Rankings rise after improving internal linking - then drop again

[hjsand]

I'm working on a large scale publishing site. I can increase search rankings almost immediately by improving internal linking to targeted pages, sometimes by 40 positions but after a day or two these same rankings drop down again, not always as low as before but significantly lower than their highest position.

My theory is that the uplift generated by the internal linking is subsequently mitigated by other algorithmic factors relating to content quality or site performance or is this unlikely?

Does anyone else have experience of this phenomenon or any theories?

[TammyWood]

Many factors could contribute to this:

1. Did the content change?

2. The on page optimization ( meta data etc,) change?

3. Were these previously orphaned?

4. Did these internal links add schematic and logical value to the theme of the website?

Did you use fetch as Google once these links were updated and /or were canonical URL's changed by this structure? More than likely this is just a boost because Google followed the new links, yet found the same page. The 'new' information needs to be reevaluated and ranked by Google. I'd give it 7-9 days and if no further movement, look to significantly improve the schematic structure of the website. Next, update the sitemap and resubmit the canonicalized URL's to Google through Google Search Console.

[hjsand]

thanks Tammy, I think you are bang on with Google following the new links and then finding the same page. Thanks for your help.

[Everett]

"My theory is that the uplift generated by the internal linking is subsequently mitigated by other algorithmic factors relating to content quality or site performance or..."

I think your initial analysis of the situation is right. Look to improve user-experience, conversion rates and interactions on those pages and try your experiment again.

I don't like using bounce rate as a metric for this for several reasons, but if you use Time On Site, Pages Per Visit, or track interactions, such as when they scroll past 50% of the page or click a button... There are plenty of ways to gauge whether your changes are providing a better experience for visitors from search results, which in turn should be roughly the same thing that pleases the algorithm.