It’s easy to jump to conclusions far too quickly based on very small changes when it comes to search results. We changed the title and the next day the page dropped one step in the rankings — that’s way too fast and far too minor.
One of the most interesting pieces of news in the SEO industry isn’t really new. Back in 2012, Bill Slawski discovered a Google patent. It’s not the easiest text to read, but here’s an excerpt:
A system determines a first rank associated with a document and determines a second rank associated with the document, where the second rank is different from the first rank. The system also changes, during a transition period that occurs during a transition from the first rank to the second rank, a transition rank associated with the document based on a rank transition function that varies the transition rank over time without any change in ranking factors associated with the document.
One conclusion you can draw is that if Google’s algorithm suspects you’ve taken action to influence your ranking in the search results, something other than the expected outcome may happen. At least for a while, your action might produce a completely different result — or even the opposite of what should happen.
Patience, patience, patience
The greatest virtue in SEO is patience. If you’ve built links to your site from sources that may not be ideal, you might see a temporary jump in the rankings and conclude you should push even harder. Or if you’ve earned an amazing link but then see your page drop. My general advice is: wait a bit. Another important point — don’t draw conclusions about an action or tactic based on just one site or even a handful. You need more data, because there’s a built-in mechanism that creates noise.
Is it harder to test SEO now?
Yes, testing and evaluating SEO is harder than ever. It’s not just because of the patent above (which may or may not be used), but also due to a long list of factors that have increased uncertainty in recent years. RankBrain is a good example, if anyone remembers, and Google’s Core Updates are another. Without diving too deep into what these do, their effect is that it has become harder to evaluate a method or tactic. You have a huge advantage if you actually ran experiments before all these changes. I feel for everyone who missed that chance — it’s a bit like those who once had access to keyword conversion data before Google cut it off. If you had Analytics back when Google shared keyword data, you know more about your site than anyone adding Analytics today will ever know, and it will never be that clear again.
What’s the solution?
Unfortunately, I don’t have a perfect solution if you don’t have time to work on SEO full-time. For those working with SEO, I recommend running lots of projects — even if you’re in-house somewhere and responsible for just one site. You want to see more projects; some things become much clearer with broader data. Even if you don’t conduct formal tests, you shouldn’t underestimate the value of extensive experience across many projects.
Do you have other ideas for solutions?
Magnus Bråth
Consultant & Adviser
Magnus is one of the world's most prominent search marketing specialists and primarily works with management and strategy at his agency Brath AB.