I could really use some clarification here. Maybe there is a basic fact that I somehow missed... There's a keyword I'm targeting. I just checked my site's google rank for this keyword and discovered I was positioned at 1st place. This is impossible- I thought- since yesterday my site was at 11. I noticed that I was logged into my Google account (the same account that's registered on Analytics- if that matters). So I logged out of the account and searched for the keyword again. My site's ranking was at 11. Are Google results supposed to change once a user is logged into his account? I tried to login with another Google user name and did the same search but the results didn't change. My site was at positioned at 11. Can anyone shed light on this?
Anything is possible with Google. I know when you're logged in you can customize the results by moving sites up and down, or removing them. Did you ever manipulate your personal results? This is the only thing I can think of.
You mean Google SearchWiki? I have used it once just to see how it works. But it wasn't for this search term. Is there another way to manipulate results? I do run many searches on this term, since I'm heavily targeting it. Do you think Google moved it up for me personally? Only for my view?
no, its called personalized search and has been with us for a couple of years now so, either log out to check your position or use Joosts depersonalized search firefox addon.
I had this same issue. Its the personalized search ranking your site higher on the list, because (likely) thats the one you click more often. From a general user's stanpoint its a good idea. However from a web master's standpoint it isnt so much. Log out from the google account and you will find your site likely back at 11 again. Good Luck
yes, it does change. After I saw that I freaked but then I realized that it is a "semi directed" result ranking.