Google Ranking Jumping Contantly

[Vexus]

Hello everyone,
This is my first post, but I have been lurking here for some time now.

I am on my first project, although I have done a ton of research on the process of SEO for about a year now before starting. I have developed my site to the point it is presentable, and I have now started building backlinks for a medium competition keyword. While my efforts seem to be working, as I usually get around #3-4 on page 1 for results, within an hour of it being placed there it will fall back to page 5. This has happened for days now and it is confusing me, greatly.

What would cause this to happen? Am I building links too fast and Google is getting a red flag? Could it have to do with my actual site?

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

-Vex

[dburk]

Hi Vex,

Here are a few possible causes for what you are seeing. We would need more specifics to give a better answer.

• Personalized Search Results - You could be viewing personalized search results based on your previous search history which would be very misleading. What you see is not what everyone else sees.
• QDF (Query Deserves Freshness) - Google will temporarily push new pages toward the top of search results to get timely information to users. This temporary boost wears off and new content sinks as its' freshness evaporates. The resulting fluctuations effect all the other more permanent rankings
• Poor quality backlinks may boost your rankings briefly until they are removed by webmasters or devalued by search engine quality controls.

Of course there could be other issues, but these are among the most common answers for someone asking the type of question you posed on this forum.

[Vexus]

Thank you very much! This information helps a ton. I did not know any of that!

This may sound weird, but could this have anything to do with Google Analytics and my bounce rate being high? I just deleted my tracking data & my GA code from my site and I was back at #4 within 5 mins...kinda spooky, but I hope that was it. I know that might sound paranoid but j/w if it makes a difference.

[dburk]

Hi Vex,

As you yourself pointed out, these fluctuations were occurring prior to removing the GA code, so it is most likely not a factor.

[Vexus]

Ok, thank you!


On a semi-unrelated topic, I had one more question if you don't mind.

Upon analyzing my competition's backlinks. I've noticed that almost every single one on the front page is using this tactic where their link comes from legit-looking websites, but buried randomly in the text of the writing is tons of different links to different sites. And by random, I mean unrelated and if you read the article it sticks out. Almost looks like some kind of link scheme. What is this?

[buzznebo]

Some top SEOs believe that installing GA and Webmaster Tools affect your rankings, as Google can use GA data to determine site activity (which is believed to be an SEO factor). So when you mentioned that when you removed GA your ranking suddenly went back is interesting. Might be coincidence, might be not. We really can't say for sure.