A quick question: is it possible to be ranked number one and number two hundred on Google for a certain keyword? A quick answer: Yes it is.

Google’s ranking algorithm has changed so much in the past few years that SEOs that have been living under the rock for the past few years can’t optimize your site anymore. It is now a common knowledge among the real SEO professionals that ranking has been dead for a long time. Problem is, most of the clients don’t realize that and they demand a little piece of information we like to call “ranking reports“.

What client thinks when SEO gives him a ranking report:

• I am ranking number X for keyword “XYZ” on Google.

What is the actual truth:

• I am ranking number X for a keyword “XYZ” on Google when searched by “A” located in “B” with previous search history of “C” loged-in / loged-out of his / its Google account at “X” AM / PM with IP address “XXX.XXX.X.X”.
• Even in this case, a simple refresh could bring completely different set of results. If any of the parameters above change, the entire SERP can change. This brings us to conclusion that there is no such thing as ranking position nowadays.

You can be number one to some people, but when searched from a different PC in the same room you could be somewhere else. You could even be number one to someone, and after a refresh, results could change.

Ranking reports make no sense. Concentrate on your traffic reports and overall amount of traffic you receive from search engines and how well that traffic converts instead of obsessing about a nonexistent metric – ranking position.

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