What NOT To Do When Your Rankings Drop In Google
January 23, 2007 – 3:10 pmIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I’ve written a few times before about what to do when your Google rankings drop, so let’s take a look at some of the things you shouldn’t do.
1) Don’t take the loss personally
Now this is never easy to do, especially when you lose money. It’s easy to attribute a lot of emotions to why your website might drop, but chances are, you will never even be able to guess the real reason. So you need to relax, and not take it personally. The Google index has over 8 billion pages and volatility is now a part of every day life. If you drop, learn to take it in stride, without getting too upset.
2) Don’t be quick to make assumptions
Many of the assumptions you make may end up being wrong. Don’t be in a hurry to jump to conclusions. Relax and make some legitimate observations before you get too comfortable with a theory.
3) Don’t change more than one thing at a time until you can figure out what went wrong
Try changing factors, one at a time, and observing what happens when you make a change. If you don’t pay careful attention, you can’t be sure it was your change that work. In fact, you can never be sure.
4) Don’t quit updating your website
Don’t become frustrated and quit working on your website. The only one that will benefit is your competition. Continue to work, no matter what happens to your rankings. Your visitors still want to see you update, and when you do get your rankings back, you’ll have even more traffic.
It’s easy to get nervous when you see a huge tanking in rankings. Just take a deep breath and decide slowly on what course of action to take.
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6 Responses to “What NOT To Do When Your Rankings Drop In Google”
You forgot one:
5) Don’t spam Matt Cutts’s blog comments until he either a) posts asking you to stop contacting him, b) solves your problem or c) bans anything you and all generations of your progeny ever create on the Internet from reaching higher than #1252 in Google. Keep in mind, however, that this may not mean very much to your progeny, so take this warning with a grain of salt.
By Jordan McCollum on Jan 23, 2007
Good article, Darren. I often see my rankings fluctuate in Google. I have learned that is just part of the game, and more often then not I am where I want to be.
By Nate on Jan 23, 2007
Darren,
You changed the look and feel.
Very nice.
In Allan Gardyne s newsletter the other day he said the same as you and then went on to say there are just 2 things you need to do every day while working on your website.
At first, these little tasks don’t seem to get you anywhere. But
eventually, all these little improvements add up beautifully. If
you keep improving your business every day, success is
inevitable.
Here’s the list. Do one of these every day…
1. Add an article to your website.
2. Get a link to your site.
That’s it! Focus. Keep doing these two things over and over
again.
This really works. It does. Do it.
“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an
hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a
minute. THAT’S relativity.”
- Albert Einstein.
By Bill on Jan 24, 2007
Thanks for the comments. Einstein quotes are always a nice touch.
By Darren McLaughlin on Jan 24, 2007
well, I think google ranking is not everything there is in SEO. That is only one part of it and there again is no promise google can last forever… remember the good old Alta Vista days? So, I think the focus should always be a good website, good content, good backlinks and a good mix of organic and paid traffic.
By jason on Jan 29, 2007
True enough, but Google does bring the heat!
By Darren McLaughlin on Jan 30, 2007