Different landing page "stole" keyword.
-
Hi everyone.
So I optimized and used the on-page grader for landing page A. I got it down from 15 to 9 on its ranking. Weirdly, that keyword and landing page A tanked to 60 on its ranking, seemingly overnight. While this was all happening, landing page B, which was never optimized for this keyword, effectively "stole" the keyword and it now has a ranking of 9 for this keyword.
As I see it, this keyword and landing page B don't match as well as the keyword and landing page A, but I don't want to lose the increased organic traffic I now receive.
Does anyone have insight to this or direct me to an already answered question regarding this?
Thanks a ton,
-Josh
-
Ruth,
Thanks for the advice and help. I'll run analyses of both landing pages and see why this could happening and then continue to work with page B to further optimize it.
-Josh
-
Linda has a good point: on-page factors are only one element that determines whether a page will rank for a given phrase. Have you changed your internal linking recently? It could be that your site is sending signals that Page B is much more important than Page A, based on how you're linking to each internally. Page B may also have more external links.
One other hypothesis: Google may be deciding that even though Page A targets the keyword phrase more directly, Page B matches the intent of the search better. Take a look at the other pages that rank for that term - are they thematically closer to page A or page B?
I would recommend altering page B to better serve the new search traffic that you're getting from this phrase, rather than attempting to get page A ranking again.
-
It is hard to answer without seeing the pages in question, but there are ranking factors other than on-page that affect position. Maybe page B was less optimized but had a better backlink profile, for example.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Page ranking well for multiple keywords but which to optimize for?
I have a home page of a website that ranks well for multiple keywords and is the main source of conversions for the site. Obviously I would like to optimize the page to increase its rankings and click through rate on search results. But I cannot optimize for all can I? If I optimize for one or two then it seems to me the others will suffer. What is the best strategy here? Should I focus on creating new pages for each individual keyword and work on those instead?
Keyword Research | | Azam_Khan0 -
Are Keywords treated as Case Sensitive?
We found that keywords are not case sensitive, but MOZ show same keyword in different case under "Top National Keywords" tab. Eg: 1) Wobble Wedge 2) wobble wedge
Keyword Research | | torbett0 -
Include Location in Keywords?
I understand Google's local search automatically searches keywords with the location you are searching from. For example if I'm searching from Calgary and query "best shoe repair", Google knows I'm searching from Calgary and presents Calgary based results. I'm using Google's new Keyword Planner tool which allows for city based search results, meaning I don't have to include "Calgary" in the keywords I submit. The question I have is should I be attaching "Calgary" to my keywords for on-page optimization, and why or why not? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Keyword Research | | reidsteven750 -
Ignore keywords that have no data in the Google Keyword Tool?
Hello, There are some keywords that have no monthly search data in the Google Keyword Tool. In many cases, this is because there have been very few searches for the keyword. Would you recommend focusing on other keywords that do have search data in the Google Keyword Tool? Perhaps focusing too far out on the long tail of search results can be less productive than focusing on keywords that have proven that at least some people care about them. What do you think? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | nyc-seo0 -
Creating a new page versus adding to existing page (for targeting a keyword phrase)
What are your considerations when deciding whether to create a brand new page versus adding content to an existing page when targeting a new keyword phrase on your site? My thought is that if it is mildly competitive, a new page would make more sense since you can optimize the title tags and URL. But if it is long tail and low competition, you would be better off to add a paragraph to an existing page to minimize diluting your website by adding more pages.
Keyword Research | | ProjectLabs0 -
Google Keyword Tool - Competition - How does it compare to SEOMoz Keyword Difficulty?
Hi, Many times, when I look up a keyword in google using their Keyword Tool, the competition might be low or medium, but, it doesn't seem close to the keyword difficulty on SEOMoz. For example, I looked up fantasy sports. It's low competition on Google. I thought, wow, that's amazing. How can that be when it's so popular? Huge search volume, low competition. Then, SEOMoz says 76% difficulty. It sort of shatters my enthusiasm all of a sudden. Maybe I have to change the order of how I look at it 🙂 What is the difference that's going on? What would be considered low keyword difficulty on SEOMoz? How about medium and high? I know someone might argue that for some guru, what's hard for one person isn't hard for the guru, but, for the average webmaster who does some seo, uses SEOMoz, and some other SEO tools, is there some general breakdown? Thanks.
Keyword Research | | webtarget0 -
Best Keyword Research Tool
Can anyone please recommend the best keyword research tools available, we specialise in the travel industry and struggle to find new keywords as the more niche ones always show no traffic searches in the google keyword tool so it is really difficult to make a judgement. We know from google analytics that some niche keywords really are useless and while they are no. 1 they generate no traffic. I hope you can help Thanks! Andy
Keyword Research | | iprosoftware0 -
How to choose Keywords
Am starting a company and in the process of developing the website. I would like to get a head start on content and want to know the best way to choose keywords and tips on how to write optimized content.
Keyword Research | | jclubb0