{"id":138106,"date":"2022-02-07T19:49:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T00:49:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=138106"},"modified":"2024-02-02T12:38:47","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T17:38:47","slug":"pogo-sticking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/pogo-sticking\/","title":{"rendered":"Pogo-Sticking in SEO: What It Is &amp; What to Do About&nbsp;It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">Pogo-sticking is an SEO term used to describe a situation where a searcher quickly navigates back and forth between pages in search results.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a situation dreaded by some SEOs. They believe this user behavior is tracked by Google and results in websites being penalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But is Google actually penalizing pogo-sticking? And should you really worry about it? In this article, you\u2019ll learn the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#1-pogo-sticking-vs-bounce-rate\">Difference between pogo-sticking and bounce rate<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#2-pogo-sticking-causes\">Causes of pogo-sticking<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#3-is-pogo-sticking-ranking-factor\">Is pogo-sticking a ranking factor?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#4-should-you-worry-about-pogo-sticking\">Should you worry about pogo-sticking?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#5-how-make-content-engaging\">How to make your content more engaging<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Pogo-sticking vs. bounce rate\" data-section=\"1-pogo-sticking-vs-bounce-rate\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pogo-sticking vs. bounce rate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>First, let\u2019s make things a bit clearer and draw the line between pogo-sticking and bounce rate, as people often get them confused:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pogo-sticking, as defined in the intro, is when a user enters a site from a <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/serps\/\">SERP (search engine results page)<\/a>&nbsp;and quickly leaves it to go back to the&nbsp;SERP.<\/li>\n<li>Bounce rate is when a user enters a site from any source and doesn\u2019t perform any action on it (e.g., clicking a link, filling a form, or putting an item in a cart). So if someone opens this article, reads it entirely, and doesn\u2019t do anything else before leaving\u2014that counts as a bounce.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Recommended reading<\/strong>: <em><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/bounce-rate\/\">What Is Bounce Rate? How to Interpret and Work With&nbsp;It<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"What causes pogo-sticking?\" data-section=\"2-pogo-sticking-causes\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What causes pogo-sticking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many possible causes of pogo-sticking. Do note that not all of them are caused by poor content or bad UX (user experience).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Clickbait content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In this scenario, a searcher enters a site that overpromises and underdelivers. In other words, the searcher comes across clickbait content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve all seen such content on the web, and we all instantly regret clicking on them: \u201cYou\u2019ll Never Believe This (\u2026),\u201d \u201cDo This One Thing for 6 Weeks and (\u2026),\u201d \u201cThey Don\u2019t Want You to Know This (\u2026),\u201d and so on. And when we do, we feel tricked, so we \u201cpogo\u201d back to the&nbsp;SERP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To illustrate, let\u2019s assume you want to check what the internet has to say about the opinion that SEO is dead. You come across something like&nbsp;this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/1-click-bait-example-1.png\" alt=\"Google search results for &quot;seo is dead&quot;\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>OK, let\u2019s learn about the \u201cnew SEO\u201d&nbsp;then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2-click-bait-example-2.png\" alt=\"Excerpt of blog article saying &quot;old SEO&quot; doesn't work anymore\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>So SEO seems to be dead. This sounds like big news. And instead of a 10-step course on \u201cold SEO,\u201d this site offers a five-step course on \u201cnew SEO.\u201d But to your surprise, you discover that \u201cold SEO\u201d is not that dead after&nbsp;all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/3-click-bait-example-3.png\" alt=\"Excerpt saying &quot;old SEO&quot; is important but not as much as &quot;new SEO&quot;\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s clickbait\u2014you\u2019d want to leave as soon as possible and never come&nbsp;back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Buried or locked information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, the searcher can\u2019t find what they are looking for even though the information may actually be there. The problem is the information is buried under tons of text, obscured by confusing language, or unavailable to some&nbsp;users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s an example. This screenshot comes from a webpage that was one of the top results for \u201cturbocharger failure symptoms.\u201d We\u2019ve got a wall of text of probably valid information. But there\u2019s no mention of the symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/4-buried-content-example.png\" alt=\"Excerpt of blog article not addressing symptoms\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Well, the symptoms we want to see are actually there but way lower on the page. Before you can get to the symptoms, you are expected to read about how a turbo works and a list of causes of a turbo breakdown. Since there is no immediate solution to the query, the searcher simply goes back to the SERP to try some other&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A similar thing happens when the content is only available to signed-up users or put behind an \u201cemail wall.\u201d The website may be good and offer the information the searcher needs. But since it\u2019s not immediately available, the searcher returns to the&nbsp;SERP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/5-paywall-example.png\" alt=\"Paywall asking user to subscribe for a fee \"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Poor UX<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In this scenario, the searcher gets immediately frustrated (or suspicious) by how the site looks and works, so they return to the safety of the&nbsp;SERP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s see an example. Here, not only does the website load slowly, but we also get a pretty annoying interstitial pop-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/6-poor-ux-example.gif\" alt=\"Website loads slowly and then shows pop-up\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Poor UX can be caused by a number of things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Slow site&nbsp;speed<\/li>\n<li>Annoying ads<\/li>\n<li>Pushy sign-up forms that cover the content<\/li>\n<li>Confusing website layout<\/li>\n<li>Website not optimized for mobile devices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The searcher is just browsing around<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Pogo-sticking may also happen when the searcher is simply browsing around; they may not intend to stay long on one particular page. They could be looking for some inspiration, comparing prices, or trying to recall a site they saw the other&nbsp;day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1063px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/7-browsing-around-example.png\" alt=\"Search results showing list of articles about &quot;best gifts&quot;\" width=\"1053\" height=\"832\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">It is irrational to penalize these sites just because the searcher was quickly looking around for something that could catch their attention.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other reasons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To further illustrate the complexity of scenarios that can lead to pogo-sticking, let\u2019s consider this situation. Let\u2019s say someone told you that you can put WD40 on car door seals in winter to prevent them from freezing. Logically, you\u2019ll want to verify that information. So you Google it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1056px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/8-other-reasons-example.jpg\" alt=\"Google SERP for &quot;does wd40 prevent door seals from freezing&quot;\" width=\"1046\" height=\"1220\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">So\u2026 which website offers the best advice here?<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Just by reading the descriptions under the blue links, you can see the searcher gets different answers. This may \u201ctrigger\u201d pogo-sticking but for different reasons. And sometimes, that could be kind of Google\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If the searcher clicks the first result, they\u2019ll probably bounce back quite fast because that site is about frozen car locks and not seals. They may come back to the SERP, but that definitely isn\u2019t the content\u2019s fault.<\/li>\n<li>How about result #4? It says that you can use WD40 to prevent seals from freezing. However, you shouldn\u2019t do it too often. After seeing this, the searcher may come back to the SERP and try another result to verify that information. Again, this is pogo-sticking, but penalizing anybody here is unfair.<\/li>\n<li>And if the searcher clicks #6 first? Maybe that\u2019s because they first read the snippet in result #5. If they get to number #6, they\u2019ll get the answer quite fast. Don\u2019t put WD40 on car door seals (which is probably the correct answer here). Then, they may return to the SERP to find another site with this kind of information to double-check, or they may perform a new search.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Is pogo-sticking a ranking factor?\" data-section=\"3-is-pogo-sticking-ranking-factor\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is pogo-sticking a ranking factor?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Now for the big question: Is pogo-sticking a ranking factor? Tl;dr: Pogo-sticking is almost certainly <strong>not<\/strong>&nbsp;a ranking factor. A few years back, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/google-does-not-use-pogo-sticking-as-a-ranking-factor\/261629\/#close\">John Mueller confirmed that<\/a>&nbsp;in a Google Webmaster Central hangout, saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"small\"><div class=\"quote-content\">\n<p><em>We try not to use <\/em><em>signals like that when it comes to search. So that\u2019s something where there are lots of reasons why users might go back and forth, or look at different things in the search results, or stay just briefly on a page and move back again. I think that\u2019s really hard to refine and say \u2018well, we could turn this into a ranking factor.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>So I would not worry about things like that. When we look at our algorithms overall, when we review which algorithm changes that we want to launch, we do look into how users react to these changes. But that\u2019s something we look at across millions of different queries, and millions of different pages, and kind of see in general is this algorithm going the right way or is this algorithm going in the right&nbsp;way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>But for individual pages, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s something worth focusing on at&nbsp;all.<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Should you worry about pogo-sticking?\" data-section=\"4-should-you-worry-about-pogo-sticking\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Should you worry about pogo-sticking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>From an SEO perspective: not necessarily. Since there can be many reasons why searchers may jump between sites, Google almost certainly doesn\u2019t treat pogo-sticking as a ranking factor. So don\u2019t worry about it specifically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From a business perspective: It may be something to look into. Ranking factors or not, you probably want your readers to stick around longer than a few seconds and engage with what you&nbsp;offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to make content more engaging\" data-section=\"5-how-make-content-engaging\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to make content more engaging<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are a few tips that can help you help your readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fix site UX. Also on mobile<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Not every website has to participate in design contests. If you want to provide the best experience for the reader, just keep things simple with minimum distraction. Everything that is not the content the searcher is looking for should support the reading experience. In practice, this means it should stay out of the&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A direct way to improve your site\u2019s UX is to fix the UI (user interface). Here are some&nbsp;ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Get rid of pop-ups <\/strong><em>\u2013<\/em>&nbsp;These include sign-up forms, exit forms, etc. Do the same for any banners that shift the layout.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make sure your website\u2019s layout is clear, consistent, and usable<\/strong>&nbsp;\u2013&nbsp;This is&nbsp;especially true for your website\u2019s navigation. Having a beautifully designed site is great. But it\u2019s more important not to overload the user\u2019s cognitive capacity with elements that don\u2019t serve any practical purpose.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Optimize your website for mobile devices <\/strong>\u2013&nbsp;Website traffic coming from mobile devices accounts for a bit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/277125\/share-of-website-traffic-coming-from-mobile-devices\/\">more than 50%<\/a>. On top of that, Google indexes and ranks content based on mobile versions of the websites (<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/mobile-first-indexing\/\">mobile-first indexing<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keep your site&nbsp;fast<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Obviously, nobody likes to wait for a site to load. But more importantly, some people will just leave if loading takes too long or if your site is slow in general. Some people will likely avoid slow pages if there are competitors that provide content faster. And in this competition, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thinkwithgoogle.com\/marketing-strategies\/app-and-mobile\/mobile-page-speed-new-industry-benchmarks\/\">every second matters<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, if you want your content to rank high in SERPs, you need to provide users content as fast as possible. That\u2019s because one of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ranking-factors\/\">Google\u2019s ranking factors<\/a>&nbsp;is site&nbsp;speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can check the loading time for any webpage using services like <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/pagespeed-insights\/\">PageSpeed Insights<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/9-page-speed-insights.png\" alt=\"PageSpeed results of bbc.com\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>For checking multiple webpages at scale (even for third-party websites), you can use Ahrefs\u2019<a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">&nbsp;Site Audit<\/a>. Apart from showing metrics like Time to First Byte, it also supports <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/core-web-vitals\/\">Core Web Vitals<\/a>&nbsp;(through Google\u2019s PageSpeed Insights API).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1602px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/10-site-audit-performance-metrics.png\" alt=\"Four pie charts showing respective metrics: time to first byte distribution, load time distribution, file size distribution, and content encoding distribution \" width=\"1592\" height=\"1153\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The numbers in blue indicate the pages that fall into the categories shown in the reports. Clicking those numbers will direct you to a report showing those pages with additional data.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/speed-up-wordpress\/\">How to Speed Up Your WordPress Website in 20 Minutes<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/core-web-vitals\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/advanced-pagespeed-guide\/\">How to Improve Page Speed From Start to Finish (Advanced Guide)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Use the inverted pyramid method<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The inverted pyramid is a tried and tested journalistic method that puts the \u201cneed to know\u201d before the \u201cnice to know.\u201d Following this rule will help your readers find information quicker. It will certainly help the website about turbocharger failure symptoms, which we discussed earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/11-inverted-pyramid-method.png\" alt=\"Inverted pyramid. &quot;Need to know&quot; at top, then &quot;nice to know&quot; at bottom\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>For example, if you\u2019re targeting a keyword where searchers are primarily looking for a definition, you\u2019ll probably want to lead with&nbsp;that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s what we did for our article on search visibility.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/12-article-leading-with-definition.png\" alt=\"Excerpt of blog article providing definition of search visibility in first paragraph\"><\/figure>\n<p>This is because it is clear from the SERP that most searchers want a definition:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/13-search-intent-in-serp.jpg\" alt=\"Google SERP showing all top-ranking articles focus on defining search visibility \"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Use clear formatting and visual elements<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Nobody likes a wall of text, especially online where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nngroup.com\/articles\/how-people-read-online\/\">most people skim content<\/a>. Use these best practices to make your content easier to digest:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Keep within <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2014\/09\/balancing-line-length-font-size-responsive-web-design\/\">85 characters per&nbsp;line<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Limit paragraphs to three to four sentences<\/li>\n<li>Use lists and bullet points to break up blocks of&nbsp;text<\/li>\n<li>Use a legible font<\/li>\n<li>Use a font color that contrasts with the background<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You should also consider using visual elements to break up text where relevant, especially in educational content. In fact, one <a href=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/BF02765184\">study<\/a>&nbsp;found that people following directions with text and illustrations do 323% better than people following directions without illustrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To illustrate: Which version of the below article is more likely to get the reader\u2019s attention? The one with the graph or the one without?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-138094\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/14-text-only-vs-text-and-graph.jpg\" alt=\"Two articles side by side. One with only text. The other with text and graph\" width=\"1382\" height=\"762\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/14-text-only-vs-text-and-graph.jpg 1382w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/14-text-only-vs-text-and-graph-680x375.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/14-text-only-vs-text-and-graph-768x423.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1382px) 100vw, 1382px\"><\/p>\n<p>Below is another great example of how to captivate the reader\u2019s attention with visuals while making the content easy to skim and comprehend. Notice how the form of this article follows its function: telling the difference between the flu and COVID-19.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-138108\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/15-good-visuals-and-content-example.gif\" alt=\"Article with captivating visuals and easy to read content\" width=\"440\" height=\"480\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Use relevant internal links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Some search queries are meant to solve a single problem fast. Others are the beginning of a learning journey about a complex topic. And usually, one single piece of content can\u2019t possibly cover such a topic. For these kinds of queries, you can create a whole series of content and interlink it to guide the user in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, this guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-for-startups\/\">SEO for startups<\/a>&nbsp;is over 4,500 words long. But even though this is a rather lengthy content format, we can\u2019t possibly explain everything there is to know about the topic. However, we can link to articles that explain certain problems of SEO in detail, such as keyword research or technical SEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can automate the process of finding internal linking opportunities to a large extent for free using <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>. Just sign up, crawl your site with <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>, and go to the <strong>Internal link opportunities<\/strong>&nbsp;report. This will show you relevant internal linking opportunities across your&nbsp;site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, you can see in the screenshot below there\u2019s an opportunity to link the words \u201ckeyword research\u201d in our post about the best rank trackers to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/free-keyword-research-tools\/\">our post on free keyword research tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/16-site-audit-internal-links.png\" alt=\"Internal link opportunities report results \"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-hub\/\">Content Hubs for SEO: How to Get More Traffic and Links With Topic Clusters<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Demonstrate E-A-T<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>E\u2011A-T stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It comes from Google\u2019s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, a document used by human quality raters to assess the quality of Google\u2019s search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>E-A-T&nbsp;is a concept from the SEO world. But demonstrating expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness is always a good idea when it comes to content. It\u2019s a signal to the user that your content is worth reading (or watching). It\u2019s even more important if your content revolves around YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics, such as money, health, and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But what does it mean to demonstrate E-A-T exactly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Expertise<\/strong>&nbsp;means having a high level of knowledge or skill in a particular field. In other words, it refers to content created by a subject matter expert. If you want to demonstrate that,<strong>&nbsp;have experts create your content<\/strong>. You can&nbsp;hire them or accept guest posts from people who know their&nbsp;stuff.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Authoritativeness<\/strong>&nbsp;is about reputation, particularly among other experts and influencers in the industry. There\u2019s no other way to do this than <strong>to show your credentials<\/strong>. Think professional experience, academic credentials, speaking at well-known conferences, etc.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trustworthiness<\/strong>&nbsp;is about the legitimacy, transparency, and accuracy of the website and its content. Simply put, you should check your facts and keep your content up to&nbsp;date.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To illustrate my point, which of these pages is a better source of information for the query, \u201cWhat to do when your stomach hurts?\u201d The top one or the one&nbsp;below?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/17-e-a-t-demonstatrion-1.png\" alt=\"Excerpt of article with TOC that guides users to the answer\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/18-e-a-t-demonstration-2.jpg\" alt=\"Excerpt of article with no clear answer\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>There are a few more things you can do to demonstrate E-A-T that are more about SEO than good content creation practices. If you want to learn more, check out our article on <a href=\"\/blog\/eeat-seo\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/eat-seo\/\">E-A-T and why it\u2019s important for SEO<\/a>. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keep content up to&nbsp;date<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Freshness is more important for some queries than others. After all, who wants 2011\u2019s best headphones when they can have this year\u2019s best?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/19-freshness-angle-serp.jpg\" alt=\"Google SERP showing best headphones in 2021 or 2022\" width=\"1014\" height=\"1164\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A snapshot of the query \u201cbest headphones.\u201d Note the year in most of the titles.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Updating your content every year (or more often) to serve fresh content is a good idea if that\u2019s what your readers expect. This tactic is something that you can repeat each year, just like what Digital Trends magazine does:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"width: 1320px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/20-article-regularly-updated.png\" alt=\"Digital Trends' headphones article. Data in top-right corner shows article has been updated since 2016\" width=\"1310\" height=\"393\"><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Digital Trends has regularly updated the headphones ranking every year since&nbsp;2016.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>At Ahrefs, we update content regularly too. Just look at the organic traffic spikes after we repeatedly refreshed one of our blog&nbsp;posts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"is-style-default aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/21-content-update-results.png\" alt=\"Line graph showing spikes after blog post was updated\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/republishing-content\/\">Republishing Content: How to Update Old Blog Posts for&nbsp;SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t worry about pogo-sticking for SEO reasons. According to John, the so-called pogo-sticking is not a ranking factor. His statement makes total sense when you consider the possible reasons for searchers to jump back and forth between SERPs and websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you really want your users to stick around longer on your website, try one of the tips listed above to make your content more engaging. Some of those tips may even help you rank higher in the&nbsp;SERPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got questions? Ping me <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/m_makosiewicz\">on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s a situation dreaded by some SEOs. They believe this user behavior is tracked by Google and results in websites being penalized. But is Google actually penalizing pogo-sticking? And should you really worry about it? In this article, you\u2019ll learn<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":138109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335],"tags":[],"coauthors":[412],"class_list":["post-138106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pogo-Sticking in SEO: What It Is &amp; What to Do About It<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pogo-sticking is when a searcher quickly navigates back and forth between pages in search results. So is this something to worry about? 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