Google Updates and SERP Changes - March 2013

[gyppo]

< continued from [webmasterworld.com...]

I'm seeing daily switching between 2-3 datasets across around 600 keywords. Seeing roughly 10-20 keywords swapping in & out of positions.

[edited by: tedster at 2:47 pm (utc) on Mar 1, 2013]

[skweb]

Out of a dozen domains that I maintain, one of them has been experiencing something similar to what backdraft7 is talking about. For a few hours, it was totally eliminated out of the index though I could find all the pages using the site: command. Now I see that it goes in and out of the index that I am seeing. It is a several years old hobby blog and I have done nothing new or different except blogging away as I have always done. G is pretty weird and it is clear to me that if they were not a monopoly they would have gone out of business by now.

[taberstruths]

For a few hours, it was totally eliminated out of the index though I could find all the pages using the site: command.

I have seen this same thing happen more than once including yesterday. I believe that somewhere in the workings of Google, they have determined how many "free visitors" they are going to send your site based on "who knows".

When you get a rush of search traffic on certain pages or subjects and it puts you over your daily quota, all of a sudden your pages drop out of their spot for a while until the balance of visitors sent by them is restored.

[Saffron]

My site seems to be doing a little better today.

I checked another smaller site of mine, never really look at the stats on that. It's up 25% on last month. Once I'm out of the trouble I'm in with my main site, I need to start looking at the other one. Growth over the past year has jumped by 250% which is good. At least Google likes that site.

I hope all this hard work I've put in is finally starting to pay off.

[davedm]

@taberstruths I agree with this. I know it sounds paranoid, but I've seen it happen way too many times to dismiss it as coincidence... Google traffic behaves that way, compensating for natural peaks from press coverage etc - whereas this simple doesn't happen for other sources of traffic.

[ColourOfSpring]

When you get a rush of search traffic on certain pages or subjects and it puts you over your daily quota, all of a sudden your pages drop out of their spot for a while until the balance of visitors sent by them is restored.

It's essentially like the message you get in Adwords : "Missed clicks due to budget" - Google set their OWN "budget" for your organic listings. When you hit their "budget" limit, you're gone from the listings until a certain amount of time elapses.

Google are all about telling you what you missed, what you could have had. Just increase your Adwords daily budget and they'll give it to you.

[backdraft7]

Still trending down...

Easter Sunday is always a decent day for us, except this year.
Happy Easter everyone. Try to do something nice for your fellow man today.

[Str82u]

and a Happy Easter to all... I love the candy holidays.

Trend is what trend is, this is a yearly thing but it doesn't feel good in any way. Hoping Tuesday brings notmal traffic as it has in the past.

[Forbin001]

Very odd results for the last 2 days for my main keyword. Big brand names that were solid for months pushed completely out. Is this an update? Penguin perhaps?

[backdraft7]

@Forbin - It's FUBAR, that's for sure! 2 measly sales today on a day that historically did 20. Looks like it's time to shut off adwords again, for some reason that seems to toggles a refresh and within minutes I get a sale. It's like I'm paying them to throw rotten tomatoes at myself.

Oh, and if you check your stats, I think you'll find a very high level of mobile users today. I'm at an incredible 39% today. Those are pure Zombies to my business model.

Google needs a setting so we can refuse mobile users. Anyone know if you can do that in adwords? Every click spent on a mobile user is a click wasted.

[Leosghost]

Google needs a setting so we can refuse mobile users. Anyone know if you can do that in adwords? Every click spent on a mobile user is a click wasted.

reading matter..
[webmasterworld.com...]

[webmasterworld.com...]

[backdraft7]

@Thanks Leosghost, I'll read that ASAP, but for now I just did a bid decrease of 100% on my "devices" page for mobile users. I also just paused all my campaigns in Adwords...

Now for something really interested...as mentioned, I toggled my Adwords off (paused), it's 5:50 pm and my last sale was at 10 am this morning. Within 5 minutes of toggling my Adwords OFF a sale completed, now as I'm writing this a second sale just completed (only minutes later), something is definitely screwed up between my adwords account and my organic listings! I've tried this trick literally dozens of times and it always seems to work. Now, how about someone try explaining that phenomenon?

EDIT: Lucky guess on my part for doing the -100% bid decrease...lol! It's all I could find that made sense.

[Leosghost]

I would also make a mobile version of the site..and divert incoming organic mobile* visitors to it..then look at the ROI on the mobile version after a month..and depending on what you find....then..if you use adwords..use two campaigns..one for your desktop version..one for your mobile version..

Even make one for tablets and one for small screen phones..( use "sniffer scripts" ..not perfect by any means ..but will sift and sort to a degree ) responsive ( with "media queries" ) would be better ..but would involve more work converting your current layout

[Leosghost]

I just did a bid decrease of 100% on my "devices" page for mobile users. I also just paused all my campaigns in Adwords...

That is two variables ..
IME one should only be altering one variable at a time and watching the results before beginning to wonder / decide what ( if anything ) is affecting what..

[backdraft7]

@Leos.. the site is html, and I'm probably going to leave it as is since it almost seems like a "leper" site to Google over the past two years...constantly dropping, little by little, making tiny recoveries, then dropping again. Google seems like they want to list it, but they also don't want to get too close and catch what it's got (hence the leper reference, probably watched too much Ben Hur this weekend).

I have started a totally new site, different payment model and all CMS powered, so I'm doing a responsive design right out of the chute to save the re-work. When the old site is hot, it's hot, when it's not it's not, so I'll let it just die a slow, painful death. Wish me luck! ;^)

BTW - I just toggled the pause, then resumed the campaign.

[Leosghost]

@Leos.. the site is html

I know ..you forgot..I know it :)

I have started a totally new site, different payment model and all CMS powered, so I'm doing a responsive design right out of the chute to save the re-work. When the old site is hot, it's hot, when it's not it's not, so I'll let it just die a slow, painful death. Wish me luck! ;^)

I do :)

[backdraft7]

Oh boy, now Google is playing a cutsy April Fools joke with the Analytics Real Time display, placing a false hit location of approximately Easter Island (yuk yuk) with 41 visits coming from the International Space Station Control Room. Log in an check it out...I opened a topic on it. <snip>

UPDATE: I must have caught it when it first started, but now it appears to be moving in a similar path as the ISS usually makes.

.
Mod's note: See thread that backdraft7 started re Google April Fools joke here...
[webmasterworld.com...]

[edited by: Robert_Charlton at 5:55 am (utc) on Apr 1, 2013]
[edit reason] removed blog link and off-topic noise [/edit]

[Str82u]

Good catch, that's cute. Facebooking it now.

[Str82u]

There are apparently a few Google gags going around. [google.com...]

SERPs look no better, no worse.

[yahalimu]

My Panda slapped index page (The inner pages were unaffected, happened last Panda) just re-appeared from page 63 to page 6. Lets hope it stays there and isn't just bouncing around pre-update. It is Easter after all, Google luvs to mess around with the serps during holidays.

I changed SOME of the text and removed many mentions of a keyword I think had tipped over in the realms of 'stuffing'. The keyword density for that word had not been changed for about 7 years.
Here's hoping it stays.. Definitely some movement going on here in the UK.

< continued here: [webmasterworld.com...] >

[edited by: tedster at 11:55 am (utc) on Apr 1, 2013]