4 replies to this topic

[jsp1983]

I have a query about a problem with a site that doesn't appear to be stabilising in where it sits for various search phrases with Google.

The domain and site is just over a year old. Some content was added to it early last year, but unique content started to be added around September/ October, shortly after which we started to see visits to the site.

What we've found, though, is that there appears to be a cyclical process of how our site ranks. Every 10-11 days or so, our site will sit in the 20s for a particular targeted phrase for a couple of days. After which, it will drop out in to the 100+ SERPs. I've attached a screenshot of GA which demonstrates the correlation in visits (as you might expect).

This cycle has continued since November/ December of last year. We don't have any natural (or otherwise) inbound links to the site (yet). We always wear a white hat and live in fear of being beaten with the Google Stick. We always ensure that our content is as useful and relevant as possible - we don't use duplicate or respun content, nor do we farm content. But yes, we are an affiliate in our vertical ( , I know).

It's the same issues as has been mentioned here: www.affiliates4u.com/forums/affiliate-marketing-lounge/176729-why-site-dissappears-reappears-rankings-regular-basis-4-months-after-launch.html

My query isn't so much "how can I 'fix' this?", but more "what is causing this and why?".

I've known sites to bounce around SERPs after launch, but I haven't seen it follow the cyclical pattern described here.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[chrishirst]

http://www.highranki...showtopic=17365

Read post #2

http://searchenginel...f-success-13258

[jsp1983]

Thanks, but it doesn't really answer my query of 'why'.

[chrishirst]

The why?

That's just the way it is.

Eight or Nine years ago it was for three or four days every month that rankings bounced up and down (the Google "dance"), now they fluctuate ALL the time, all of the day, every day of the week.

The "cycical" pattern might be when the Google data centres rotate, your browser might refresh/clear cookies, your IP may change (DHCP lease time at your ISP), your ISP may rotate their DNS servers and a dozen other things could happen that may or may not affect how Google views your query and filters the results.

[jsp1983]

Fair enough. I just thought it was unusual in the way that it does it - particularly as it's not something I'd seen before with other sites. Given that it was also mentioned on the A4U forum, I wondered if there was the affiliate factor involved (although it would seem irrational, given the symptoms).

The result doesn't bother me so much, as we already try to focus on qualified traffic that's further down the decision-making process, so we expect lower levels of traffic.