Find out how SERP fluctuation affects SEO. Discover techniques to deal with fluctuating search engine rankings and improve your online presence, from suggested tools to SEO audits.
When there are significant swings in the search engine ranks over time, it’s known as search engine results page (SERP) volatility.
Search engine results are erratic and continually shifting when there is a high degree of volatility.
A low degree of volatility indicates a consistent ranking.
Consider it similar to the weather.
If you plan to fly or take a road journey during a thunderstorm and rain, you may run into problems. A lovely, clear, and sunny day is ideal for flying or taking a ride and taking in the surroundings.
Why Is Volatility in SERPs Important?
As SEO experts, we put in a lot of effort to ensure that our clients see yearly, quarterly, and monthly increases in visibility, income, traffic, and sales.
Because the volatility of the SERPs might affect our clients’ performance and visibility, we need to be aware of it.
All brands rely on both branded and non-branded keywords to increase traffic, leads, and overall value of their businesses. So what happens if your site’s visibility drops off quickly due to fluctuations in the search engine results page? Depending on how long it lasts, you’re going to have a rough day or week with probably significant losses in traffic, sales, and conversions.
When Google releases a new update, such as the core updates in March or the most recent core update in August, it is a common cause of the SERPs’ volatility.
These may result in significant fluctuation as well as a decline in the visibility and organic KPIs of websites.
Google prioritized ranking high-quality material more after the August core upgrade, which had a big impact on SERP ranks.
In order to provide end users with the most accurate and helpful search results, Google frequently releases major upgrades.
We should be able to weather the storm if all SEO professionals continue to concentrate on quality, provide a fantastic user and content experience, etc.
Additional factors that could be affecting your site’s SERP volatility include recent site improvements, modifications to search intent, etc.
You would need to perform a thorough audit of your website in order to investigate these.
How Can SERP Volatility Be Measured?
The following is a list of several tools that can be used to measure SERP volatility.
One of my favorite resources for detecting SERP volatility is Mozcast.
It features a weather report that illustrates the turbulence of the Google algorithm during the last ninety days. The SERPs have been more erratic when the weather has been hotter and stormier.
This tool is free and has been for a very long time, which is one of the things I appreciate about it.
Another one of my favorite tools for SERP volatility is Semrush Sensor. I adore the visualization and the ease with which you can compare various SERP elements, such as featured snippets and quick advertisements, and navigate between categories, countries, and mobile and desktop versions.
Because it provides a list of FAQs explaining how the score is determined and indicates when Google updates, among other things, I believe Semrush performs the best.
Mangools is a fantastic tool for monitoring SERP volatility that is also very visual and lets you switch between desktop and mobile modes. However, it lacks some of Semrush’s features.
Another tool for SERP visibility that shows weekly winners and losers is Algoroo. It is simple to determine which Google update may have affected your website because it includes the corresponding date of the update’s release.
It’s not nearly as advanced as other programs, and until you can plug in sites that you care about, which you can’t, the winners and losers mean nothing.
Not only is cognitiveSEO an excellent SERP monitoring tool, but it also features a handy tool called Signals.
Using signals, SEO specialists may track changes in local and worldwide search engine results pages (SERPs) and quickly flip between the most popular ranks that have moved up, down, or sideways over time.
How Should I Respond to SERP Volatility?
The most important rule is to wait to act until you have a clear understanding of the situation before becoming alarmed or reacting. Investigate what and where the changes happened first.
Additionally, adhere to following rules:
Continuously Assess Your Visibility
Keep an eye on your keywords to see if the SERPs have changed. Examine your landing pages to see which pages and keywords were affected and whether the information on your page meets the demands of the end user.
Examine lost backlinks, loading speed, etc. as well.
Google is always tweaking the core update, so just because you notice a drop in traffic does not always indicate that your site was affected by one. Additionally, there could not be a problem with your content or site architecture.
Constantly Watching
One excellent technique to monitor your site’s performance is to do site audits. To remain proactive and adjust to changes in rankings, you can also take further actions.
These safety measures could consist of consistent SEO audits, a strong backlinking plan, and ongoing optimizations to maintain your competitiveness.
If your SEO tool has keyword alerts, set them up so you can be informed immediately when something happens (e.g., rankings decline, title tag modifications, etc.).
Get Mobile Optimized
Online searches are primarily conducted on mobile devices, with desktop searches trailing behind.
It is astounding to learn that certain websites are still not mobile-friendly and do not pass Core Web Vitals (CWV).
If you don’t make your website mobile-friendly, visitors may go elsewhere for better mobile experiences, which could lead to a decline in traffic.
Examine Past Information
Historical data is a crucial component that many brands and SEO experts prefer to ignore.
You can speed up your study and find keywords and pages that were once top performers but may have fallen off the first page for a variety of reasons by going over past data.
These problems could be, among other things, old material, technical difficulties, or competition exceeding you with a strong content strategy.
Analyzing past link activity is also crucial in order to spot any declines in relevant and high-quality backlinks. A website’s visibility may occasionally decrease with the loss of even a few high-quality backlinks, especially during site migrations or redesigns.
Check the Analytics Setup.
Misconfigured analytics, no tracking code on newly created page templates, or tracking code that has been completely erased from page templates are common mistakes.
Making sure that tracking code is present on all web pages and visible to search engines is essential, especially since SEO places a strong emphasis on creating high-quality content that is in line with user intent.
This makes it possible to correctly attribute traffic to organic search.
Adjust To Shifts In The Search Terrain
Recent years have seen significant changes to the search landscape, especially in Google’s SERPs, which have an effect on traffic and visibility.
The sponsored search advertisements above the fold, Search Generative Experience (SGE), an early step toward revolutionizing the search experience with generative AI, and the removal of FAQs are a few examples of the greatest changes. These changes will continue to affect organic search and change the SERPs.
Analyze The Results Of Previous Marketing Initiatives
Marketers frequently fail to recognize the substantial impact that concurrent marketing initiatives can have on SEO.
Keep an eye on other marketing initiatives, such as paid, display, and so forth, as they might influence one another, particularly when considering branding.
A drop in the volume of branded queries may occur if, for instance, TV advertising or paid search were not implemented in a given year, which would affect branded traffic in comparison to the prior year.
The lack of display advertising may restrict branded keyword impressions, which would further reduce organic search traffic.
Anything that raises brand awareness can benefit search engine optimization.
Keep an eye on technical problems and website updates.
It is common for developers to update websites without alerting the SEO team.
Revisions to URL architecture, page headers, or title tags may result in a decrease in traffic and rankings.
To prevent any problems, always make sure that you’re in contact, informed of any changes to the site, and have SEO monitoring set up.
Perform a thorough site content audit and produce informative material. Often, low user interaction with your website’s content is the main cause of dwindling search exposure.
Analyze the material on your website carefully. Is the quality good? Does it offer information, transparency, and value? Does it meet the need for search information?
Sincerely assess how your material stacks up against that of your rivals who rank higher than you, then make adjustments.
Keep in mind that Google is unlikely to give your content priority in search results if visitors are not engaging with it enough. Never forget to concentrate on producing informative and excellent content by adhering to the E.E.A.T. recommendations.
Brands, website owners, and marketers need to always keep an eye on the search engine results page (SERP) and stay current on Google updates to determine the reason behind any swings in visibility, since they can affect organic KPIs.
SERP volatility tools are useful for identifying periods of change and potential updates associated with them.
Don’t be alarmed if you receive a core update.
In order to ensure that you generate more traffic, income, and conversions for your clients, it’s critical to audit your website for SEO best practices. These include great information, helpful and useful content, and offering users the best content and user experience throughout the entire user journey.
