Keyword rankings may wildly fluctuate over a few days or weeks, as anybody who has followed SEO efforts knows. Good SEO Company Australia is a strategy, and strategies have a delayed payoff that improves rankings over time rather than in the short term. Moving up the rankings from position 23 to position 5 in a single day may seem optimistic at first glance, but extreme fluctuations may go either way. If you become too excited when a significant change like that comes, you will be devastated when the reverse occurs. Taking a step back and analyzing the situation from a more distant perspective usually pays off.
Understanding the context of these shifts in rank, the factors at play, and potential remedies helps mitigate any negative emotions you have. Let us go a little further to learn more about this problem and why rankings may be so unpredictable.
Why Do Search Engine Result Positions Change?
Websites that have just recently begun to rank for a keyword are substantially more vulnerable to swings in keyword ranking. It is less probable that you’ll go up or down in rank for a particular keyword the longer you’ve been ranking for it.
Despite this, other factors besides the length of time your content has already been published, and its value to the end user might affect its position in search engine results for specific keywords. When Google shuffles things around in search engine results pages (SERPs), they consider a lot. The most prevalent factors that influence keyword position changes are discussed below.
Changes In The Environment
More certainty will exist if your site is higher in search engines. Because of the high number of rivals to your site and the relatively low number of “points” it now enjoys, even seemingly little actions, such as adding fresh material, will have a disproportionately significant effect.
It’s perfectly natural, but there’s not much you can do about it but keep working to improve your position. When you’re at the top of the search results for your keywords, you won’t be pushed about by the competition.
Concerns Regarding Your Current Technology Infrastructure
Many search engine optimization (SEO) tools may be used to get valuable insights into your site’s traffic and performance in search engine results pages (SERPs). However, although they often prove very useful and provide interesting new perspectives, they are sometimes spot-on.
Although it is one of the top tools available, SEMrush might need more accuracy since it relies on data from other sources. Their stats aren’t 100% correct. Your actual traffic and ranking positions for specific keywords may vary from what they report.
Substantial Changes Made To The Algorithms
Google’s algorithm may be updated near daily, although sometimes more significant updates are sent out simultaneously. We have a habit of naming these revisions after animals or events (Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Mobilegeddon, and Fred, for example). Search engine optimization specialists often refer to these shifts as the “Google Dance” since they occur with every upgrade. After an update has been tested in a restricted environment and found acceptable, it is released to the live index. Since the index is so large, it is released in stages. It takes time to adjust to a new normal after a significant shift, sometimes several days or more. Because of this shift, there will be significant variation in how different websites perform in search engine results for specific keywords.
Impulsive Elements
If your competition suddenly changes, it might significantly affect the keyword rankings. If a rival suddenly disappears, there’s a hole to be filled, and a formidable upstart may shake up the ranks until Google decides where to put everyone.
Similarly, a sudden increase in interest in a particular subject might cause significant shifts in your ranking. If Google experiences a spike in visitors, the search engine will have access to a wealth of new information that can be used to determine which sites consumers prefer. As a result, even if a brand suddenly became widely discussed in the media, its associated low-volume keyword would see dramatic fluctuations.
Timely Relevance
High seasonality in traffic is typical for several industries and search terms. For instance, Black Friday sales are relatively slow throughout the year, but they see a significant uptick in the days and hours leading up to the shopping holiday. This unexpected increase in time travel may be anticipated, but the outcome is always random.
Every year, websites crash under the anticipated influx of traffic and even a brief outage may cause significant fluctuations in search rankings as other services to try to catch up. Temporal fascinations are transitory and often predictable, but your ultimate destination is always a mystery. It’s a classic instance of making do with what you have, riding the tide, and cashing in on the crowds.
Once reanalyzed or repositioned by Google, your site’s ranks will likely increase after you’ve removed harmful information.
URL Adaptations
If you have recently changed the URL for your website, you may have seen a significant drop in traffic and a rise and fall in search engine rankings as Google adjusts to the new site. Google thinks you didn’t just go by a different name after the transition. The material from your site has surfaced on a new website, and yours has vanished.
Google must determine what transpired, whether or not this new site is fake. Do the new URLs permanently replace the old ones? What effect does the new domain name have on your site’s usability and mission? After a significant shift in your rating, it may take many weeks or months to stabilize. While this is happening, you should keep up your white hat SEO practices to get a higher position.
Conclusion
Natural keyword fluctuations or Google algorithm updates, however, are something you can only keep an eye on and hope to adapt to. However, if you’re a content marketing expert or have one on your team, you might profit from unexpected shifts in consumer interest. Use temporal interest keywords to be ready for a spike in activity at certain times of the year. It’s essential to test how well your website handles seasonal traffic before the busy season begins since a minor outage caused by the unexpected number of visitors may significantly shift search engine rankings.
You must post only the highest quality material to maintain a high search engine rating. Do content and backlink audits on your site once a year to identify and delete any stuff that may slow it down. Think long and hard before sweeping changes, such as a new URL.
