Click on your listing in the search engines and kill your rankings
Can clicking on your search engine rankings in Google hurt your ranking? In a word, yes… Especially if you have a Google account and stay logged in.
I had a client who I was speaking with earlier today. I ran a report for him, and it showed that he was ranked on the first page of all of the search engines for all of his keyword terms, but when I went and serched on the term, he was half way down the second page. He kept calling as well asking when he was going to be on the first page, seeing something similar to what I was seeing.
Google tracks clicks from it’s SERP’s (search engine results pages or the pages that are displayed when you type in a search term and hit enter).
So for example, if you search for “football helmet” and then click on the first result, and then click the back button, then click on another listing, Google could assume that the listing or page wasn’t relevant or wasn’t what you were looking for.
This is especially so if you have a Google account and are logged in. They can and do customize searches specifically for you based upon your past search activity and clicks. If you have a Google account, and there is a search you’ve done repeatedly in the past, you might notice dates to the right of the search listings (indicating the last date you visited this page).
In our case, we’d clicked on my clients page, and then clicked the back button to check competitors as well. This might not have been a good thing.
Overall, he’s still on the first page for his top keywords across the search engines and moving up, BUT, if enough people click on his result when they search for his keyword term, and then click the back button to view the other pages, there is the possibility that it could hurt his ranking overall, and even cause his position to drop.
I tend to be on the paranoid side a bit as far as working on sites and SEO goes, this is just based upon an observation earlier today, and not 100% fact, written in stone.
However, I’d avoid clicking on your search listing and then clicking the back button all of the time. If you are going to search your keyword terms and then click to your site, don’t hit the back button…
2 Responses to “Click on your listing in the search engines and kill your rankings”
Cool Bubba,
Good article and pointer. You might also consider that other factors influence logged in search results, such as where you’re searching from, the “Google Dance” and the personalization of search. And more important than ranking on your name, which may or may not generate traffic, is whether the site is generating leads.
I’m looking forward to reading more on this blog! You’re off to a great start! Why don’t you provide details on who you are?
Good points…
Mike
He’s ranked for 4 of his major keywords related to his business, I usually don’t ever search where they are ranked for their business name, own name, or domain name (especially with automated tools and as a part of a ranking check with related keywords because I’m paranoid like that…LOL) as of recently, and we’re waiting results as to his conversions and increased business from his rankings… Will keep posted here.. Thanks!!!
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