My competitor pushed me down the SERP out of nowhere. How do I fix this?
-
Hi, my ecommerce site used to rank #2 (my homepage) for my primary keyword on Google for over a year. #1 has always been my competitor's homepage. Since Monday 10/10, my competitor's Shop page -- which uses this keyword only 6x within the content of that page and has NEVER been ranked -- is #2 bumping me down to #3
I feel this is a result of the last Penguin update. My best guess is their homepage popularity -- due to backlinks and being #1 SERP rank -- has transferred popularity to their Shop page. Is that normal for Google to do that?
Any advice or guidance would be much appreciated.
-
This can be anything but I'm suggesting to do comparison: links, anchors, content on your website and his website. Then with data you should improve your website. Can content be better? Correct it. Can links be better/stronger? Add them. Etc etc... I know this looks like general advise but if you need help with comparing top10 websites with your website, can help you.
There're more possibilities than penguin.
-
Thank you, Bernadette. But if my links got devalued, why does that make my competitor's Shop page appear out of nowhere? It's never been ranked before.
And regarding keyword density, I've always read good content and backlinks are the 2 primary factors in SEO ranking. So how can content be good if it doesn't refer to the keyword? How does Google recognize good content relative to keyword usage? Is there a primary SEO factor I'm forgetting?
-
Taylorw, you mention the number of times the keyword is mentioned on the page, 6 times... which really has very little to do with search engine rankings anymore. Generally speaking, keyword density and how many times a keyword is mentioned on a page is not a major factor now.
You alluded to links, and you're right, there is a good chance that your search engine rankings have changed due to the Penguin update that recently occurred. It could still be other factors, though.
I wouldn't think necessarily that it's your competitor pushing you down--it could be, in fact, that your site's rankings went down because of certain links that you have that have been devalued, dropping your rankings. Without specific knowledge about your URL(s), there's not much anyone can do to give you more specific advice.
I would, though, take a careful look at all of the links pointing to your website, especially looking for low quality links that may need to be removed and/or disavowed.
-
Can you share the query ?
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
-
SERPS appearing and vanishing every 15 days
I have a regional careers website on a small seo retainer contract. I manage the google webmaster account and use moz tools to help keep pages finely tuned. The site has been experiencing a phenomena now for about 6 months whereby the SERPS (we work with around 10 keyphrases) are placed in top 5 positions and generate healthy google traffic and will then suddenly vanish. The cycle is roughly 1 - 2 weeks top page, followed by 2 - 3 weeks outside the top 5 pages of google results. I contacted Google via webmaster central to ask for help and they simply confirmed that there were no penalties being applied and it was normal algorithm updates. I manage the seo for 20+ sites and have not seen this phenomenon elsewhere, not since the days of 'google dance' years ago. Has anyone else had this experience ? The SERPS always come back after a couple of weeks but then vanish again after a week or so this cycle has been ongoing for 6 months now and we have eliminated all symptoms we can think of. Your feedback would be much appreciated in this matter.
Algorithm Updates | | broadshout0 -
I can't understand why I am not rank one on SERPS
Hi Guys, I really cannot understand why I am no longer rank 1 on SERPs? My link data shows great weight in comparison to competitors, my on page SEO is good, nice and diverse on the alt text. I know there are a lot of factors that effect SERPs but I believe I have done well but am still not ranking? Have I missed something?
Algorithm Updates | | TomLondon
I really appreciate any thoughts and ideas. Thanks,
Tom0 -
Puzzled by recent SERP results - what ranking factors cause this?
Hi mozzers, I have been using moz tools for a long while now for assessing SEO metrics with great success, but since recent Google algorithm updates I am seeing more and more SERPS that just simply don't make sense to me what so ever. The most startling recently was an assessment of one of the keywords my own site competes for "Link Building Services" The current No 1 position in Google.co.uk is held by http://www.napalit.org/ I invite all you seo experts out there to take a look at this site, look at it metrics in OSE compared with the "lower" competition and explain to me why it is No1. I would really like to know what ranking factors this site has that makes it "higher quality" and offer "better value" than the competition. I thought I understood what Google was trying to do with recent updates - get rid of non-value adding spammers and improve the quality of the search results. But now I am becoming more sceptical. Are they just making it impossible for us to make a difference by following good SEO practices so we all resort to paying for Adwords? I hope you guys out there can help me with this one and restore my faith. Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | websearchseo0 -
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?
Algorithm Updates | | mydebdress20 -
Interesting SERP trend I'm observing
I know Google has been favoring brands a big names lately, but I'm seeing something a bit more alarming Our company offers custom embroidered patches, and through keyword and search research I have discovered that almost all searches for "embroidered patches" are by people who need embroidered patches and are looking to purchase them, or learn more about the process of purchasing them. The SERPs for this term used to be all embroidered patch companies such as ours. In the past month: We've been outranked by a page on Amazon that's fairly irrelevant. An equally irrelevant ebay page has emerged The Wikipedia page for "embroidered patch" is now number seven. This has pushed three other embroidered patch companies off the first page (not that I'm complaining because it wasn't our company . . . yet). My question is, has anyone else noticed something similar happening, where large sites are gaining ground, in spite of the fact that they have low relevance to the search term?
Algorithm Updates | | UnderRugSwept0 -
Affect in SERPs when moving footer links off the homepage
I have several pages that rank highly in the SERPs and these pages are linked directly to my homepage in the footer. I want to clean up my footer because I have too many site wide links but don't want to hurt the SERP rankings during the transition. Will removing these page links from the footer impact SERP rankings?
Algorithm Updates | | braunna0 -
Why is my client's website, ranking higher for serps on bing and yahoo for competitive keywords
My client is in the competitive Private jet charter space. Why is my client's website, ranking higher for serps on bing and yahoo for competitive keywords phrases? like Private jet charter as an example. http://www.jetcharter.com/
Algorithm Updates | | AndrewSEO0 -
If we are getting clicks from a local one box as a citation in the serps's would we see this as the referrer in GA?
If we are getting clicks from a local one box as a citation in the serps's
Algorithm Updates | | Mediative
would we see this as the referrer in GA?0