Google analytics.... boooooo! nay nay!

[cdog]

well we added GA to our site for people for a possible big sale... after four days we dropped from #6 for 'myspace layouts' to page 7!

i was sooooo confused, so I did some research and read it happened to some other people who ran GA.

I removed it from my site and 10 days later we were back to number 5!

If you're running analytics try dropping it and see what happens after two weeks, it may help your rankings a lot!

I also stay away from sitemaps for the same reason...

hope this helps someone!

[Happy]

Google Analtics can be a gift or curse. It's a gift because it helps site owners understand their funnel and where people come from and where they leave. In the same token, it gives google a better "view" of your site. Since they are behind your green walls. So they (google) in a sense know you site better (or atleast think they do) and that changes the weight in your ranking.

So it's a gift and curse. For smaller sites, it usually helps since your ranking is low. But if your site is top 100 in a keyword it might readjust your ranking. Hope this sheds some light on it. :)

[idzone]

I doubt that GA influences rankings. It is not intended to do that. I have been using GA since it was launched, and no problems so far. Touch wood!

[Happy]

idzone,

Glad your not noticing any difference. :) I have had the same experience as CDog after adding it to an already established website. Just wondering, did you add GA after your site already had a great ranking? Perhaps that could play a factor? Let's discuss.

Thanks for the iTrader ranking as well.

[PGZ]

I use GA and Sitemaps and Im fine. I think your blaming the wrong things as to why your drop took place.

[MKInfo]

Me too.I have added on both new and old sites with no effect.Helps a great deal with SEO too.

[webbom]

well we added GA to our site for people for a possible big sale... after four days we dropped from #6 for 'myspace layouts' to page 7!

i was sooooo confused, so I did some research and read it happened to some other people who ran GA.

I removed it from my site and 10 days later we were back to number 5!

If you're running analytics try dropping it and see what happens after two weeks, it may help your rankings a lot!

I also stay away from sitemaps for the same reason...

hope this helps someone!


cdog, where else have you read about people with this problem, can you provide links to the threads?

[Mixi]

I've never had a problem with it. I always use them and it always helps me rank higher never lower.

[cdog]

cdog, where else have you read about people with this problem, can you provide links to the threads?

http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3248965.htm

[shade88]

I use it to have a better info on my visitor, never though it will effect my rank on Google.

[jeremy860]

thanks for the heads up on this.

I have been using sitemaps for sometime now and have struggled for awhile to rank well for a special keyword so i think I will test it out and remove sitemaps for a month and see what happens.

[mcfox]

Geeze! Google Analytics - what a pain in the bahooka! The biggest problem with analytics is nothing to do with Google 'getting behind the scenes' and everything to do with problems loading and slow response times on the analytics servers.

I remember when they first rolled it out - I was one of the beta testers - it worked fine during the beta stages - then they rolled it out and the analytics servers almost ground to a halt with the traffic. I saw sites that had sat at the top of the SERP's plummet into oblivion due to difficulty loading when the SE spiders came a knockin'.

[AzBlk]

when it was URCHIN it was a winner but after google bought it and added millimns on users, it died.

[Ajay]

Are you effin' kidding me? ok i'm going to remove it for a week and see what happens... awesome, that means i have to rely on extreme tracker for my stats... instant 8k boost! woo hoo.

[Ajay]

well we added GA to our site for people for a possible big sale... after four days we dropped from #6 for 'myspace layouts' to page 7!

i was sooooo confused, so I did some research and read it happened to some other people who ran GA.

I removed it from my site and 10 days later we were back to number 5!

If you're running analytics try dropping it and see what happens after two weeks, it may help your rankings a lot!

I also stay away from sitemaps for the same reason...

hope this helps someone!


hmm, the same thing happend to me, but i had analytics installed for a long time... just one day my rankings for some keywords went from #1 to page 61... they came back though after a month... someone told me its the google sandbox or whatever... i don't really understand that fully.

[idzone]

For some websites, I have added analytics since their inception, and I have faced no problem whatsoever. And some other sites, I have added analytics on the go, and those have come up as well. Analytics uses the same urchin structure, so I don't think it affects rankings. Their FAQs support this fact.

[cdog]

If you're going to test it and take it off give it at least 10-20 days for a change in ranking to happen.

I'm not saying this will happen to every one that runs it, but it has happened, and could happen.

I'm setting up a set of three sites to test it out, it'll take months-year but I am going to keep this thread updated.

[rob]

We've run Analytics / Sitemaps and it's helped tremendously with rankings and getting more pages indexed. No issues.

[minnseoelite]

Google analytics itself does not effect rankings directly the only possible thing it could do would be to upset your pages "text to code" ratio. Read Googles pages they state that G Analytics and G sitemaps are completely seperate from the normal ranking algo.

The only way G sitemaps could effect your rankings would be if it allowed G to find pages it previously could not access and those pages did not fit well with the theme of your site or the keyword you was ranking for.......But that still would not be Googles fault its the webmasters :whistling:

I would suggest that in order to keep from getting any big suprises you do like I do and add your site to G sitemaps and G analytics the second your site goes live.

[Assailant]

holy crap..that could be the explanation to why i went from 2nd page of results for many top terms to 4-5 removed analytics just now, hopefully it helps

[Cyberkiller]

I took it off for 3 weeks and saw no effect.

I don't trust google at all and believe it still might make some kind of difference. But for my site it seems like it didn't help.

I've put analytics back on just because they seem to be the most accurate and their stats/graphs help a lot with traffic analysis.

[minnseoelite]

adding G analytics does not do anything to your sites rankings good or bad lol.....its just a coincidence that peoples sites loose ranking after they add it probably due to Google indexing some new links right around the same time they add G analytics....

how do i know this.....well i have added G analytics to every site I have ever created (about 60+) and have never experienced any change in rankings from it whether good or bad

[cdog]

adding G analytics does not do anything to your sites rankings good or bad lol.....its just a coincidence that peoples sites loose ranking after they add it probably due to Google indexing some new links right around the same time they add G analytics....

how do i know this.....well i have added G analytics to every site I have ever created (about 60+) and have never experienced any change in rankings from it whether good or bad

quit saying you know 'for sure' just because it doesn't effect you doesn't mean it couldn't possibly effect others

it's done it to me with three sites now i've tested

[minnseoelite]

i will quit saying i know when i don know for sure.......all G analytics measures is traffic, it does not analyze new content, keywords, or anything that has anything to do with rankings.......of course most people that think analytics effects rankings are also the ones that wonder why they have high traffic sites but still have low PR :P

[Assailant]

well the day i dropped a few pages is around the same time i put google analytics up...this is a spot ive held for about a year...and the day i put up ga it drops...oh well..i removed it..lets see if it works for me. anythings possible

[minnseoelite]

yes anything is possible......hey never know i might wake up tomorrow and be on the first page of Google, Yahoo, and MSN for Myspace layouts


(yup i get sarcastic when I am in a good mood....getting ready to launch my second MSLS site :))

[Benahue]

Just the thought that GA might make a page load slower prevented me from ever trying it.

[minnseoelite]

Its never loaded my pages any slower that must just be for high traffic sites all my small to medium sized sites load the same whether with or without it.