Reduction in organic visits due to AdWord changes
-
Wondering if anyone else has noticed a change in site performance since Google has changed the way Adwords are displayed.
We have a site that has been performing well, however this year visits have dropped by 20%. The performance of the keywords has remained the same and bounce rate has actually reduced.
My suspicion is that with Google removing the Ad links from the right side of the page and placing 4 ads at the top of the page, this has pushed down the organinc results. Looking at some of the search results we now appear beyond the results page fold despite being the 1st orgainc result.
The Ad results has site links and there is the Map with local results all pushing our first organic result of the screen.
Has anyone else found this an issue or should I look elsewhere for the drop in visits? (The overall searches for our search terms has not dropped, just our percentage share has)
-
Agree with Andy. Unfortunately, this is all part of Google's apparent master plan to force the pay-to-play scenario. Given that rumor has it that we will also see a paid ad in one of the 3-pack spots at some point, the writing is on the wall.
-
As per the other guys in the discussion I too have seen this taking place, as a national brand the 4 pack and not so much the local pack has caused a drop in our organic traffic across brands.
We also noted a large than normal increase in Ad Spend when some of our ads switched to the main ad block area from within the sidebar, this is however, now back under control.
Unfortunately the Organic nature of the online searches is being pushed further away from the search user whom is now in many cases just getting ads.
-
This has been the progression with Google for a long time. First ads only on the right, then a couple ads at the top, now up to four ads at the top and ads at the bottom. Shopping results and image results are tossed in as well. Adwords ads get colored markers and easily get review stars.
Andy Drinkwater: "Soon 1st place organic will be 2nd page!"
I agree. Google has to show earnings growth to shareholders. The only way that they can do it is to make 25% more money per year from existing traffic - because getting 25% more traffic is no longer attainable.
-
If nothing major has been changed on the site, then I'd say it's plausible, that it's due to these changes.
I've especially seen dips on those keywords where the local pack shows up - so if your site is ranking on a lot of those, I'm afraid you're in for a rough ride. So if a majority of your clicks used to come from these searches, I'd probably start finding ways to boost your medium/long tail rankings on those terms - then you might avoid the local pack.
-
Hi Simon,
You are seeing the same as lots of others at the moment - many of my own clients have noticed impacts as well - especially so if you get a local result that has 4 ads, then 3 local results, and Google testing ads within the local pack as well. Soon 1st place organic will be 2nd page!
I'm not saying this is what is going to be causing your issues, but it is likely and without looking into this in more detail, it's hard to say what else might be causing you issues.
-Andy
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
-
Houston Printing Company Removed City from Main Page - Will Our Rankings Change?
We operate a full service printing and direct mail company located in Houston (www.catdi.com ). We have been in business for quite sometime and had enjoyed top tier position on page one for many years. However after revamping our website and main page it was determined that we used "Houston" way too often. Our keywords are ( Houston Printing , Printing in Houston)
Local SEO | | NEWCHOPPER
I suppose to the pros it looked and it seemed a little spammy with all the references to our city. But after the changed we have now dropped to mid - bottom of page two. Should we worried or does after sometime
will be move back up? I dont want to hastily change back but to our surprise those aren't really searched terms I would hate to see our positions and ranking fall because of this change. Thanks CATDI PRINTING0 -
Adwords Express Keyword Ranking Hack
I heard a rumor that Adwords Express offers a tool that lets you check real time Marketing Google ranking results (colleague brought this up) Has anybody heard of this?
Local SEO | | RosemaryB0 -
Any benefit of Geo Targeting in Organic Positions?
Hi All, Can anyone please guide me on Geo Targeting for Google Organic Improvement? Thanks!
Local SEO | | wright3350 -
Should I change my domain/brand name?
Hello everyone, Thanks for stopping by to check out my problem and to help shed light on it for myself and hopefully others in a similar boat! As Ive gotten more into this process of SEO and my online business (with the great help of many community members here, many thanks everyone!) I have begun building a wordpress site in prep of canceling my squarespace site (Im a Kauai based wedding photographer) for more SEO value, faster page load time, and more data and plugins to the site. During this time however Ive noticed that my business www.balihaiphoto.com has a lot of confusion/search results and content I think may be leading potential clients in other directions, or even google down the wrong track of what my business is. The reason I suspect this is a restaurant that hosts a lot of weddings, and in turn, wedding photographers blogging about the location (the venue is called Bali Hai and its not located in Hawaii) as well as a reality group here and that Im getting occasional hits on my site for "Bali Wedding photographer" when I'd like to be known/indexed and ranked for "Kauai wedding photographer" and am working on a lot of long tail content to add to the site once its finished up. I feel like Im answering my own question slightly as I feel that I need to change the domain and name to something new, unique, and not attached to anything other than Kauai and Hawaii, but dont know exactly why that may be the best thing to do, or, if it even is the best thing to do? I greatly appreciate any help or elaboration as to why or why not a domain and brand name change would be helpful or not. Many thanks everyone and Aloha! -Jon Gibb
Local SEO | | Jon_Gibb0 -
Local Printing Company Moving to a new IP - Will Our Rankings Change
I operate a local print and direct mail company located in Houston called Catdi Printing (www.catdi.com)We do very well with our local rankings and rank 2 or 3 in our main keywords ( Houston Printing , Direct Mail Houston & eddm Houston ) We are looking to upgrade our online quoting and ordering system. The software is very expensive and the only way we can incorporate this new system is to move our site and redirect our domain. The new hosting provider is located in California and might even be hosted by Google but im not certain on this point. Our current host provider is Hostgator and they are based in Houston so im not this provides any benefit. I guess my main question is will this new change affect our overall regular and local rankings? I would hate to see our positions and ranking fall because of this change. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks CATDI
Local SEO | | ChopperCharlie1 -
Changing Your Company's Name
Our firm is considering adding another person and adding that person's name to the firm. In terms of our online presence, what all would have to be done for that to work? For example: 1. We aren't changing the domain, but should we get a domain with the new name and redirect it to our current site? 2. Do I need ask the people who have linked to our site with our name in the anchor text to change it to the new name? 3. Do I need to get back to all our old posts/blogs/etc and edit them with the new name? 4. Can we use our current social media names or do we need to setup new accounts? 5. If we decide to just keep the onsite marketing the same, but change the name in regards to offsite markeitng (banners, billboards, etc) will that conflict have a very negative effect? 6. Anything else, anyone wants to point out would be great. Thanks, Ruben
Local SEO | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Adwords: Great ideas on low hanging fruit for hypnosis center
Hi, I want to start a very limited in funds adwords campaign to get signups for my newsletter, an example signup form is on the right of this page. I've advertised with adwords before. One additional thing I need is a spend $25 get $100 coupon, but I bet I can do a google search for that. The campaign will only be for the area in and around Boise, ID. It will only be for women who want to lose weight. My main investment is facebook ads to a landing page with a video to sign up for my newsletter, but is there some way to harvest the low hanging fruit easily in adwords where ads lead to signups in my niche? I have a lot of technical background and am looking for kickass ideas. Thanks! 126fajdkql
Local SEO | | BobGW0 -
Any Notable Change in Google's Location Based Results?
I've noticed with many of our clients that when searching for general terms, with obvious local intent, that Google assumes you are in the nearest metro area rather than the specific locality. Anyone else noticed this? Example: I have an HVAC client who has ranked a solid #1 for "HVAC Repairs" since January - if the user was in the small town we were targeting (Wake Forest) since January. However, now Google assumes users in this town are in the nearby metro area (Raleigh), and displays local and organic results for Raleigh instead of Wake Forest. I first noticed this change in mid-May. From what I've read about the Nov Hummingbird update, I don't see that playing a direct role. Any insight?
Local SEO | | Rusty_Shackleford0