A little while ago, I embarked on an SEO project for an international client who wanted to rank for a specific keyword in their niche. Like any SEO specialist, I dove into research, gathering relevant data and creating a targeted SEO strategy. After identifying the best approach, I implemented changes to the website, including content updates and improvements to the metadata, with one major goal in mind: to drive rankings for that primary keyword.
Here’s where the discovery begins. After implementing the changes, I started noticing significant results. The website quickly began gaining impressions and clicks for the target keyword within the first 3 – 4 weeks. Excited by the progress, I tracked and monitored the performance using SEO tools such as Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and Semrush. In addition to these, I also used an advanced (and admittedly secret) method, which I will reveal soon.
But first, let’s get to the core of the story.
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In the first month, I saw fluctuations in ranking positions, something all SEO professionals know too well. The page danced between the 3rd and 5th SERP positions in our target country. However, within 4-7 weeks, the page finally secured a spot in the top 10.
Things were looking good. The strategy I implemented was yielding results, and it seemed we were on our way to dominating the first page. But who knows that something that no one wants to face in the world of SEO is waiting.
Out of nowhere, a nightmare struck. Despite our initial success, the website’s ranking drowned. The organic keyword ranking dropped from the first page to the bottom of the 3rd page, specifically position 28. I couldn’t believe it. All the effort, time, and resources poured into the campaign seemed to have been wasted. For any SEO professional, or business owner for that matter, this kind of sudden ranking drop is an absolute horror.
Naturally, I thought the worst. My immediate assumption was that the site had been penalized for some unethical or black-hat SEO practice, or perhaps a technical issue had gone unnoticed. I meticulously went through every single step I had taken, reviewing everything I had done in the past few weeks.
But there was no penalty. No algorithm update. No technical issues. It wasn’t long before I uncovered the reason for the rankings drop — and it was so small, that most SEO professionals wouldn’t even consider it.
The culprit? Metadata. Specifically, I had changed the meta title and meta description by replacing the primary keyword with a broader, less focused one. And that, in my experience, was the turning point that caused the rankings to plummet.
Before changing the metadata the webpage was ranked in the 7th- 9th position with the average rank of 8th over a month period in SERP in the targeted country. I used multiple tools to analyze the SERP including SEMrush, Ahrefs, along with few other useful SEO extensions. Almost about 20 to 25 days after changing the metadata of that page I noticed that the page is now de-ranked to the end of the third page in Search Results.
What most SEO professionals (and even some industry experts) may overlook is the importance of metadata, including meta titles, meta descriptions, and meta tags. While many believe that metadata is not a major ranking signal, my experience in this situation proves otherwise.
After investing almost 100+ hours in thorough research over the past few weeks, I have extensively absorbed every latest article, webinar, and SEO trends video in the SEO niche from top industry experts like Moz, Search Engine Journal, Google Search Central blog, Backlinko, Neil Patel, and Gotch SEO. Unfortunately, I have not uncovered any clues related to my discovery.
That’s why I believe my discovery is useful for new SEOs and also for the industry experts as well so that they can share their findings and insights that will help the entire SEO industry.
In this case, metadata played a critical role in determining the ranking. And you will also came to know at the bottom about what it cost me to discover the new ranking signal i.e Meta Data.
This experience has led me to believe that Google is using metadata more heavily in its ranking signals than previously thought. I’m now testing this theory on a larger scale with a new site and am documenting every detail of my findings. I plan to release more information soon, but for now, I am confident in sharing that metadata — when optimized effectively — can have a direct impact on a site’s ranking.
In early 2024, I stumbled upon this discovery that metadata, often overlooked or considered a minor factor, can be a critical ranking signal for SEO. Whether you’re optimizing your meta title, meta description, or meta tags, don’t take this lightly.
The cost of this discovery for me is very high as it drowned an awesome relation with one of my repeat client and all the credibility & trust which took me around 7 months to build was ruined just in the matter of few days. So, to avoid such type of incident I recommend focusing on the meta title, description & tags especially when your competition has a good SEO Strategy in place.
Now, I’m curious about your experience. Have you seen similar results with metadata influencing your rankings? I encourage you to share your insights or findings, whether they support my discovery or contradict it your insight’s or opinions are valuable to me. The SEO world is constantly evolving, and learning from each other’s experiences is the only way we grow as professionals.
Please, if you’re sharing your experience, base it on real-life results and avoid AI-generated content disguised as expert opinions. Let’s keep this discussion genuine, transparent, and informative!
Thank you for taking the time to read about my discovery, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
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