Strange SERP behaviour
-
We were ranking 2nd while Google was showing only natural listings. Earlier this year, the same SERP started showing only three natural listings, followed by some business listings. We were included within the business listings, but were 3rd, so 6th overall. After a few tweaks we managed to become the 1st business listing, so 4th overall.
Early last week, the SERP changed again. The business listings were removed and replaced with natural listings. Rather than return to the old rankings, though, the order of the sites was exactly the same as it was with the business listings being there. It felt almost like a bug. So we remained 4th.
On Friday, the business listings returned! But the rankings are way different. The three natural listings at the top are the same as before. Then there are 7 business listings, and then more natural listings after that. We are the fifth natural listing of the second group, so have been hit rather badly.
Can anyone shed any light on what's going on here? We made a major change to our site 10 days ago, but it seems there's too much going on for it to be that.
If it helps, the search term is a two word name for what we do, followed by the name of our city - and we're in the UK. Coincidentally, someone from Google called earlier this week to confirm an address change I'd be trying to correct in Google Places.
-
Thanks Dan,
I doubt it'll be my browser as I've been really careful on that. The rest of what you've suggested all seems plausible to me but I'm curious to know how long major changes to a site related to SEO can take to settle-down. Should we do nothing and give it a week, or should we wait longer than that?
-
hi
it could be a lot of things. google may be a/b testing changes and collecting data. any other seo related changes to your site may be "re-spidering" and temporarily swaying rankings while the new data "settles in".
additionally, if you are viewing this in your personal browser on google, cookied information (i.e. you are logged into google) may be affecting personalization results which can mess with the order of competitive results. location may be doing it to.
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
-
Need to be reindexed quickly - SERP is showing a 404
So there was a mistake made where a 404 error was placed in the canonical URL for the pages my company made. We need to have these pages quickly reindexed. I asked GWT to fetch them and have an updated sitemap but the SERPs are still the same. Any tricks anyone knows that would allow me to get reindexed faster?
Algorithm Updates | | mattdinbrooklyn0 -
I can't understand why I am not rank one on SERPS
Hi Guys, I really cannot understand why I am no longer rank 1 on SERPs? My link data shows great weight in comparison to competitors, my on page SEO is good, nice and diverse on the alt text. I know there are a lot of factors that effect SERPs but I believe I have done well but am still not ranking? Have I missed something?
Algorithm Updates | | TomLondon
I really appreciate any thoughts and ideas. Thanks,
Tom0 -
7 Pack Google Serps?
What is the best way to get into the 7 pack of google serps? I have a site that ranked well before this changed but not was pushed back to page 2. I have Unique content and I currently have provided my info to all the standard local sites, like Yelp, Manta, Local.com and others. I already have a Google Local page and I also have links from local sites. What else can be done?
Algorithm Updates | | bronxpad0 -
Affect in SERPs when moving footer links off the homepage
I have several pages that rank highly in the SERPs and these pages are linked directly to my homepage in the footer. I want to clean up my footer because I have too many site wide links but don't want to hurt the SERP rankings during the transition. Will removing these page links from the footer impact SERP rankings?
Algorithm Updates | | braunna0 -
Why am I getting different Google SERP result for same keywords?
Hi Mozzers, I have noticed recently that Google (.com.au) has been serving up different SERP results for the same keywords. For example, one of our main keywords is "Car Loan". One result will show our site as ranking #5 organically from 242,000,000 results. A refresh of this search will then result in our site not ranking at all from 133,000,000 results. We have been noticing this happen only in the last few days & more frustrating is that Google is throwing up the SERP from 133,000,000 results more frequently. Would anyone know why this is occurring? And what can we do, if anything, to ensure we are shown regardless of how many results Google calls from? Is it from recent algo update & will it settle down over time? Any help would be greatly appreciated. (Just to add - I'm not gogged in to Google when completing this test & regularly clear cookies etc so I don't believe its a personalised search issue)
Algorithm Updates | | 360Finance0 -
Search history Effects on SERPS
With search engines using adaptive search in their algo, what's the best way to reset? Currently I go to my browser which primarily is Safari second Firefox third Chrome, I empty the cache, clear history and remove all cookies and data. I also disable customerzation based on search history. Is this the best way of starting from scratch so my search results won't incorporate adaptive search tech? I also make sure I'm not signed into my gmail account since that can impact SERPS as well. What else should I be doing to make sure my search is not customized?
Algorithm Updates | | bronxpad1 -
Sub-Links of Organic SERP
I would like to know if you can modify (or suggest) the sub-links under an organic listing. For Example: Main Link/Title = COMPANY NAME - What We Do.... Sub-Links (popular pages within site) currently include links like: Locations / Catalog Request / Bestsellers Is it possible to suggest other pages as sub-links or do the search engines determine these? Please advise, and thanks in advance....
Algorithm Updates | | WhiteCap0 -
Home page replaced by subpage in google SERP (good or bad)
SInce Panda, We have seen our home page drop from #2 in google.ie serp to page 3 but it has been replaced in the same position @#2 by our relevent sub page for the keyword that we ranked#2 for. Is this a good or bad thing from and seo point of view and is it better to have deep pages show in serp rather than the homepage of a site and what is the best line of action from here in relation to seo. Is it best to work on subpage or home page for that keyword and should link building for that phrase be directed towards the subpage or the homepage as the subpage is obviously more relevent in googles eyes for the search term. It is clear that all areas of the site should be looked at in relation to link building and deep links etc but now that google is obviously looking at relevancy very closely should all campaigns be sectioned into relevent content managed sections and the site likewise and treated on an individual basis. Any help that you may have would be very welcome. Paul
Algorithm Updates | | mcintyr0