Does it keep you awake at night that your SEO reports don’t always match what you see online?
Assuming all is well with your on-page/off-page elements (Lets pretend for this article that they are) – here are some non-keyword factors that influence search visibility to look into when things seem wonky.
- Are you logged into Google while searching?
- Do you have your personal search history turned On or Off?
- It is expected that Google will make nearly 1.5 changes every day to its algorithm this year – was your search conducted before or after any algo changes? (trick question – nobody knows the exact timing of Google algo changes – except Google, but it’s worth considering)
- If cookies are turned on, what is the data freshness?
- Are you using Google’s Chrome browser when making searches?
- Where are you located? (Checking your online placement from home, the office, or on your cellphone are likely to deliver different results)
Search engine ranking shift is frequent (happens to 80% of businesses). Sometimes the changes are slight, sometimes they’re wild – sometimes a business holds firm in their search engine ranking while their competition shows great flux. But inevitably, at some point, you’re going to get dethroned even when everything is up to par.
Shift happens – and sometimes, it’s totally out of your control. The trick is to measure this differential to identify if it is signaling a potential for sustained loss of ranking, or just a ripple in the algorithm that either correlating data or experience tells you not to worry.
So the next time you think your search engine result page rankings have shifted, or when a friend (or SEO services company) across the country (across the world) calls to tell you that your business just lost its top positioning – consider these visibility elements before freaking out and taking action.
By Chris Sheehy | Sidewalk Branding Company #keyword #seo #seoranking
