Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Ranking - Explain this one.

Options
  • 03-02-2015 11:50pm
    #1
    pullandbang
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 4,948 ✭✭✭


    I have Statcounter installed on my site and from time to time it actually shows how high the site ranked for a particular search (when the keywords are not being hidden). I just spotted a particular search query (which was the name of my site) and it ranked 11th which is odd, because if I search the same query it ranks 1st.

    Why does this happen? Why does the same search query (two words) result in such different results for two different users? Being 11th can be the difference between page 1 and oblivion!


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    pablo scholes
    Registered Users Posts: 24 ✭pablo scholes


    pullandbang wrote: »
    I have Statcounter installed on my site and from time to time it actually shows how high the site ranked for a particular search (when the keywords are not being hidden). I just spotted a particular search query (which was the name of my site) and it ranked 11th which is odd, because if I search the same query it ranks 1st.

    Why does this happen? Why does the same search query (two words) result in such different results for two different users? Being 11th can be the difference between page 1 and oblivion!

    Google tailors search results for individuals based on previous data stored in their cookies and search history. If looking at search rankings for seo purposes use incognito mood as results won't be personalised to you and will give a fairer reflection of where you site stands.


    Generally speaking your own site has seo issues if not ranking for brand terms so hopefully that is not the case


  • Options
    #3
    pullandbang
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 4,948 ✭✭✭pullandbang


    pablo scholes wrote: »
    If looking at search rankings for seo purposes use incognito mood as results won't be personalised to you and will give a fairer reflection of where you site stands.

    I normally use both Firefox & Chrome for everyday use and I understand exacly what you're syaing but I've tried it using IE in Private Browsing Mode - same result, I'm No. 1.

    I've tried Chrome in incognito mode and I'm still No. 1,2 and 3.......

    I've tried it from my phone while logged on to random wifi spots and I'm still No. 1.


  • Options
    #4
    pablo scholes
    Registered Users Posts: 24 ✭pablo scholes


    pullandbang wrote: »
    I normally use both Firefox & Chrome for everyday use and I understand exacly what you're syaing but I've tried it using IE in Private Browsing Mode - same result, I'm No. 1.

    I've tried Chrome in incognito mode and I'm still No. 1,2 and 3.......

    I've tried it from my phone while logged on to random wifi spots and I'm still No. 1.

    I'm not that familiar with stat counter but do notice these anomalies in seomoz from time to time. These tools take snapshots and time to time that snapshot results reports wrongly. If stat counter consistently says 11 then consider it an issue.

    Does stat counter look at google.ie or .com and take into consideration location?


  • Options
    #5
    mneylon
    Registered Users Posts: 7,739 ✭✭✭mneylon


    Your location and a bunch of other data can and will impact search results. So even if you're logged out you'll get differences between two computers simply because of location ie. if I do a search from our office vs. doing a search from a hotel in Dublin ..
    Also, as previously mentioned, you'd need to know which Google Statcounter is using. Results will differ

    Blog | Tweets



  • Options
    #6
    pullandbang
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 4,948 ✭✭✭pullandbang


    Blacknight wrote: »
    Your location and a bunch of other data can and will impact search results. So even if you're logged out you'll get differences between two computers simply because of location ie. if I do a search from our office vs. doing a search from a hotel in Dublin ..
    Also, as previously mentioned, you'd need to know which Google Statcounter is using. Results will differ

    Ah well I blame you lot anyway, seeing that you're hosting me :D - only kidding!

    Here's a quick screen grab of the search results. The 1st one shows the search words and the resulting 11th placing and the 2nd one has the key words hidden and puts me even further down at 13th. Both were searched on Google.ie and my site is a .ie domain

    C29F807F4DF44EE0AADD3EF6ADD9C8A5-0000320339-0003724303-00636L-2C701BFF8B5F42A59B6D041D8DB47A8C.jpg


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users Posts: 25,945 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    Were you logged in to a Google account at the same time you searched? I've observed that seems to make a difference, even in incognito mode.


  • Options
    #8
    pullandbang
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 4,948 ✭✭✭pullandbang


    Mrs OBumble wrote: »
    Were you logged in to a Google account at the same time you searched? I've observed that seems to make a difference, even in incognito mode.

    I wouldn't be logged into my Google account from Firefox or IE - I only ever log in using Chrome. I understand how location and whether you're logged in or not can make a difference but I wouldn't have thought it would be the difference between 11th & 1st - especially for such a specific search term.


  • Options
    #9
    pablo scholes
    Registered Users Posts: 24 ✭pablo scholes


    What is the term as matter of interest? Might do some rummaging see if I can spot anything


  • Options
    #10
    pullandbang
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 4,948 ✭✭✭pullandbang


    pablo scholes wrote: »
    What is the term as matter of interest? Might do some rummaging see if I can spot anything

    "Denlo Photography"


  • Options
    #11
    pablo scholes
    Registered Users Posts: 24 ✭pablo scholes


    seemed to be ranking number 1 in all of searches on various browsers i did. plus if the site doesnt then your various social profiles are which is great

    Did notice your domain expires in 5 months so you may want to get that secured long term before it goes


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #12
    pullandbang
    Hosted Moderators Posts: 4,948 ✭✭✭pullandbang


    pablo scholes wrote: »
    seemed to be ranking number 1 in all of searches on various browsers i did. plus if the site doesnt then your various social profiles are which is great

    That's what I thought should happen so I was surprised to see the example I quoted earlier.
    pablo scholes wrote: »
    Did notice your domain expires in 5 months so you may want to get that secured long term before it goes

    I have it set on auto renewal.


  • Options
    #13
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users Posts: 25,945 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    OP, if it's any consolation, I have a similar situation. There are some keywords that I rank very well on. Last night I examined my search traffic in webmaster tools, looking at the ones I don't rank quite so well on.

    WMT now has an interesting display showing position in search results, impressions, clicks and CTR -like this:


    2 81 31 38%
    3 17 5 29%
    4 21 2 10%
    1 1 0 0%
    6 to 10 1 0 0%

    That's over the last 30 days. (It's seasonal, so I don't expect high traffic on that phrase right not, but I wanted to see how it performs now in its "low season".)

    But when I search for the phrase, it's in first position.

    And this pattern repeated on lots of other phrases too. I'm convinced that it's all about Google knowing that I like my own sites.

    just fyi.


Advertisement