One of our SEO clients was confused by some conflicting information she was receiving. As a part of our SEO services she was getting her bi-weekly Ranking Reports which showed her site's position in Google SERPS for her desired keywords.

She claimed our reports were inaccurate because they didn't match what she saw during her personal searches. Still working on getting her site to the first page we reported that the site showed in the position 26, which is page 3. We suggested that she does the same search from another computer and see if the results change. She did – her husband's computer displayed her site on page 3 as we expected.

The reason for the confusion is Google personalized results. Because she visited her own site often, it was all over her search and browser history, cookies, etc. Google, trying to cater based on her preferences, would bump her site into a nice position on the first page.

This is not a recent change. Google has been customizing users' searches for quite some time. However, in the past you would have noticed a difference in SERPS while logged-in vs. while logged out of your Google account. With the update from late 2009 - early 2010 you will get personalized results regardless of your login status. In order to see something different, you would need to use a different computer.

Your search results will vary depending on your browsing history and your physical location. Google knows your location (at the very least your city and state) by analyzing the Wi-Fi access points around you and your computer's IP address. If you search for "plumber" in Baltimore you will see a different set of results compared to the same search made from a computer in Cleveland. And if you like to check your own rankings and visiting your own site a lot - you may see yourself in the top position when the actual position could be pages deep.

Another reason for variation could be "hitting" different Google data centers.
Try to check your site by using Multiple Data Center Google Search.

Great for the Users, Bad for Marketing

With personal settings, browser history, locations and different data centers, it's becoming tough to know whether your true ranking is really what it seems. You may want to have someone else to do the search for you and see how your keywords rank. Or, test out with some free third-party Rank checkers, like Rank Checker Firefox plug-in.

As always, we will be happy to help you and answer any questions you may have. And, of course, we will be glad to see how your site ranks for your keywords. Please visit us at www.greatpointdesigns.com.