Stagnant Rankings? Why It Might be a Good Sign

Why Are My Google Search Console Impressions Rising But My Rankings Are Not?

Rising impressions with flat or declining average rankings in Google Search Console is not a warning sign. It is evidence that an SEO strategy is working. Most website owners assume something is wrong when they see this pattern. The opposite is usually true.

Google Search Console displays two key metrics in the performance chart: impressions and average ranking. Impressions measure how often a website appears in search results. Average ranking measures the mean position across every keyword the site currently ranks for. When these two lines move in opposite directions, there is a straightforward explanation.

Why Does Average Ranking Drop When Impressions Increase?

Average ranking is a mean calculated across every keyword a site ranks for. When new keywords begin ranking, they typically enter the index at low positions, such as position 70, 80, or 90. Adding those lower-ranked keywords to the calculation pulls the average down, even when existing keywords are holding their positions or improving.

Impressions going up means Google is choosing to display a website more often across more search queries. That is the signal that matters. Average ranking going down at the same time is a natural side effect of growth, not a sign that something has gone wrong.

Is Average Ranking a Useful Metric to Track?

Average ranking across all keywords is a misleading metric for evaluating overall SEO progress. It produces false signals in both directions:

• Impressions spike and average ranking drops: looks like a problem, but it means new keywords are entering the index at lower positions
• Average ranking jumps up: looks like improvement, but it may mean low-performing keywords dropped out of the top 100 and stopped counting toward the average
  
  

The only reliable use for average ranking is tracking the performance of a single keyword or a small group of related keyword variations over time. For any broader view of SEO progress, impressions are the more meaningful number to watch.

If impressions are trending upward consistently, traffic and leads will follow.

Are Keywords Still Important for Blog Posts?

Keywords matter for blog posts, but the common interpretation of that advice leads most website owners in the wrong direction. The misconception works like this: if a photographer's main service keyword is "children's photography," the assumption is that writing blog posts about children's photography will help that page rank. That approach creates a problem called keyword cannibalization.

What Is Keyword Cannibalization?

Keyword cannibalization happens when multiple pages on the same website target the same keyword. Google cannot determine which page to rank for that search term, so it rotates between them, ranking one page one week and a different page the next. None of the pages reach page one because they are competing against each other instead of building cumulative authority on a single page.

The confusing part is that Google Search Console can make cannibalization look like progress at first. A new blog post targeting the main service keyword might appear to rank, which feels like confirmation that the approach is working. Over time, the rotation effect reveals the problem.

What Keyword Strategy Actually Works for Blog Posts?

Each blog post should target a keyword that belongs to the specific topic of that post, not the primary service keyword of the website. A blog post answers a question or provides a resource on a focused subject. The keyword for that post is the phrase someone would type into Google to find that answer.

This approach keeps each page on a site targeting a distinct keyword, which builds authority across a broader range of search terms without creating internal competition between pages.

The short version: blogs need keywords, but the keyword for a blog post is never the same as the keyword for the service page it lives alongside.