My site fell off the serps for two keywords I tried to optimize the home page for
-
I was doing some keyword research about 45 days ago and stumbled across two keywords that I was ranking in the mid hundreds and decided I wanted to see if I could rank them.
I went in and changed my title to my blog, and the description. Then about a week later I changed my mind and wanted to go for two other keywords so I changed it again.
Then within a day or two, my site completely fell off the serps for those two key words that I changed the title to optimize for.
None of my other rankings were effected for any of the other keywords, in fact most of my keywords have risen because of recent backlinking.
I thought it was just a temporary google bounce because I was playing with my title of my blog or something, but after almost two months I am still nowhere to be found for words that I should easily at least be in the top 1000, especially because I was at about 150 by accident.
Anyone have any ideas on what might have happened?
Thanks.
-
Hey Ryan, thanks for the tips. However as I mentioned I know I haven't done any on page optimization for those terms.
I was already in the serps, then updated my title tags a few times while I was doing different keyword searches and then changing my mind. Then I disappeared from the serps.
So I guess I should have been more clear. I am wondering if there is some sort of google penalty for changing your main title tags around too much. I don't think there is, but if I am not going to get back for those terms no matter what I do, I didn't want to spend time trying to optimize for those if it was pointless.
It is just weird that I was at least in the results and as soon as I was going to optimize and changed the title and description, then bam I was totally gone. Thought maybe someone would have a guess, but if not, I can move forward and optimize for those and give it a month and see if I show back up.
-
I don't understand why you feel your site would rank at all for the two terms you selected. They are not used once in your content.
Simply adding a title to a page does not help your SERP if you do not have supporting content. In fact, I would expect the exact result you are experiencing.
You have many opportunities to improve your page ranking for those terms. Here are some quick changes you can make:
-
Use those exact phrases in your content a few times.
-
Use anchor text elsewhere in your site to link back to your home page.
-
Change your anchor text on your home page to something helpful. "Read more" is not going to help get the results you desire.
-
Work on improving your ALT tags to helpful key word phrases
Without these changes, your site will simply not appear in the top 1000 in my opinion. A final thought. Focus on a long tail key phrase which can land your site on the first page. Improving your ranking from 150 to 40 isn't really helpful. You are still buried in the pile and are unlikely to be found.
-
-
see above for the site. How do I look back at the cache? It has been over a month and still hasn't shown back up in the top 1000
-
It would be so very helpful if you could share your site and the keywords.
On a few occasions I offered generic answers to this type of question, then when the original poster shared their site information, the root issue was something quite different.
-
It's always tough to say without seeing the site. As you know, so many variables are involved. That is strange & it would be helpful to look back at the cache to see which one it picked up before you dropped off those specific SERPs. My guess is you'll be back where you started within a few days.
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
-
Inconsistent Keyword Search Volume & Difficulty Across Tools (e.g., Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Semrush)
Hi there, Moz Community! I'm reaching out for some guidance on keyword research discrepancies. I'm currently targeting the keyword "sui gas bill" for my blog, sngplbill, which focuses on information related to Sui gas bills. I've used several keyword research tools, including Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and Semrush, and each platform provides different search volume and keyword difficulty scores: Moz: No search volume data, Keyword Difficulty (KD) 24
Keyword Research | | Faizali.786
Google Keyword Planner: Search volume 100k-1M, Difficulty (Low)
Semrush: Search volume 90k, KD 31
Ahrefs: KD 1 (Very Easy)
These varying results are causing some confusion. Ideally, I'd like to understand which platform offers the most reliable data for search volume and keyword difficulty. Here are some additional details that might be helpful: My target location: Pakistan My Questions: What factors might contribute to these discrepancies in keyword data across different tools?
Considering my niche (Sui gas bill information in Pakistan), which platform would you recommend for the most accurate search volume and keyword difficulty estimates?
Are there any additional factors to consider beyond search volume and keyword difficulty when selecting keywords for content strategy?
Any insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
Capture sui gas bill semrush.PNG Capture moz sui gas bill.PNG Capture gkp sui gas bill.PNG Capture ahref sui gas bill.PNG
Thanks,0 -
Proper use of location in keywords
¿If I want to track keywords in a specific location, do I need to write the keyword with the location or only the keyword? For example: If I want to track the results of the keyword "hair salon" in a specific city, should I write "Hair salon in (city chosen) or only hair salon.
Keyword Research | | reginadelafuente0 -
Keyword explorer
Hello, In Keyword explorer out of all the possibilities : https://mza.bundledseo.com/blog/announcing-keyword-explorer-mozs-new-keyword-research-tool Include a Mix of Sources Only Include Keywords With All of the Keyword Terms Exclude Your Query Terms to Get Broader Ideas Based on Closely Related Topics etc... Which one should I use to do my keyword research because they all me different possibilities of keywords. Rand in his article says closely related topic is best for single words like piedmont for example I imagine but what about 2 word keywords like bike tours what is best to use... Thank you,
Keyword Research | | seoanalytics0 -
Low Competition Keywords
My blog, which started in May, is doing really well except with Google. My traffic is growing and so are my subscribers etc but my keywords have very high competition. I don't really like google's new keyword research tool. Any advice for finding keywords I have a chance with? I am only ranking in the top 50 for one keyword (#1-2 spot) but it doesn't give me a lot of traffic. Thanks!
Keyword Research | | blogger20130 -
Google Keyword Research Tool - Monthly Totals for Similar Keywords?
Hi! I am doing some Google keyword research using the Google Adwords Keyword tool to decide what content to create for the masses. That is, to find opportunities to create content that is in-demand where the current offering is not satisfying the need effectively. Here are some keywords I picked out. I hope to produce a single piece of content optimized for some or all of these keywords. (See attached imgur link) The first thing I notice when doing this kind of work is that many similar-sounding keywords are showing the same sum of average monthly totals. This suggests to me that they may not actually be unique. For instance, the first two searches "guitar strings order" and "guitar string notes" each have ~5400 monthly searches. Does that mean 5400 each, or 5400 total between the two? So does anybody know if these are individual numbers or part of a bigger total? And if they are part of a bigger total, how could I estimate the average searches for a piece of content that targets all 8 keywords? If I tally all of the searches, I have over 23,000 potential searches per month. But if some of them are being counted more than once, so to speak, then the number could be much lower. ghmFYOZ
Keyword Research | | garney0 -
How to choose a Keyword
I searched around for this answer first but got information overload. I write a photography blog and tonight I will put up a post of photography from around Jiyugaoka Train Station. I will probably call the post Around Jiyugaoka Station or Around Jiyugaoka or something like that. I like in Jiyugaoka (a part of Tokyo) so I have other posts that I have keyworded for Jiyugaoka. What is the best way to determine what is the best derivative of 'Jiyugaoka Station' to choose for the best traffic? I assume I could enter them in to manually into the Keyword Analysis but is there is easier way that would give recommendations?
Keyword Research | | ShootTokyo0 -
How do I find traffic for local keywords?
We're having trouble finding reliable traffic numbers for long-tail local keywords (ex. - "computer repair green bay"). We tried using Google Insights but it doesn't display long-tail keyword information, only broad keyword keywords searched for in a certain locale. We also tried using Wordtracker, but that hasn't been too reliable either. Is there a single tool that provides real traffic for local long-tail keywords?
Keyword Research | | optimalwebinc0 -
Keyword Updates
I have a list of keywords in a campaign that I need to update. I use the keyword report card to review those keyword performance by page. I dont currently see a way to update those keywords, I only see the option to add or delete. I don't want to delete and re-enter because then I will lose that "mapping". Is there a way to simply update a keyword?
Keyword Research | | webdecorators0