Has Google lost its mind? I am the only link in every SERP for a query?
-
I run a small online debutante dress store and have been doing some onsite seo recently. Anyways, when I search for the search query "deb dress style guide" my site is the only search result for the first three pages of Google Australia (my target market). Just endless links to my site. I have competitors in my niche who all have websites worthy of listing in the SERP as shown when you google "deb dresses".
Can anyone explain whats going on?
-
FYI, Deb is an American clothing retailer, and they sell dresses. So even if it's not a brand in Australia, it is still a brand that sells the thing that you're trying to rank for. I can see where Google might find it semantically confusing.
-
Again i strongly feel that this is a case of branded search and should not be dismissed.
Please take a look at the keyword he is ranking for. No stats exist in googles database which only tells me two things
1. It is a VERY LOW producing keyword where getting ranked is virtually inevitable. Because google recognizes that word just as that . i.e.: ( his page title and eve domain url is fairly close to the keyword he is ranking for ) and if no one else is competing for that keyword then the serps will show what is relevant.
2. Branded search . Its his name . Its the business name. The business url , etc and with low competition for that phrase it only makes sense.
Hope i was clear.
Best Wishes
Hampig M
CEO
BizDetox
-
Useful is relevant.
Useful (in Google's eye) means that the page answers the intent of the query. If someone is looking for a deb dress style guide then your pages ARE useful. Since there isn't anyone else competing for that keyword, then all the results are, in fact, useful for the given query.
-
I am not complaining obviously considering im ranking so many times for the search query, but im intrigued by why google considers this useful. "deb dress' is a style of dress and not a brand, so shouldnt be a branded search query for me.
-
Just realized I did search for "debutante dresses" not "deb dress style guide". It would help if I did the correct search, huh?
-
Did you get the same results when you did the search?
-
Nope. It's not personalization.
I've seen this happen for a number of SERP checks. It happens for us for our real estate searches. Not sure why, but I'm not complaining.
-
Brendan,
It looks like you have some sort of personalization on your search. Try this search string and see if you get the same result:
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=debutante+dress&pws=0
I"m not sure how familiar you are with search strings but I just want to take a moment and go over how you can know in the future if you have personalization in a search or not.
If you look at the string above you will notice "&aq=f&oq=debutante+..." everything after this (and including) are parameters in your search. To avoid this take all of it out after your query so it looks like this
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=debutante+dress
then add the following to make sure that all personalization is off
"&pws=0"
Your search string should look like this now
-
Not what my sepr shows in the us. but is AU yes you are right. You have 80% of the share space on the first three pages. I guess there is not enough competition for that specific keyword query.
On my search you dont show up anywhere on the first page.
Only one conclusion.
google is recognizing your query as a Branded search since your website name and url is deb dress. Accompanied by low competition if might do that . ie: its like doing a search for Bizdetox my companies name. All you will find is info about my company and my pages.
Btw what has your keyword research show you in AU in regards to "deb dress style guide"
Also just check your keyword in Google Keyword Tools. It doesnt even show any traffic so of course your going to show up.
More and more i look it looks like a very unique branded search
Best wishes
Hampig M
Bizdetox
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
-
Can 'Jump link'/'Anchor tag' urls rank in Google for keywords?
E.g. www.website.com/page/#keyword-anchor-text Where the part after the # is a section of the page you can jump to, and the title of that section is a secondary keyword you want the page to rank for?
Algorithm Updates | | rwat0 -
Google SERPs changes
Hi I wonder if anyone knew of any changes to the Google SERPs appearance in August 2015? We dropped in over a thousand visits to the homepage on brand so I wanted to find out why. Also, our DA went from 36 to 34 - does Google panda affect domain authority at all? Thank you
Algorithm Updates | | BeckyKey0 -
Links to category pages unnatural?
If people are linking to your site, it would seem natural that the vast majority of those links would point to the homepage, product page, or a article/content page. Let's say you have 100 links pointing to your site, and 40 of them are pointing to category pages. Would this seem unnatural? Does Google or other search engines have a way of determining this as a factor in ascertaining whether the links are natural or not? Is there a rule of thumb when it comes to the pages that are linked to on your site?
Algorithm Updates | | inhouseseo0 -
Google Hangout Video Takeover?
A while back I posted about a youtube video campaign that dominated the attorney rankings throughout Florida. Today, I noticed a new hangout video that does not have the reach of the before mentioned video, but it has just popped up as number three for the term "Tampa Car Accident Attorney." It wasn't even listed anywhere in the first few pages Monday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=barTgGYQTIM Has anyone else noticed Google Hangout Videos having this kind of success or is this a "flash in the pan" incident? Also, is there any significance to this even being a Google Hangout video as opposed to just a youtube video? Thanks, Ruben
Algorithm Updates | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Struggling with Google Bot Blocks - Please help!
I own a site called www.wheretobuybeauty.com.au After months and months we still have a serious issue with all pages having blocked URLs according to Google Webmaster Tools. The 404 errors are returning a 200 header code according to the email below. Do you agree that the 404.php code should be changed? Can you do that please ? The current state: Google webmaster tools Index Status shows: 26,000 pages indexed 44,000 pages blocked by robots. In late March, we implemented a change recommended by an SEO expert and he provided a new robots.txt file, advised that we should amend sitemap.xml and other changes. We implemented those changes and then setup a re-index of the site by google. The no of blocked URLs eventually reduced in May and June to 1,000 for a few days – but now the problem has rapidly returned. The no of pages that are displayed in a google search request of www.google.com.au where the query was ‘site:wheretobuybeauty.com.au’ is 37,000: This new site has been re-crawled over last 4 weeks. About the site This is a Linux php site and has the following: 55,000 URLs in sitemap.xml submitted successfully to webmaster tools robots.txt file has been modified several times: Firstly we had none Then we created one but were advised that it needed to have this current content: User-agent: * Disallow: Sitemap: http://www.wheretobuybeauty.com.au/sitemap.xml
Algorithm Updates | | socialgrowth0 -
After penguin 2.0, 20-25% drop sitewide, no google unatural links message, What could be causing it?
Hi,Since Penguin 2.0 we've taken a 20-25% knock but not recieved an unatural link message from Google. After sending a bunch of removal requests, I decided to submit a disavow file anyway two weeks ago and tried to make sure I rooted out some links that were built way back when our site started and link building best practice was a bit shadier. Analysis of our backlink profile points to about 40-50% links coming from general directories, wondering if perhaps their weight has been adjusted and this is why the drop occured? Having said that we have some high quality links from government sources and highly trusted sites so not too spammy. Can anyone shed some light or offer suggestions? Thanx
Algorithm Updates | | Mulith0 -
Google automatically adding company name to serp titles
Maybe I've been living under a rock, but I was surprised to see that Google had algorithmically modified my page titles in the search results by adding the company name to the end of the (short) title. <title>About Us</title> became About Us - Company Name Interestingly, this wasn't consistent - sometimes it was "company name Limited" and sometimes just "company name. Anyone else notice this or is this a recent change?
Algorithm Updates | | DougRoberts0 -
Rankings in Bing/Yahoo lower than in Google
Other than a few keywords, my rankings are consistently lower in MSN/Bing/Yahoo than in Google. Any ideas or suggestions as to why?
Algorithm Updates | | NueMD0