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Have you noticed how much volatility there was in the Google search results this year? SEO experts know Google has had a very busy year making constant changes to its search algorithms.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP) Volatility is the ongoing changes in position of website listings in Google’s search results pages over time.
With all of Google’s algorithm updates this year, your website may have been bouncing all over the SERP and your keyword rankings have probably fluctuated, possibly quite dramatically. Changes to keyword rankings can significantly affect your organic search traffic to your website.
Since Google’s algorithm uses more than 200 factors to rank a webpage, the results are often unpredictable. To be clear, sometimes changes to one of these factors will have an effect on your website, sometimes multiple changes won’t impact you at all.
Did you notice any changes to your website rankings or organic traffic to your site?
Volatility in Desktop Results
According to SEMrush, In the first three quarters of 2021, there was a 68% increase in the number of days with volatile search results.
Over half the days in 2021, from January to October, showed very high volatility.
Volatility in Mobile Results
Results for mobile searches showed even more unpredictability. For the first 10 months of 2021, mobile results had 84% more days of volatility than the previous year, based on the measurements form the SEMrush Sensor Tool.
Slightly more days (57% on mobile versus 50% desktop) in those same months had very “high” volatility in mobile search results.
What Do You Need to Know?
It’s likely good to know your website isn’t the only one experiencing changing search results. Knowing when your website or keywords are affected by algorithm changes is useful. It can make a difference, not only to your stress level, but to where you land in constantly changing rankings.
To know how well you are navigating this storm of volatility you need to monitor how your keywords rankings are changing over time. If this isn’t something you have the tools, skills, or interest in doing you should find a professional who can monitor your search results and course correct as needed.
Being in-the-know about changes to Google’s algorithms is part of search engine optimization professional’s daily life. Knowing the changes, planning action to keep your website at the forefront of rankings and modifying your keywords to reflect what’s happening in search results are all values of working with professionals like Foundery.
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