Metric Tips for Search Engine Optimization, Do's and Do Not's - Weezle Marketing

Why are my keyword positions falling?

Many different factors can cause a drop in keyword rankings. If you think about this, Google looks at over 250 different factors when it crawls your website. So, there could be a simple solution to this or something you need to improve continuously.

Keyword Optimisation

The first step you want to do is look at your current keyword optimization within your website. Have you added your keywords to the right pages and ensured they are mentioned within the metadata and the actual content on the web page?

If not, this is what you want to work on first. The platform will guide you onto those actions, so make sure to check the 'Actions' section for this.

If yes, please keep reading.

Keyword Cannibalization

A very common mistake that people make is by adding the main keyword they want to rank for across the entire website. This does more harm than good. Google becomes very confused in terms of what page to rank that keyword for.

The easiest way to find pages that have keyword cannibalization is by doing a 'site' search. To do this, use head to the Google search bar and type 'site:' followed by the main URL and then the keyword. Google will now show us results that are relevant to that keyword.

Any pages that use this keyword will be de-optimized by removing the keyword from the title tag, meta description, H1 & the actual content if possible. This is how you would fix any keyword cannibalization issues.

If Google is getting confused between which pages to rank you for a particular keyword, or if it's ranking a keyword on a different page to what you originally optimized for, then the platform will generate actions around it. Following the steps in those actions should help reduce this confusion for Google!

Competition

Have you looked at your competitors recently? The drop in keyword rankings could also be due to your competitors upping their SEO game. You can use the platform's competitor tool (go to the navigation bar and click strategy - competitor analysis) to help you identify who your biggest SEO competitor is and how well they're performing on Google.

Use the 'Compare Competitors' feature to help you identify areas for improvement too!

Content & Backlinks

Other ways to help you improve your keyword rankings are making sure that you have fresh new (relevant to the keywords) content on your website, as well as building high Domain Authority (DA) backlinks.

Google Algorithm Update

Another potential reason your rankings may drop is due to a new Google Algorithm update. It is best practice to keep on top of Google updates and make all of the necessary changes before they release the actual update.

If you have been affected by an Algorithm update, then you will need to familiarise yourself with what it is and how it affects your website. Then start working on the improvements in line with the update.

What does search volume mean?

Search volume is a figure that is provided by Google.

It specifies the average number of people who search in Google for a given 'keyword' every month.​So, let's say 'SEO' had a search volume of 100,000. This means that (on average) 100,000 people search the term 'SEO' in Google every month.

The important word above is 'average'. What Google do is take the yearly figure and then divide it by 12 to get the monthly number.

So it doesn't show you seasonal trends, so be mindful of that (e.g. some months may have way more people searching that term that others, but Google only shows an average over the whole year). 

What does keyword difficulty mean?

The keyword difficulty is an extra measure to help you decide what keywords to choose.

Each keyword will be given a difficulty score of either ‘Low’, ‘Medium’, ‘High’, or ‘Very High’.

A ‘Very High’ difficulty score would indicate this keyword is very difficult to rank for in Google. A ‘Low’ difficulty score keyword would be much easier and quicker to rank for.

Naturally, it will be easier to rank for keywords that have a Low’ or ‘Medium’ difficulty score. Therefore, if you’re new to SEO, we would recommend targeting these keywords first.

As you become more established & your SEO performance improves, you can then work towards targeting the keywords with a higher difficulty score.

So how is it worked out?

It’s a calculation where we look at the DA (domain authority) of the websites ranking for that keyword on page 1 in Google & decide how difficult it is to rank in the top 10 results.

As a very simple example, the keyword “SEO” has a 'Very High' difficulty because the top 10 ranking websites all have a high DA.

However, for a keyword such as “SEO freelancers in Lands End”, the difficulty will be lower as the top 10 ranking websites will have (on average) lower DA.

How frequently should you check your keywords?

If you've built your SEO strategy already, and started to optimise your website, then you'll likely be checking your keyword rankings frequently to see the impact of the work you've done.​This can become quite addictive! We know as we've been in SEO for years, and it can be really enticing to check your rankings every day or even more.​However, we wouldn't recommend this due to two main reasons:

1. Rankings fluctuate all the time! Google is constantly tinkering with it's algorithm and as a result websites move multiple times a day. You can't spot trends during a day, or even 2.

2. It's a waste of your precious time! I'm guessing you're pretty busy, and checking every day or more isn't productive. 

Due to Google's fluctuations we recommend you check your keywords every 3 days minimum, ideally weekly. This way you can easily spot trends over time that will really tell you how your SEO is going.

How often do keyword rankings move?

You might be seeing that your keyword rankings fluctuate a lot. Maybe one day you rank in one position, and then the next time it's moved.

First off - don't worry about this movement! It is completely natural, as Google are frequently updating their algorithms.

The rate of fluctuation will vary, dependant upon where the keyword is ranking. It breaks down into two groups:

1. If your keyword is ranking page 4 or more = then the fluctuations will be a lot more extreme. You can move from page 5 to page 8, back to page 6, and then page 9, etc... This is normal behaviour past page 4 onwards.

2. If your keyword is ranking page 4 or less = you will see a lot less extreme fluctuations (eg it should not jump 2+ pages back and forth), but you can see it move up-to half a page at a time. Again, this is normal for almost every website.

   
   

Hope this helps - give us a shout if you have any questions! Also, if you want us to just help you out, Schedule a call with us today HERE

Cheers,

Austin