now be worried?
-
Something funky is definitely going on in the SERPS in one of my niches for the last few weeks. For our main keyword, our site is jumping from #3 to #10 or anywhere in between.
I can see why people would say not to do any linkbuilding while this is happening, because if your position dropped or increased you wouldn't know if it was due to your linkbuilding efforts. However, I look at this a different way. I wouldn't do any risky linkbuilding in this time period. Gaining great quality links by developing great content, for example, is only going to help you.
I do personally think there is a major shakeup going on with the algorithm right now...and who knows how long that will last fror!
-
I have to disagree on the page 2 or 3 being useless. 70% of visits come from long tail searches. the better you rank for your keyword, even if not on page one, the more long tails you will get. Sometimes we get too raped on main keywords when the real money is in long tails.
-
I wouldn't worry about what you call the "google dance." SEO can be done at any time. The key is to do it properly. You can do as much of it as you want as long as it's not creating problems like the recent "over optimization" penalties being leveraged.
Keep building up your on page optimization, keep doing what it takes to get great natural links and if possible, continue to build relationships both offline and on and you should be fine.
-
I was told not to do SEO stuff like link building during a google dance. Also, im just curious since I was also told that after the google dance is done, I might position much better than before, possibily on page 1.
-
I hope you don't find this harsh:
The question is irrelevant. If you are on page 2 or 3, who cares if it is page 2 or page 3, you might as well be on page 10. Take some good action to improve so that you get on page 1, then worry about what nickname you wish to call the minor daily fluctuations.
Good Luck!
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
-
Hide sitelinks from Google search results
Does anyone have any recommendations on how you can tell Google (hopefully via a URL) not to index that page of a website? I have tried through SEO Yoast to hide certain sitemaps (which has worked to a degree) but certain functionalities of Wordpress websites show links without them actually being part of a "sitemap" so those links are harder to hide. I'm having an issue with one of my websites - the sitelinks that Google is suggesting are nowhere near the most popular pages and I know that you can't make recommendations through Google not to show certain pages through Search Console. anymore. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Technical SEO | | MainstreamMktg0 -
Google + and Google Knoladge Graph
I am trying to get things to match up for the company brand websearch and the Google + page and we have had it for years now The knowledge graph on Google is showing the map, address and name (shown in attached image), but is not linked to a G+ page, as when i click the "Are you the business owner?" its is trying to make me create a new G+ business page. Anyone have any ideas on this? Also does the wiki name have to be exact for it to show? As for phone number would that be coming from the DNS record as that is nowhere in the markup rich snippet or normal markup Thanks in advance LC9cWdG
Technical SEO | | David-McGawn0 -
Google is not indexing my new URL structure. Why not?
Hi all, We launched a new website for a customer on April 29th. That same day we resubmitted the new sitemap & asked Google to fetch the new website. Screenshot is attached of this (GWT Indexed). However, when I look at Google Index (see attachment - Google Index), Automated Production's old website URL's still appear. It's been two weeks. Is it normal for Google's index to take this long to update? Thanks for your help. Cole VoLPjhy vfxVUsO
Technical SEO | | ColeLusby0 -
How to know which pages are indexed by Google?
So apparently we have some sites that are just duplicates of our original main site but aiming at different markets/cities. They have completely different urls but are the same content as our main site with different market/city changed. How do I know for sure which ones are indexed. I enter the url into Google and its not there. Even if I put in " around " it. Is there another way to query google for my site? Is there a website that will tell you which ones are indexed? This is probably a dumb question.
Technical SEO | | greenhornet770 -
Schema / microdata under Google listing
I was wondering if it was possible to add any schema, or microdata, or anything of that sort, to my website/webpage in order to show the location of the business just underneath the snippet of the website in Google. I have seen this with other businesses and I am not sure if it is only because they have the business listed on Google Places, or if it is because they have schema data on their website and when it is read by Google it shows underneath their snippet in Google search. Also, if there is an ability to make the address, phone, etc show up underneath the Google search listing, can I do this with a plugin or widget for wordpress? Thank you!
Technical SEO | | SEOWizards0 -
Google not showing my website ?
The website is medicare.md. if you search for term "medicare doctors PG county maryland" it is #1 in bing and yahoo but not even showing on google.com first TEN pages, although not banned. Interestingly if you do that search on google.co.pk it is #4. Quite Puzzuling !! Would appreciate any help or advice . Sherif Hassan
Technical SEO | | sherohass0 -
Remove Site from Google
How can I get my website out of google? I want all pages completely gone. Thanks!
Technical SEO | | tylerfraser0 -
Google plus
With a single Google search, you can see regular search results, along with all sorts of results that are tailored to you -- pages shared with you by your friends, Google+ posts from people you know. **Does pages shared by friends ** Does this mean pages shared by friends on Google plus ?
Technical SEO | | seoug_20050