What is the reason Google not displaying the correct page for Your Site?
Let me give you some scenarios:
1. In the basis of a Google search for your brand’s name the blog posts that include your brand’s name more frequently than the average is the top result. This is then your FAQ. Your homepage is ranked third place. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
2. In an Google lookup for the brand’s name, the first result is an outdated and outdated variant of the homepage. The actual homepage isn’t visible, or ranks below the other results. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
3. In a Google search of one of your key words the guide that was published in 2014 will show up more prominently than a brand newer guide, which has more detail and better information. It was released in 2017. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
4 4: If you conduct an Google lookup for a key word that your content is highly ranked it will show up in the results of searches for pages which are system pages that were created for images, as well as the pages on which those images are located. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Three of them are instances of when Google may be indexing your website incorrectly. Your best content should rise up the ranks. Your homepage should be over sub-pages that are related to your brand’s name. Images shouldn’t be on dedicated pages on their own. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
There are numerous reasons that Google could be ranking incorrect pages over pages that you’d prefer to rank them in their place. The reasons may have to do with have to do with the algorithm, but sometimes it’s because of the structure of your website or even technical issues with the page in the query. Let’s explore possible causes and search for solutions will we? – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Problem Visible System Pages
I’m going to focus on this first in part because it’s a brand new issue that’s been surfacing lately due to a modification in the SEO plugin of Yoast this means that a lot of users will likely have it. We’ve covered the specific issue in greater specific detail here and I’ll go over it in more general terms later. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
The basic idea is that you’ve got the system pages of your website that aren’t supposed to be indexed however they are. In the instance in the Yoast issue the issue is attachment pages for images that are automatically generated by WordPress. These pages are ranked on Google for a short period of time since your website is SEO-friendly and they are brand new content on your website. But after a couple of days or even a few days, Google notices that all of these pages contain very thin in content. They’ve got an image and caption and nothing else that is outside of the theme of your website. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
That’s the recipe for a huge Panda attack on your website’s SEO. The Yoast issue is only one possible cause and if you find any system, category or any other non-standard site which is listed on Google it is likely that there’s a lot more pages indexed, which you would not like to see. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
The issue is usually that the system pages were visible even though they shouldn’t have been. It could be that you set an option within an SEO plugin such as Yoast that blocked them from being visible or you included instructions within the robots.txt as well as .htaccess files that stopped search crawlers from being able to find them. It’s obvious that they’re not great pages to display publicly in the first place, and when they are public, it can affect your SEO. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
The solution is to hide them and redirect them back to your host page for instance, if they are images attached pages. The idea is to tell Google “hey this isn’t the place for you, this isn’t the place to be We do not want anyone to be there, instead go to this.” Eventually, Google will come to a conclusion and arrange your website. It can take a long time, especially when Panda affected your website in the process. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Issue: Improper Canonicalization
Three examples above is an example which could indicate that this could be the reason. Canonicalization is a technique used for meta information to ensure that Google as well as other engines can recognize an exact version of a piece information as”the “real variant” of the content – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Imagine, for instance, you have an internal database that contains 1,000 items, and that you can use an online search tool to look through the items. Plus One’s 2020 page is similar to every other. There could be 1,000,000 distinct URLs that have almost identical content. If Google indexes every search result, your website will be completely destroyed by the penalties for duplicate content. Let me present to you some scenarios: – Google Ranking Wrong Page
1. When you do the basis of a Google search for the name of your company you’ll find that one of your blogs articles that mentions your brand’s name more than usual is the first search result which is then your FAQ. Your homepage is ranked third place. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
2. When you do the Google searches for your brand’s name, the top result is an outdated and obsolete page for your website. The actual homepage isn’t visible, or ranks below the other results.
3. In a Google search of one of your key words, a guide from 2014 appears more prominently than a brand newer guide with more details and better information. It was released in 2017.
4: When you do an Google lookup for a term which your website’s content is highly searched for it will show up in search results that are pages that are system-generated pages for images, as well as the pages on which those images are stored. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Each of these three are examples of instances where Google indexing your website incorrectly. Your most valuable content should be at the top of the list. Your homepage should be over sub-pages that are related to your company’s name. Images shouldn’t be on dedicated pages on their own.
There are numerous possible reasons Google could be ranking wrong pages , and not the pages you’d like to rank on their behalf. Some of these reasons have to have to do with the algorithm, but sometimes it’s because of your website’s structure and other times, technical issues with the pages that are in the query. Let’s explore possible causes and find solutions will we? – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Problem Visible System Pages
This is the first issue I’m going over in part because this is a new issue that’s been surfacing lately due to a modification in the SEO plugin of Yoast, so a large number of people are likely to be affected. We’ve covered the specific problem in greater depth here however I’ll be covering it in more general terms later. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
The basic idea is that you’ve got the system pages of your website that aren’t supposed to be indexed however, they are. In the instance that of Yoast issue the issue is attachment pages for images, which are created automatically by WordPress. These pages are ranked on Google for a short period of time due to the fact that your website has its own SEO worth and they are brand new pages on your site. But after a couple of days or days, Google notices that all of these pages have very thin in content. They contain an image, an image caption and nothing else that is outside of the theme. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
That’s the recipe for a major Panda attack on your site’s SEO. The Yoast issue is only one possible cause and if you find an unrelated category, system or other non-standard page which is listed on Google it is likely that there’s a ton more pages indexed, which you do not want to be visible. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
The issue is usually that the system pages were visible even though they shouldn’t have been. There was some setting within an SEO plugin such as Yoast that blocked them from being visible or there were instructions to the robots.txt as well as .htaccess files that prevented search engines from discovering them. They’re obviously not the best pages to display publicly and, if they do become visible, it could affect your SEO. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
The solution is to hide the images, instead of redirecting them to the hosting page for instance, if they are pages with attachments to images. The idea is to tell Google “hey we’re sorry, this isn’t the place to be We don’t want anyone here, so instead go to this.” Eventually, Google will come to a conclusion and properly arrange your website. However, it could take some time, particularly when Panda affected your website in the process. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Issue: Improper Canonicalization
Google Ranking Wrong Page – The third example in the previous example is one of the places which could indicate that this could be the reason. Canonicalization is a method that is used for meta information to ensure Google as well as other engines can recognize the specific version of a material as being”the “real Version” of the content. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Google Ranking Wrong Page – Imagine, for instance, that you own an internal database that contains 1,000 items, and that you can use an online search tool to look through these items. Plus One’s 2020 page appears like every other. There could be 1,000,000 distinct URLs that have almost identical content. If Google searched for every possible result, your website would be completely destroyed by the penalties for duplicate content. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Google is usually smart enough to be able to spot this particular situation However, there are many instances where duplicate content could cause harm, due to an dynamic URL creation, the URL parameter and other reasons. In these instances it is important to have a canonical URL. If Google opens a page that has a unorthodox URLs and they see “hey you know, X is the official URL of this site” and will be able to tell not to index it and will index it with X instead. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
If there is canonicalization whenever you, for instance alter or enhance an old piece of content you might discover that it links to alternative copy of content. Google may find and enjoy the new edition of content however, if the canonical URL refers to a different location it won’t be capable of properly indexing the content. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
If you are unable to find any issues with canonicalization then you should look for hard redirects within the .htaccess or other file system. A similar problem that can cause the page’s intended to not be ranked is when the page you want to rank redirects all or some traffic to the rank page. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Problem: Anchor Text Keywords
In some instances it is possible to find one website is ranked highly for a particular keyword, but it isn’t something you’d consider to be the primary keyword of this particular piece. In reality, you may have a different piece of content that is focused on that particular keyword to be the main keyword however, another content will rank higher. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Google Ranking Wrong Page – What may be occurring in this case could be ” keyword cannibalization.” The website that is ranked high in the search results could be able to have significance, giving it a high rank all over the world. There are also internal links with that keyword’s anchor text that point to the content. The links will link the keyword to the page and makes Google think that the site is relevant to the keyword. This is why it ranks high and is not a good match for other content would. Learn more about the issue on this site.
Issue: Indistinct Homepages
Google Ranking Wrong Page – If your pages on your homepage aren’t getting the same amount of traffic as subpages of your website, it could be having issues that makes it difficult to determine what page is actually your homepage.
In most websites the homepage is an extension of the name domain. The homepage of Google is Google.com. Moz’s home page is moz.com. However, I’ve seen a lot of websites that have bizarre layouts for their homepage. Something like “www.blog.site.com/home.html”. Could you please tell me what’s wrong with this? – Google Ranking Wrong Page
One reason is that it’s an under-domain. Subdomains can screw with your site in the long run, and if you plan for it to become your homepage, it will not be a success. Google will favor site.com as the homepage over blog.site.com. If every page on your website is located on a subdomain or another, it could make it difficult for search engines to understand. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
The other is the fact that “home.html” isn’t essential to the modern design of web pages. It used to be the norm that home.html or index.html was the homepage, and Google is still able to identify index.hmtl as the home page, but it’s not required. The majority of the time it’s just a basic domain name.
It is essential to either move your home page to correct place in the domain name or redirect the domain’s plain name to the homepage you want, in case you wish Google to properly reach it. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Problem No Better Content
In certain instances websites that are evidently relevant to a search could rank well for a query that it is not really relevant to. Moz provides an instance in this article. The basic idea is that a query focusing on glasses got a result from Lenscrafters that wasn’t in line with the query. Lenscrafters is a great resource for SEO capabilities and consequently has the potential to have relevance, even if the result is not in fact relevant. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
This is one of the difficulties that make it difficult for smaller sites to compete with big sites, and this is what is what makes it possible in first place. Google is looking for relevancy first and value of the site second. Therefore, a site that is small and has high-quality content is able to outrank the larger site with irrelevant information, yet that huge site will be struggling to over come. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
If the bigger site was to produce more relevant content, it would instantly be able to move up to number one on the search results due to the force of their SEO. This is the reason it’s difficult to take on the most vigilant website. If they wish to be the leader in the market and they do, it’s just once they recognize it. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Issue: Accidental Spider Blocks
Another issue that was identified in the Moz blog post concerns the possibility of accidental blockages and crawling problems. If a page that you’d like to rank isn’t getting a ranking, and the “next most important thing” for your site is getting ranked It’s likely that the main piece of content has problems with being properly indexed. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Canonicalization and redirects can trigger this, however there are other issues to consider. Many creators prefer to share their designs live, hiding behind the “noindex” characteristic, to ensure that they won’t be indexed before they’re fully operational. It’s a good idea to test your the content live, but should you fail to remove the noindexattribute, Google won’t index it. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
There are other causes why the content may not be ranked well. As an example, you may have a great guide to a difficult task, but it is not ranked well for an inquiry related to the task, even though available content is terrible. How? It’s a matter of fact that if the content is only video, or on an infographic, it’s no value. While Google is working to improve it Google currently has a tough finding the exact content of a video image, and it’s likely that they’ll continue to have a difficult time for a considerable time. It’s
extremely difficult to decode audio when compared to text, but that’s what it is, after all. Images can be equipped with an OCR feature applied however, the nearly endless range of fonts, along with the requirement to distinguish different languages and symbols, can result in a wrong indexation. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Issue: Poor Content
This is a way to play in the same way as the previous one however it’s quite possible that a page targeted on your website might not be excellent. A page that has very little or no indexable content or a site with accessibility issues or a site where the content is generated dynamically or generated dynamically; all of these are difficult to index. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Sometimes, you don’t have the appropriate type of material on your website to be properly ranked for the search term you’re trying to rank for. Your site may be performing perfectly, but it’s on the third or second page, just in comparison to other websites ranking for the same keywords. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Normally, I’d mention competition which is driving down your content but it’s not actually Google ranking the incorrect page. It’s simply other pages that are better than your own. The problems we’re looking at are those that occur when Google ranks page A higher than page B on your website and Page B has the superior page in the same subject. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
In these instances it’s your responsibility to choose what you want you’ll do. If both pages are similar enough, I would prefer to merge them and redirect one page to the other. The value of the content on each page reduces the possibility of the risk of traffic cannibalization, adds the value of links and generally increases the value of the one page. – Google Ranking Wrong Page
Have you encountered similar problems? If so, what were the issues you encountered and how have you resolved these issues?
Google is generally intelligent enough to be able to spot this particular situation However, there are many instances where duplicate content could harm you due to an dynamic URL creation, the URL parameter and other technical reasons. In these situations you need a legitimate URL. Every time Google opens a page that has a an unusual URL it will show “hey you know, X is the official URL of this site” and will be able to tell not to index it and will index it with X instead.
If you’ve got canonicalization in place whenever you, for instance alter or enhance an older piece of content, you may find that it links to different copy of content. Google may find and enjoy the new versions of your content but if the original URL refers to a different location and they aren’t in a position to properly index it.
If you are unable to find any issues with canonicalization, you could look for hard redirects within the .htaccess or other file system. Another issue that could cause the desired page to not rank is when the desired page redirects all or some traffic to the page that ranks.
Problem: Anchor Text Keywords
In certain instances it is possible to find one site is highly ranked for a certain keyword even though the keyword isn’t something you’d think of as be the primary keyword for this particular piece. Actually, you may have a different piece of content that is focused on the same keyword in the first place however, another content will rank higher.
What could be happening in this case could be ” keyword cannibalization.” The website that is ranked high for the keyword could contain a lot of worth, which gives it a high rank all over the world. There are also internal links with keywords as anchor texts which point to the content. The links will link the keyword to the page and makes Google believe that the page is relevant to the keyword. This is why it ranks high even though other content would. Learn more about this topic on this site.
Issue: Indistinct Homepages
If your the homepages of your domain aren’t getting the same amount of traffic as subpages of your website, it may encounter issues in creating confusion as to the page that is your homepage.
In most websites the homepage is simply an extension of the name domain. The homepage of Google is Google.com. The homepage of Moz is moz.com. But, I’ve come across plenty of websites with odd designs for their homepages. Something like “www.blog.site.com/home.html”. What’s wrong with this?
It’s because, for one thing, it’s the subdomain. Subdomains can screw with your site so if you’re planning to make it your primary website, it will not perform. Google will favor site.com as the homepage instead of blog.site.com. If every page on your website is located on a subdomain or another, it could cause confusion for search engines.
The second reason is the fact that “home.html” isn’t required for the modern design of web pages. It used to be commonplace that home.html or index.html was the homepage, and Google is still able to identify index.hmtl as the home page, but it’s not essential. In most cases it’s just a basic domain name.
It is essential to either move your home page to desired location within the domain name or redirect the domain’s plain name to the homepage you want, in order for Google to properly reach it.
Problem No Better Content
In some instances it is possible for a website that is obviously relevant to a query could rank well for a query that it is not in fact relevant to. Moz discusses one such instance in this blog post. In essence, a search that focused on glasses got a result from Lenscrafters that wasn’t in line with the query. Lenscrafters is a great resource for SEO capabilities and consequently is ranked based on the possibility to have relevance, even if the result is not really relevant.
This is among the difficulties that make it difficult for small websites to rank against big sites, and this is what allows it to be possible in the first place. Google seeks relevancy first and then site value second. Therefore, a site that is small and has high-quality content is able to outrank the larger site with irrelevant information, yet that huge site will be unable to over come.
If that bigger site was to produce an item that is more relevant to their audience, material, they’d immediately be able to move up to number one in search results thanks to their SEO. This is the reason it’s difficult to take on the most vigilant website. If they are determined to dominate the market it will happen when they realize it.
Issue: Accidental Spider Blocks
Another issue that was identified in the Moz blog post concerns the possibility of accidental blockages as well as crawling issue. If a page you’d like to rank being ranked, but the “next most important thing” for your site is ranking it’s possible that the original page is experiencing difficulties in being properly crawled.
Canonicalization and redirects can trigger this, however there are other issues to consider. Many web designers prefer to publish their designs live and hide behind the “noindex” attribute to ensure they don’t get indexed until they’re fully operational. It’s a good idea to test your the site live, however when you don’t remove the noindexattribute, Google will not index it.
There are other causes why the content may not rank as well. As an example, you may have a great guide for a complex task that is not ranked well for an inquiry related to the task, even though available content is poor. How? If the content is only video or an infographic, it is of no value. Although the company is working hard on this Google is having a difficult to accurately index the content of a video image, and is likely to continue to have a difficult time for quite some time. It’s a challenge to understand audio in the same way as text in the end, in the end. Images may have an OCR feature applied however the vast number of fonts available, combined with the necessity of recognizing different languages and symbols, could result in incorrect indexation at best.
Issue: Poor Content
This plays in the same way as the previous one It’s possible that a page targeted on your website isn’t great. A page with a small or no content that is indexable, or a page that has accessibility issues or a site where the content is created dynamically and difficult to index.
Sometimes, you’re not providing the correct type or content for your website to rank well for the keywords you’re trying to rank. It’s possible that you’re ranking well, but you’re on the third or the second page, just in comparison to other websites ranking with the same content.
Normally , I’d say competition is which is driving down your content but it’s not actually Google being indexing the right page. It’s simply other pages that are better than yours. The issues we’re focusing on are those that occur when Google ranks page A higher than page B on your website while Page B has the superior page in the same subject.
In these situations it’s your decision to decide on what you’ll do. If the two pages are comparable enough, I would prefer to mix them up and redirect one page to the other. The cumulative value of the content on each page reduces the possibility of traffic cannibalization and also increases the value of links and generally increases the effectiveness of the page in question.
Have you encountered similar problems? If so, what were the issues you encountered and how have you dealt with the issues?
