SERP and Google

[highpowersites]

Hi everyone:

I have been working on SEO for a few of our websites over the years and have had great sucess. One of our websites has been on the first page of Google for some very competitive keywords for a long time. For our best keyword we have been in the number 3 spot on Google for many many months. Lately, I have seen it drop to 5 or 6 and then back up to 3 or 4 but it keeops changing. Then, 2 days ago it went to 8, then back to 6, now it is at number 7 spot. I have never seen so much fluctuation ever. It changes daily. Is there something going on with Google that I am not aware of?

This site is number three for allinanchor for this keyword. It should be higher than number 7.

Thanks for the help,

Scott

[SEO_guru]

Hi Scott

Congratulations on your success with Google! I've been in the business many years and also have a lot of success, so I know how much focus and energy it requires.

Okay - so you've seen the up and down, and it appears to be happening a lot more lately.

I actually have about a dozen sites currently on the first page (http://www.search-marketing-answers.com/blog/organic-seo-results/) of Google, each for several phrases, and many in the #1 and or #2 spot.

Each of these sites has a number of other phrases in the #3 - #10 spot. For the ones in the first position, I almost never see them fluctuate, but for the rest, they are almost always moving and shifting.

How often they do so depends on a lot of factors. The first thing I would do is study the competition. Are they fluctuating also? Are other sites that are not normally on the first page showing up then disappearing?

Are any of these other sites news related to your keywords?

It could, unfortunately, also be a case where Google's team has been "experimenting" with tweaks to the algorithms. I've seen that happen a number of times over the years.

If you continue to see a downward trend over the long-haul, I would definitely recommend working on bolstering your optimization - it could be a sign that you're about to drop off the home page, and putting in more footwork to stabilize might be in order.

Hope this helps!