When the SERPs for a keyword you’re targeting shift, this is referred to as keyword ranking fluctuation.
Like most businesses, Google tries to offer its customers the maximum value. They change the search engine results page to locate the articles that are most suitable for readers by rolling out fresh algorithm upgrades.
There are a variety of particular elements that may affect each unique keyword; nonetheless, there are seven main ones that you should generally consider.
With a website, ranking changes and drops are now a fact of life. They will inevitably happen to you if you want to rank for a particular term, but they typically aren’t a reason for concern.
In order to identify which factor is at play if your rankings suddenly rise or fall, let’s take a closer look at each one and discuss some of the features you may watch out for.
Why do ranking changes and drops occur? What are they?
Ranking fluctuations as a Result of Competition. There’s a good chance that the sites of the competitors for ranks in that query are frequently updated.
An obvious definition of a ranking drop is when a keyword page you were ranking for abruptly moves down a few ranks. It occasionally disappears from the SERP or drops down a whole page.
How can ranking drops be fixed?
You must first determine the cause of your ranking decline. Here, we examine the potential causes of your ranking declines as well as solutions that may help you avoid a similar situation in the future.
Google Algorithm Changes
Google regularly modifies its algorithms. Check to see if there have been any recent Google updates if your ranking positions have altered.
These modifications seek to enhance Google’s understanding of pages and their relevancy in order to provide users with better and more focused content.
These upgrades give Google the ability to alter how valuable it considers your website to be for each search it ranks for. As a result, it may determine that your website is more valuable for some searches while being less valuable for others.
Despite the fact that there are a few minor modifications every day, keyword rankings are typically not significantly affected. Larger algorithm modifications, however, can.
The May 2022 core algorithm upgrade, which prioritized content, was the most recent update that was made public. If you were affected, you must go back and edit the copy on the pages that were compromised.
Google has the authority to decide that a website’s loading time is crucial. If your website is considerably slower than those of your rivals, you risk dropping in the rankings.
Search Intent Has Changed
Google seeks to deliver the most pertinent results to users. This objective includes looking at the search intent, or the rationale behind why someone is conducting a specific search.
The search intent of a specific keyword may evolve over time as Google tries to better match search results to user demands. This can cause highly ranked content to fall in the SERPs.
Actions: Manual or Automatic
Manual Actions are another factor that could be affecting your rankings, especially if they are declining or disappearing entirely.
Google keep an eye out for those trying to cheat the system by abusing it and quickly rising to the top.
In essence, they function as Google’s “get rich quick scheme” police and manually examine websites that its algorithm detects as having questionable behavior.
This occurs frequently with poor link-building techniques, where a website owner seeks to generate trust for their website by acquiring numerous backlinks quickly.
Google is constantly looking out for unethical behavior since they use signals like links as “anchor text” as “signals.”
keeping an eye out for anything listed under “Manual Actions” in your Google Search Console account. When you get there, you can see right away if Google has penalized you for anything or if you should seek elsewhere.
Sudden Trends
A sudden increase in interest in a certain subject might cause ranking fluctuations to move around quite a bit. Although a low volume keyword may appear to be reasonably consistent, a spike in traffic provides Google with a wealth of new information that they may use to determine which websites consumers actually like.
Changes to URL
Changing your website’s URL is a significant adjustment that will always result in significant ranking fluctuation in your search ranking as Google reviews the situation.
Google must determine what happened.
- Is this new website a fake?
- Have you correctly redirected your URLs, and are the modifications permanent?
- After such a significant adjustment, it may take weeks or even months for your rating to stabilize completely.
While this is taking place, make an effort to continue using white hat SEO to try to settle at a better position.
Websites of Competitors Evolving
The same things that can happen to you—manual actions, website adjustments, and Google penalties for unfavorable behavior—can also happen to your rivals. Additionally, all other factors taken together can influence them, leading us to the conclusion that adjustments made by your competitors may also have an impact on your ranking fluctuations.
This does not imply that your ranks will increase or decrease. In other words, they can change in either direction because rivals may improve or deteriorate over time or all at once (like the example of algorithm updates or manual actions).
Your ranks will naturally fluctuate as a result of that. Some websites shift. While some of them improve, others deteriorate. New ones appear while others vanish.
You will need to make some changes to your own page in order to improve your ranks because your competitors’ pages have been optimized better than yours (their websites load more quickly, their metadata is better optimized, etc.). This entails optimizing everything, including your photos, metadata, and website speed.
Personalized Search Will Impact Your Rankings as Well (Location, Behavior, etc.)
A user’s search results are frequently tailored to their location and past behavior. It may be challenging to determine your position for your target market as a result.
Depending on the user, you might observe changes in your keyword ranking fluctuations. Within Google’s Search Console, you can find a broad summary of your overall rating.
Results for localized searches frequently come up close to where you are. When you search, a particular website that you have visited frequently can be among the top results. Make sure your SEO expert is utilizing an incognito window if you’re in a meeting with them.
Some excellent backlinks were lost for you.
You will rank better the more high-quality backlinks you have.
But even though you might be happy about every excellent link you’ve ever landed, you might not be aware that you’ve lost some of them recently.
This might be as a result of a website that was connecting to you closing, receiving a penalty, or simply removing the link. You could contact them if they’ve taken down the link.
Simply focus on developing deeper connections with bloggers and websites in the future to ensure that you don’t keep losing links in this manner.
Google conducts tests on a regular basis.
keep in mind that Google is always testing new ideas, even when algorithmic changes are not being implemented.
Google is continuously experimenting with new websites in the search results since so many people create new content every day and because it is their duty to display the finest content at the top when people search.
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