Google Dance Algorithm Examples – FatRank

The Google Dance part of the algorithm causes pages to jump up and down in the SERPs after you make a change to the page like building links or updating content. It’s seen by many as a way of tricking people into thinking their rankings have gone down, so they think they need to reverse whatever change has been made. But this only alerts Google to the fact that you are trying to manipulate rankings. There are several Google Dance algorithm examples which we have collected from various websites.

Google Dance – Webpage Jumps in SERPs

Below you can see one example of rankings for a page which have fluctuated a lot over a couple of months. First, the rankings jump up, move down and up for a while and then stay down again for a while. After this, they jump up to a high point, then fluctuate again before finally ending up higher.

The best thing to do in this situation is not reverse any of the changes you have made. Just wait until the ranking levels out, and if you find that it has gradually dropped, consider making some changes.

Google Dancing Results in SERPs

This photo below shows another example of Google dancing results in SERPS. The metrics for this webpage show it at a steady level and then dropping down, lifting up, and continuing to fluctuate over the course of just a few days.

This is something that’s commonly seen when making changes to a particular page.

Web Page Fluctuations in Google

It’s common to see web page fluctuations in Google, as you can see in this screenshot below. Many site owners have experienced this with one website or another and it’s a completely normal part of SEO and manipulating your rankings.

Why is Google Rank Disappearing?

This is a common question that you may hear or think to yourself when working on improving your Google rankings. You might have updated your content really well or built some powerful links to the page, and yet you see rankings for your pages dropping suddenly. The random ranking factor might be causing this as it’s Google testing you to see if you’ll react to the drops.

Google Dance Sudden Drops

In some cases with the Google Dance, you might see sudden drops in your rankings. As you can see in the photo below, this particular page saw some serious up and down movement including sharp drops across a four-month period.

That’s just another example of how the random ranking factor can cause pages to jump up and down in the SERPs.

Website Keeps Jumping Around

You may notice that your website keeps jumping around if you have been making changes to it and watching the rankings.

Rankings in Google Drop Dramatically

It’s not uncommon to see your rankings in Google drop dramatically, especially if you have been making updates or building new links. There could be a reason for this, such as getting a link from a bad site or removing certain keywords from your content. However it could all be down to the random ranking factor, so don’t rule this out. As you can see below, this page experienced a big rise and then a drop which fluctuated for a few weeks. It then rose back up again to the original high point.

Webpage Dancing in Google SERPs

You can see another webpage dancing in Google SERPs with clear jumps up and down over a period of a few weeks.

Google Dance Jumps Up and Down

Below is another example of how ranking positions can jump up and down. The rankings here fluctuate quite a lot over a time period of about two months.

Search Ranking Jump Up and Down

It’s no surprise that search rankings jump up and down for different pages as there are so many different factors which affect the ranking.

Google Drop in Rankings

There are many reasons why you could see a Google drop in rankings on specific pages on your site. The example below shows a page at a consistent level, and then it suddenly drops down. It then moves back up and down again repeatedly for around two weeks.

Google Dance Drops and Gains

It can be confusing trying to analyse the Google Dance drops and gains cause they are usually pretty random. Most of the time it’s best to just ignore this and wait for it to subside. This example below shows ranking dropping quite significantly over a couple of days. By the end of the graph, it has moved back up to its original high point and seems to stay there.

Website Doing the Google Dance

You can see another example of a website doing the Google Dance below. This one clearly shoots up and down over the space of about a month with a couple of prolonged high points.

Google Dance – Rankings Up and Down

Another classic example of the Google Dance here. As you can see, rankings for this page are going up and down pretty rapidly over just a couple of weeks.

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