12 replies to this topic

[smeyer56]

I have read a little about the Google dance and I would like some input on this. Our site has been #1 on Google for over a month and today we are#7. Our second keyword phrase has had us at #5 and today we are # 9. www2.google.com still lists the original placements as does www3.google.com.

This sounds like the dance to me and I read someplace that usually what is shown on the 2 and 3 google sites usually filters to the main Google site.

I would just like confirmation in my belief that this is nothing to worry about.
I also looked at the sites above us and nothing changed there either.

Could someone give more information on the Google dance or links to good articles explaining it. The ones I read were sort of vague.

Thanks

[Jill]

I would just like confirmation in my belief that this is nothing to worry about.

Rankings go up and down all the time. It's nothing to worry about. You can't set a position in Google and have it stay there. They go up, they go down. It's kind of like a rollercoaster.

Sounds like you're doing very well in the top-10. I would just suggest that you don't keep checking it, relax and keep making your site better and better.

Jill

[toprank]

Rankings go up and down all the time.  It's nothing to worry about.  You can't set a position in Google and have it stay there.  They go up, they go down.  It's kind of like a rollercoaster.

Sounds like you're doing very well in the top-10.  I would just suggest that you don't keep checking it, relax and keep making your site better and better.

Jill

Jill's right. (of course

We recently had a search term with a first page ranking out of over 5 million search results drop to #22 or so on Google. At first it was very concerning, but we refined the site copy a little and within a week or so it was back at #5.

Not only is the old listing back, but our ranking on other terms improved. Continue to refine your site and make it better and your rankings can improve significantly.

[smeyer56]

We have set a goal to be on the first page/top ten of the major search engines and have accomplished that, with your help, Jill and this forum. But my boss does regularly does searches because this a new area to us and I just wanted confirmation from the group that helped us get there that I shouldn't be too concerned.

Thanks

[smeyer56]

An update. Google today has us back at #1 and #4. Yahoo followed suit. Thanks for all the responses.

[Greystar]

An update. Google today has us back at #1 and #4. Yahoo followed suit. Thanks for all the responses.

If your Google results are sweet, Yahoo, AOL, and all the other engines that use Googles database usually follow suit in short order.

Same thing applies with MSN/Hotbot/BBC and all the Inktomi engines. you usually do well in them all, or badly in them all, but rarely do I get good results in some and terrible results in the others.

As you mentioned in your first post, the "Google dance" is akin to a pack of cards being shuffled. My results are bobbing about like a ship in a storm right now, but within a few days, they'll be back to (roughly) where they were last week.

As all the experienced people above have mentioned, don't focus on one specific result on one engine, but concentrate on making your whole site relevant, content rich and let the results follow from that.

[Leann_Pass]

This sounds like the dance to me and I read someplace that usually what is shown on the 2 and 3 google sites usually filters to the main Google site.

Not the google dance yet! last dance was the 11th wouldn't expect another for a while =) Of course, you never know!

I would just like confirmation in my belief that this is nothing to worry about. I also looked at the sites above us and nothing changed there either.

Google has an 'everflux' and just like it sounds.....it is always tweaking, always changing. I wouldn't worry too much about a ranking falling for a moment especially if it is still in the top 10. Wait a week and see what happens to your results. If they stay low, then tweak away.

I had an experience a few months ago where my #7 and #9 keyword phrase listings for my design site dropped out of site (or so it seemed) I looked and looked, just as you are, to see if there was a problem or if the sites ahead of mine had done some incredible seo work.......they had not. A week went by and and my #7 had gone to #1 and my #9 had gone to #2......now that is out of over 600 thousand results and they still hold #1 and #2 as I type this, months later.

I held tight and held my breath as these key terms bring my business! I did nothing different, I just used patience (gotta HATE that P word!) and it all worked out.

If my rankings had remained at the decreased positions for more than a week I would definitely have been working on my site for those key terms, as I have (ugh) for other terms on other sites.

Patience really is a virtue when it comes to SEO. I have to say a "watched pot never boils!"
Okay, I'm from Alabama......that means if you constantly watch the pot it SEEMS to take an eternity to boil, if you leave it alone for a while and busy yourself elsewhere, you come back and say "Oh Crap, it's boiling already???"

Same is true with search engine results.....don't drive yourself crazy worrying about it because it makes it SEEM like an eternity, even though it isn't an eternity at all =)......Time spent working on your business and your website is time well spent. "Oh Crap, I'm at #1 already??"

::::::::Shew! I am ranting, maybe I should return to lurking mode!:::::::::::

Could someone give more information on the Google dance or links to good articles explaining it. The ones I read were sort of vague..

If you really want to some good solid info on Google and the Google Dance I must suggest this site....Now, I don't normally throw competitors stuff out there =) but Jim really is a Google geek (he wouldn't mind that comment!) who is very Google knowledgeable and he does give solid info on the subject!
Google Info


I hope this helps!!

[balz]

I don't think I've had the website I'm working on be "even" on all 10 google data centers.
For instance on one search term we are #23 and #24 on half and #25 and #26 on the others.

Personally I check my search terms daily so that I can accumulate a timeline of data, giving me personal experience, so that I can make my own choices in how I track and optimize.

b.

[Jill]

Wait a week and see what happens to your results. If they stay low, then tweak away.

A week? That's not patience!

I don't believe in tweaking. Certainly not after waiting a week. You'll never learn what really works and what doesn't if you tweak stuff that soon. You've got to give stuff at least a month, and really, more like 3 months. Stuff goes up and down all the time. That's the nature of SEO.

If you're confident on your optimization abilities...let it ride for awhile. Nothing happens quickly with SEO. The engines need to pick up your new info, they need to pick up all the links to it, and the stuff just has to sit around and "age" for awhile. SEO really can be very much like a fine wine or a good cheese. Jumping the gun and changing things before it's aged, will never allow you to really know what might have worked.

You may have had a perfect optimization, but you changed things, and then the algorithm changed and bumped it. You cannot try to optimize for every little algorithm change (they are not generally huge changes). If you follow common sense SEO techniques, the algorithm changes won't make a whole lot of difference to your site. Even major algorithm changes may not make a difference. If your site is low for many months, that's when it's time to strategize a new plan.

Jill

[Jaime]

When is the next Google Dance? I've read somewhere that there is a dance every month, although things are changing and Google is constantly dancing ().

Leann_Pass said last dance was on the 11th, how do you know this? How can I know when is the next dance taking place?

[Leann_Pass]

Jaime ,

The last Google dance was on August 11. It doesn’t occur every month, but anywhere from every 4-7 weeks. I think these sites will be helpful.

Google dance tool: http://googledance.seochat.com/


Good info on Google, hasn’t updated the dance dates in a while:
http://www.internet-...oogle-dance.htm

[SearchRank]

I don't believe in tweaking. Certainly not after waiting a week. - Jill

Jill is absolutely right on this.

Once you "teak" your optimization you should wait at least three months and sometimes four to measure the results. As long as your rankings are in the top 10 range, there is no need to worry about flucuating. In fact, I suspect that if one changes their pages to much, it may actually hurt their rankings. I say this because I have seen many site redesigns where the title tags, description tags and even file structure stayed the same but the site had a new interface, maybe some altered content and it experiences a serious drop in rankings once an engine picks it up and then slowly rises again back to its former state. It's almost like the page or pages are being put on probation. I would assume it just allows the SE to analyze the new content it finds, I don't know.

I don't see this on every site redesign or a site that experience major revisions but I have seen it. So bottom line is if you see your site continues to lose rankings over a three month period, say from 2 to 6 to 12 to 30 to ..., then maybe you should make some adjustments, try to better the site overall.

[Vertster]

It really seems like Google has gone more to a rolling update. Some say "the dance is dead." If you submit a site to Google, you should see it crawled, and added within I would say 48-72 hours. We have certainly seen this to be the case since mid summer. If you have a site in the index, and you add or change content, those changes should be reflected fairly quickly as well. No more waiting a month or two.