Why is my Google ranking position going down while impressions increase?
I'm trying to understand something I keep seeing in Google Search Console.
My impressions have been going up almost every day, but my average position has been getting worse. A few weeks ago I was around position 12–15. Now I'm seeing something closer to 20.
At first I thought Google was simply pushing my pages down, but then I noticed that my impressions were actually increasing quite a lot at the same time. So I'm confused.
If I'm ranking worse, why is Google showing my pages more often?
The only explanation I can think of is that I'm starting to appear for more keywords where I'm ranking much lower, which is pulling the average position down.
For example, maybe I used to get most of my impressions from a handful of keywords around position 10, and now I'm appearing for hundreds of additional searches around positions 30–60.
That would technically make the average position worse while the site's overall search visibility is improving.
But I'm not sure if that's actually how Search Console calculates it. Has anyone here watched this happen with a relatively new website? Did your average position fall while impressions increased, and did the position eventually recover as Google gathered more data and your pages moved higher?
I'm trying to figure out whether this is normal growth or something I should actually investigate.
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I went through the exact same panic with one of my sites lol. Your theory is actually right, when Google starts showing you for way more searches (even random long tail ones you're not optimized for) it pulls your average down because now you've got a ton of queries sitting at position 40+ instead of just your solid position 10 ones. It looks scary on the graph but it's honestly a sign the site is gaining traction. Mine did this for almost 6 weeks before things started climbing back up. Just don't obsess over the average, look at your actual target keywords individually.
Yeah this happened to me too. New pages start ranking for tons of long tail stuff around position 40-60 before they settle, which drags your average down even though visibility is actually growing. Give it 4-6 weeks, it usually corrects itself once Google figures out where your pages belong.
Hey Floris! Yes, maybe you've changed your website or published some new content and you're now appearing for a broader set of keywords. It might also be worth checking whether search volumes for your keywords have increased. This wouldn't necessarily change your ranking but it would increase your impressions.