How Pogo Sticking Will decrease your SEO Rankings

Considering our subject matter, it is defined as going back and forth from a search engine results page (SERP) to a singular search result destination site.

What Is Pogo Sticking ?

In other words, pogo-sticking is when the searcher clicks on a link on a SERP, sees that it’s not what she is looking for, and immediately bounces off by hitting the back button. She then chooses another result from the results page to satisfy her informational need. This event is also closely measured in Google Analytics under the term “bounce rate.” Search engines prefer users to discover the content they want on their first try, so pogo-sticking isn’t in the best interest of Google, Bing, the searcher, or the brand publisher. Content with a high bounce rate may fall out of view in search, putting additional pressure on writers to produce SEO content that truly sticks.

How Do I Know If I Have a Pogo-Sticking Problem, and How Do I Fix It?

The first question any SEO should ask is, “Am I producing content optimized around what my audience is searching for online?” This may seem like a basic question, but it’s not. Red Bull, for example, knew its audience didn’t want to read about the benefits of drinking its products. As an alternative, the establishment saw an opportunity to build a website geared toward extreme sports, and this brand-aligned approach drew in a significant audience, all of whom have become brand ambassadors and are more likely to refer their friends to Red Bull than any other energy drink. So, know your audience, and understand their information and entertainment needs. The second question any SEO or marketer should ask is, “Can I lower my bounce rate?” The answer is yes. A high bounce rate indicates people are going back to their search results and clicking on competing for content. You can adjust your landing pages to reduce bounce rate by Recognizing what terms drive traffic to your site, and evaluating how those words correlate with the information hosted on your landing pages. If there is an apparent disconnect, adjust content accordingly. Analyzing your copy can uncover missed opportunities. Don’t think of landing pages as static content types. You have to frequently edit them to reveal current changes in the marketplace, recent statistics, new internal resources, and more. Considering how user experience plays into the success of your brand’s web presence. If your article is below the fold and users need to scroll to find what they are looking for, they may give up right away and bounce back to the search engine landing page for another resource. Marketers can also consider letting Google survey your visitors by embedding Google’s customer satisfaction surveys for website owners. These short reviews can make a big difference in search performance if you are consistently achieving user satisfaction.

The Dangers of Pogo Sticking

Pogo sticking isn’t always this fun google hates pogo sticking more than high bounce rates, as pogo sticking happens within the first five seconds of viewing the page. This shows that your website isn’t performing good enough job of answering the questions people are asking or that the page was so bad they didn’t even bother reading its content. If you have a lot of individuals pogo sticking on and off your site, Google will notice, and they will penalize you.

Common Causes of Pogo Sticking

Pogo sticking is caused by instant dissatisfaction with some part of your website. Nevertheless, lots of things could go wrong in those valuable five seconds, so defining exactly what’s wrong with any given page can be a challenge. To help you get to the bottom of the problem, here are few things you may want to consider: Targeting terms that are irrelevant or too broad as well as poor website design can significantly contribute to pogo-sticking problems. If your site takes too long to load or has a confusing design searchers may only give up and move on. Badly designed landing pages with conflicting or confusing information can discourage searchers and invasive advertisements such as videos or presentations that autoplay on page load can be a great annoyance. Be sure that your landing pages are focused and organized; if you need to rank for more terms, you will have to make more landing pages to satisfy those searchers. The best way to prevent pogo-sticking is by getting in the searcher’s head. Not the buyer, the searcher. These are not necessarily the same thing, and that is where many websites can run into problems. To maintain good rankings, you will want to satisfy the query of everyone who lands on your page even if they are never going to buy your product or service. Make sure your website appears great and functions well with an natural user interface and supports multiple devices. Segment your information for ease of understanding and readability and keep your pages engaging and visually appealing with unique and relevant content.