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Does traffic have an effect on Google Serps?

Discussion in 'Google' started by swedal, Jul 18, 2008.

  1. #1
    This may be a rediculous question but something I have wondered about for some time.

    On the surface of it I would say no, traffic does not affect serps. But since the question still nags at me I thought I would ask it here to get your opinions.

    So I know that obviously better serps means more traffic but the question is for the inverse.

    Does higher direct traffic numbers increase your serps? Is traffic a factor that Google takes into its algo to determine search engine positioning?
     
    swedal, Jul 18, 2008 IP
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  2. SilkySmooth

    SilkySmooth Well-Known Member

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    #2
    I think Google uses the data which it collects from numerous sources, toolbar, analytics, SERPS, etc. Each one IMHO plays a small role in the ranking algo.

    Image there are two sites at the top of the serps for a specific keyphrase and that phrase is searched 20 times today. 10 go to the first site and 10 go to the second site. If the 10 that went to the first site bounce back and then click on the second site but the 10 that went to the second site didn't bounce then it makes sense that the second site is providing the relevant information for the keyphrase.

    Obviously that is a very basic example because amount of time spent on each website, how many pages were viewed, etc. would all likely play a role.

    Just my tuppence worth...
     
    SilkySmooth, Jul 18, 2008 IP
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  3. webmasterlabor.com

    webmasterlabor.com Peon

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    #3
    I wouldn't be surprised if they have something in alpha or beta stage testing that factors that in. Probably not applied to all searches but for small testing pool.
     
    webmasterlabor.com, Jul 18, 2008 IP
  4. atunbi

    atunbi Peon

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    #4
    I read on another blog today that it does, don't know how true though
     
    atunbi, Jul 18, 2008 IP
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  5. webcosmo

    webcosmo Notable Member

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    #5
    Traffic plays a vital role determining the SERP. High traffic sites get crawled more often.
     
    webcosmo, Jul 18, 2008 IP
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  6. duplosion

    duplosion Peon

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    #6
    This might be coincidental, but:

    I have a site that, like most new sites, was struggling in the SERPs shortly after launch (very much a sandbox-like scenario).

    Then one day, the site was written up in a major newspaper (top 5 reach in US). Newspapers of course don't have links, so most of my traffic that day was direct traffic. However, I still had a couple thousand people search for the domain name, and most of them came through Google.

    The very next day, my site was ranking vastly higher than it had in the past for a whole slew of keywords.

    Maybe the logic is that if a bunch of people are searching for a domain then it must be good. Or maybe it was a complete coincidence. It just struck me as interesting.
     
    duplosion, Jul 18, 2008 IP
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  7. InfoSmith

    InfoSmith Peon

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    #7
    What I do know is, SERP has a big impact on your traffic.
     
    InfoSmith, Jul 18, 2008 IP
  8. xubair

    xubair Active Member

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    #8
    lol good one ! (Y) =P
    and except good crawling rate, i don't see any impact of traffic on serps
     
    xubair, Jul 19, 2008 IP
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  9. Bompa

    Bompa Active Member

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    #9
    Are you talking about traffic on your site or click throughs in the SERPs?


    Bompa
     
    Bompa, Jul 19, 2008 IP
  10. magda

    magda Notable Member

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    #10
    Silkysmooth makes some very good points.
    Google have always said there's around 200 factors that make up the algorithm, but I don't think I've ever seen an attempt to breakdown what all the factors might be.
    Though I'm sure that user behaviour on google itself is evaluated and plays into the algo.
     
    magda, Jul 19, 2008 IP
  11. lycos

    lycos Well-Known Member

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    #11
    No, I don't think so... but I maybe wrong. Google has always placed emphasis on getting backlinks and quality content which they use to determine the SERP but they never mentioned anything on traffic to be used for SERP.
    Just imagine if you have traffic which you generate using questionable tactics that would give an unfair advantage towards SERP.
     
    lycos, Jul 19, 2008 IP
  12. SilkySmooth

    SilkySmooth Well-Known Member

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    #12
    With all of the services and tools that Google provides they collect (and store) vast amounts of data not just about your web sites but about the sites you visit, the terms you search for, your behavioural patterns (when your likely to be online, what hours you get up, when you log off), what ads attract your attention, etc, etc, etc.

    You don't think that with all this vast knowledge they have that there might be a teeny weeny chance that they use it?

    As for the questionable traffic and unfair advantages. I am sure Google has the ability to determine when someone is using questionable tactics and as I pointed out in my first post it is likely to only be a small factor (and as someone else pointed out, there are hundreds of factors) which wouldn't be effected by a quick burst of traffic. Lets face it if someone has the ability questionable or not to drive that much traffic to their site they really arn't going to care too much about Google anyway.

    The only part I do agree with is that Google places emphasis on quality content and guess what, quality content attracts traffic. ;)
     
    SilkySmooth, Jul 19, 2008 IP