Extreme Ranking Fluctuations On Google

Attending to a site owner’s recent query, Google’s John Muller said extreme ranking fluctuations are quite normal on Google when a new content is published on the site. In some cases, this fluctuation can occur for up to one or two weeks following the publishing of the content.

The discussion came up during Google Webmaster’s Central office-hours hang out. The site owner stated his following concern. He said some of their visitors had asked for some information on a topic and hence the site owner created a page connected to answering their question.

After completing the page, they submitted it through Search Console. Almost all of a sudden, the site showed up number 12 for a search inputting a long-tail term connected to the topic. Nevertheless, the real shock came on the very next day when the page completely disappeared from the index and they could never find it back again.

Also, yet another page on their site, their index page, which was never related to the topic figured out within 200s in the ranking. The site owner was really confused what this situation indicates and what they must be doing with regard to their site’s ranking. Incidentally the answer to this query is a matter of immense importance in the domain of Ecommerce SEO services.

Answering the query, Muller said this was a completely normal behaviour expected of Google. When Google has to index a piece of content, it has to estimate where in the search results the content must be ranked. Often Google can either underestimate or overestimate the ranking position while trying to rank the site for the new content.
Eventually Google will keep deciding on the most appropriate ranking position for the given content. This process can even take up to several weeks. Before the ranking position finally settles down, there could be many fluctuations which can be extreme at times.

Adding to what he said, Muller told that with regard to new content, the site owners can expect the rankings to fluctuate to a considerable extent. This can also mean completely disappearing from the search rankings and then reappearing once again.

This behaviour of Google is quite normal, says Muller. He says there is a trickier part to the topic. With regard to a new content posted on a new site or an existing site, Google has to figure out where the content must be ranked depending on where it is the most relevant. Sometimes, we estimate fairly high and over a period of time, it can once again settle down. While settling down after a series of fluctuations, the results could be any one of the following:

• The ranking can settle back in a similar position
• It can fluctuate for some time and then once again settle in a similar position
• After fluctuating, it can settle in a higher ranking
• The fluctuation can be followed by settling down on a lower ranking

The idea to take home is this. Especially with regard to the ranking of the new content, the fluctuation noticed in every case is but normal. For things to come back to normalcy, it can take a week or two. This is because Google needs time to figure out the most appropriate ranking for a given piece of content and that is the reason why this delay happens.

Though this can be extreme at times, the possibility of this happening is almost certain in most cases of adding a new piece of content. It is also possible that the new content is ranked fairly high for a couple of days and then the index totally disappears only to appear back in the same position a few days later or in a lower or higher position.