Reverse search engine optimization – unranking for keyword or keyword phrases you work well for. Why in the world would you want to rank less in the search engines? Well, people have their reasons. We actually covered this topic twice in the six plus years of writing about SEO topics:
Ranking Well But Not Too Well in Search EnginesI Rank Too High on Google! Is Something Wrong?
A recent Google Webmasters Help thread has a question from an SEO blogger named Gab Goldenberg of SEO ROI. He said he ranks too well for [advertising presentation] in Google and wants to not rank as well.
Why does he want to rank lower? He feels that his page that ranks well for advertising presentation is not what people are really looking for. This leads to those readers being dissatisfied with what they see and also leads to a high bounce rate. Some believe bounce rates influence rankings of the entire site, so it might be detrimental the rest of the site to have a high bounce rate on a specific page (I don’t believe that). But the main reason Gab wants to rank lower is because he only wants happy readers.
Googler, JohnMu, offered advice on how to rank lower in Google. John said:
Simply, complete unoptimize that page. Or try to target the page towards a more relevant keyword phrase.
Forum discussion at Google Webmasters Help.
