OK, search engine optimization ranking reports are not dead... but
Google's personalized search is making agency ranking reports less and less relevant.

Many agency clients in emerging SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing) markets, such as ours (central Pennsylvania), may still be chasing the wrong metrics and using them to measure agency success. Why? Because those clients have been trained to look at unique website visits and at keyword rankings.

The Problem

Google wants to rank site content based on a person's search behaviors, preferences, etc.

Because I have frequently engaged with webtalentmarketing.com and its associated social profiles, especially—I suspect—its Google+ profile, the site ranks higher for my personalized search results than it would for nonpersonalized results.

So, how likely is it that a client's site will rank well for a search in the client's market, where the searcher has made repeat visits to or purchases from the client's competition (i.e., has been repeatedly engaged with that competitor)?

If the searcher is engaged with the competition, the relationship is working for the searcher and the website. Google prefers to repeat processes that have proven successful.

What does that mean for a client? When you give a client a ranking report, the report shows where the client would show up in Google if personalization weren't in effect. But that's no longer a viable scenario.

The following image is of a search for the same term, but not personalized:

Webtalentmarketing.com is no longer in position 3, and the ranking results report would tell the client its website is ranking in position 25; in fact, it may rank higher for some and not at all for others.

On the flip side, marketingignite.com will have a ranking report showing its site ranking in position 3 for "online marketing company," but in my personalized results that is not where it shows up.

In short, ranking reports are misleading.

Personalization is now forced on users of Google and Bing if they are not logged in. When logged in, you have the option to turn personalization off—if you are aware of the possibility, and have an idea where to turn it off. (See the two paired gray buttons in the upper-right-hand corner of the screenshot? The globe icon means "un-personalized" and the person icon means "personalized").

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The Problem With Personalized Search: SEO Ranking Reports Are Dead!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lorianna Sprague is a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist at Web Talent Marketing, a growing online marketing company in central Pennsylvania that serves medium-to-large companies nationwide.