Issue with Category Ranking on Page 1 vs. Homepage Ranking on Page 2

[accpar]

A client has a high-volume keyword that is rendering different results, whether it is on page one or page two of Google SERPs. If the keyword is on page one, ONLY the category page is ranking. When the keyword bumps off to page two, BOTH the category AND the homepage are ranking. This is happening on our IP and theirs, incognito and personalized searches. This has been happening since February.

Any thought/insights would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!!!

[evolvingSEO]

Robert

Hmmm ok - this could possibly be an architectural and/or internal linking issue confusing Google as to which page it should rank. Or maybe it's your keyword targeting on both pages. Would you say the subcategory page is more optimized/focused on the keyword than the homepage?

[accpar]

Hi Dan - Yes, it is a product subcategory for eCommerce vs. the homepage. I would definitely say the product subcategory is more relevant/better conversion rate, which is why the homepage showing up WITH the subcategory on page two is strange. And to be clear, this isn't happening all of the time, just some of the time.

[evolvingSEO]

Robert

To clarify - is this a product category for eCommerce or a blog category? I am assuming eCommerce product category. So the user is presented with a list of products in this category?

If so - what I would do is try to first determine which is better for users to land on. Does one get a higher conversion rate than the other? Which page is more relevant to the query?

[accpar]

• Thank you Dan! Without giving too much away about my client, the query is something like "descriptive adjective + product" like "petite dresses." It is in the apparel industry. I just checked in Google Search console (great idea!) and it looks like the query in question has navigated 926 clicks to the category page and 550 clicks to the homepage in the last month. So, both the homepage and the category pages are ranking for this keyword. It is so strange.

[evolvingSEO]

Hi Robert

Some others have given some great ideas. Wanted to chime in and ask if you can give any more info? It's tough to say what's going on in such a general context. Anything would help - industry, a URL, keywords.

Also, as Andy suggested - do you have other sources of data to back this up? I would suggest actually looking in Search Console (Webmaster Tools) for your query and landing page data and see if you can tell how much it's happening one way or the other. You can filter by country, device and time period to segment things even more.

Let us know if you can provide more info or find any more data!

[EGOL]

I would improve the category page and enjoy!

[ClaytonJ]

Robert

Tough question. I have a high volume keyword for a client - a competitors name that I have a similar pattern with that I follow v closely. Very low CTR though. I am not sure of the parallels, but here goes. I have formed the view their are three key problems with our clients page.   The first is the page loading speed fluctuates. The second is the content is not strong enough on the page - so people pogo stick off - some days they stick but most they bounce. The third is the page & domain authority are not strong enough.

I appreciate they are universal type answers. But the combination of all three or anyone explain the behavior I am observing. I actually think stickiness is the key factor to the search result staying at position 4, but until I eliminate the other two they form part of my differential diagnosis.

Not sure if that helps at all, but there you go.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hi Robert,

Do you have any external tracking setup that would confirm this for you? I'm always very cautious with always trusting results from my own desktop and like to have these verified.

-Andy