If I sign out of personalized search and still see results on Google, are those accurate?
Question: -
Q: One other question - when you sign out and use the Google search - my sites still appear in the SERPs - does this mean it is still including my personalized history?
Answer: -
Personalized search results are a big problem as you work on your SEO. Google is constantly snooping into your search patterns and results, and trying to 'improve' those results. The problem is if you search for your keywords over and over and over again, you can start to see Google search results that are RADICALLY different than those that your customers will see.
Here are some tips. First and foremost, ALWAYS sign out of your Google accounts when searching / testing for SEO. You do this on the TOP RIGHT of the screen on Google.com and make sure that it says 'SIGN IN' (which means you are 'SIGNED OUT'). If you see your name / gmail account, you are SIGNED IN, which means Google is personalizing your results.
Second, clear your COOKIES. When you search Google puts a Cookie on your system, and this - too - will start to change your search results. In Firefox you do this by going to TOOLS, CLEAR RECENT HISTORY. In Internet Explorer, TOOLS, INTERNET OPTIONS, DELETE browsing history.
Third, use the FREE TOOLS like Rank Checker and other rank tools which are in the class free tools workbook to check your rank. Rank Checker allows you to exclude personalized search results.
The bottom line: you are looking to get the VIRGIN search results and you have to fight Google, which is constantly trying to personalize your results.
Hope this helps!
- Jason McDonald - info@jm-seo.org
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