Google Rankings Explained: Why Rankings Change (and What to Do About It)

If you've ever looked at your keyword rankings and noticed them rising one day and dropping the next, you’re not alone. Rankings shift constantly, with Search Engine Land reporting that Google Search changes and an average of 13 times per day. 

There are many forces at play that dictate how your content ranks, and a shift in average rankings can sometimes be a byproduct of healthy growth. It takes time to rank in the top results, and creating new content can drag down your overall position as you make inroads elsewhere.  

Simply put, your rankings are going to shift – and that’s normal. What’s important is that your rankings don’t impact your overall site visits and that you rank well for your core terms while you add content that attracts new visitors. Let's take a deeper look to explain what makes your Google rankings shift (and what you can do to improve them).

Factors that Impact Your Google Ranks

If you’re wondering why your rankings are going up and down like a possessed elevator, get ready for an all too familiar phrase – it depends. There are a wide variety of factors that impact your rankings, some of which you can and can’t control.

What’s Out of Your Control: Algorithm Changes

Google updates its algorithm constantly, with multiple significant updates each year. These updates are designed to give searchers the best possible search experience, and these changes can dramatically affect your marketing efforts – we’re looking at you, zero-click search.

As companies and as marketers, we have no control over these algorithm updates – only how we respond to them. These changes can result in everything from temporary volatility to industry-wide shifts, especially if your content hasn't been updated in a while.

Here are some of the key changes affecting marketers now:

• Core Web Vitals: Google rewards websites with quick loading speeds, interactivity, and visual stability and uses Core Web Vitals to measure these criteria. Having slow, frustrating pages with poor user experience will harm rankings.
• Helpful Content Update: Google uses this update to reward content that is original and satisfying for uses while punishing thin, recycled, or generic content. This update was originally launched in 2022 and was so impactful that it’s now considered a core ranking factor.
• Spam Updates: These ongoing updates aim to detect link manipulation, unoriginal AI-generated content, and other questionable marketing practices that don’t provide value for users.
• Passage Ranking: Google can now rank specific parts of your content, meaning that you can drive traffic through a well-written, well-optimized section of a longer page that provides value for readers.

What’s in Your Control: Optimizing Your Content for Rankings

While Google is going to update their algorithm as they see fit, you still have control over your own content. Google uses more than 200 ranking factors to determine where your content stands in search results – and it’s our job as marketers to cater our content around these critical criteria.

200 may seem like a lot, but there are a few core SEO elements that you can target to make your content more valuable. Here are the ranking factors that you can control:

• Content: Everything you create should be unique, valuable, and well-written. Focus on sharing new insights instead of posting the same basic information that’s already out there.
• Linking: Enhance user experience by linking helpful, related content, while external backlinks from other trusted sites help signal authority. 
• Page Experience: Embrace tactics that contribute to quality page experience, including mobile usability, quick load times, and content with a clear hierarchy and structure.
• E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Position yourself as a leader in your area of expertise, such as creating in-depth, informative content, using author bios, and sharing reviews that help build trust.
• Search Intent Matching: Ensure your content aligns with what users are really looking for, not just targeting keywords with high search volumes.
• Structured Data: Schema markup helps Google understand your content better and may it easier for them to display your content in search results.

SEO Pitfalls to Avoid

While there are several steps that you can take to positively influence your search engine rankings, you can also harm your position if you’re not careful. Google reviews content and will promptly penalize pages that practice problematic approaches, whether you had good intentions or not. 

Here are some of the biggest ranking pitfalls to avoid:

• Bad Links: Google reviews inbound links to see if they’re bought or part of a link farm. In short, don’t buy backlinks and stick to using valuable, high-quality outbound links in your content.
• Low-Quality Content: Google rewards information gain, which is when content provides new, valuable information for search crawlers. Content that fails to add anything new is more likely to be ignored by search engines.
• Intrusive Interstitials/Popups: Big popups and other elements that suddenly appear on pages aggravate users, especially on mobile. They also slow down your page load time and hurt your Cumulative Layout Shift, which is a Core Web Vitals metric.
• AI-Generated Thin Content: You can’t just publish pages made by AI. Content requires a human touch to make it valuable, so make sure it's fact-checked, edited, and enhanced with your own words to properly use AI to scale content creation.
• Over-Optimization: The days of keyword stuffing are over, and Google will punish pages with repeated phrases, overused internal links, and other spammy content practices.
• Neglecting Mobile-First: Google uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking. Pages that are clunky, outdated, or hard to use on mobile devices will cause your rankings to suffer.

Navigating Fluctuations: Reasons Why Rankings Fluctuate 

In the constant struggle to have your pages sit atop the rankings, it's essential to understand one constant – that your rankings likely won’t look the same from one day to the next. It’s normal for search results to shuffle around, whether it’s a minor shift of a few spots or something more dramatic.

The aforementioned algorithm changes are one notable reason why rankings fluctuate, but they’re not the only factors that affect your pages. Here are some other common reasons why your rankings can change:

• Competitor improvements: Your competition can surpass you in the rankings because they update content more frequently, build stronger links, and make other improvements to their own content.
• Indexation issues: Your pages can accidentally become deindexed due to misconfigured noindex tag or robots.txt errors.
• Content decay: Even quality content can become stale or outdated with ongoing optimization, causing a drop in performance.
• Tool limitations: Tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush are useful, but are based on sampled data and can provide wildly inaccurate numbers. For the most accurate reporting, use Google Search Console and GA4.

Google Rankings Checklist: Ways to Stay Competitive in a Volatile SEO Landscape

Ready to take what you’ve learned about Google’s rankings and set your content up for search success? Use this checklist to ensure your site remains SEO-ready in 2025 and beyond:

✅ Master the fundamentals – Embrace Technical SEO, clean code, and fast-loading pages to lay the groundwork for future success.
✅ Audit content regularly – Use Search Console and GA4 to catch traffic dips and crawl issues early.
✅ Focus on user intent – Focus less on matching keywords and more on build thorough, unique content that addresses the purpose behind a user’s search.
✅ Create content hubs – Use pillar pages and topic clusters to build topical authority and create content that supports users from initial research to purchase.
✅ Update content often – Refresh old content to keep information up to date, rewrite weak sections, and improve internal linking.
✅ Earn trust signals – Include reviews, expert bios, and testimonials to showcase that your content is from a trusted source.

Key Takeaways for Marketers

• SEO is not static: Be prepared for changes and stay patient. Ranking fluctuations are normal, and you must adapt your strategy accordingly.
• Content must evolve: Create original, valuable content and repurpose and refresh old content to keep your site current.
• User experience is measurable: Improve site speed, accessibility, and design to create a quality user experience that supports your content.
• Partnerships help: SEO is a lot of work, so consider partnering with an agency that can provide the expertise and support needed for success with Google search and other avenues.

Ready to Take the Guesswork Out of SEO? Contact us today to schedule a consultation and see how we can help your business adapt to the rise of AI in search.