I manage SEO for a hotel and I track keyword positions regularly. This December, I noticed that visibility for some keywords dropped by 52% in Semrush. But when I search on Google using incognito, the hotel still shows up in the top five. Semrush says the same keywords dropped to around position 18. It feels odd, does anyone know why this might happen?
Yeah this happens a lot.
Rankings move all the time.
If the client searches too often, Google may adjust the results to avoid manipulation. SEMrush pulls data differently through API calls, which isn’t the same as checking on a regular browser.
Exactly, as someone else said, rankings shift constantly.
I always remind clients that searching for their keywords, even in incognito, doesn’t really give solid data. It’s more reliable to trust tools and raw data instead.
I get daily reports from Semrush too, sometimes saying I dropped 60 spots on a keyword.
One day it’s -60, next day it’s back to +60.
Ned said:
I get daily reports from Semrush too, sometimes saying I dropped 60 spots on a keyword.
One day it’s -60, next day it’s back to +60.
Yeah, I see the same thing. It feels like it’s bouncing all over the place.
Try looking at your organic traffic directly. Sometimes that’s a better indicator.