Go Incognito Mode: Is Your Browser Lying To You?

This is going to be a short one today, but a very important one. Oftentimes we reach out to prospects regarding our SEO services, and they come back to us saying they’re already ranking well on Google. But did you know that Google uses tracking to analyze some of your most visited sites to recommend them to you first? Google uses websites you visit, sites you’ve logged into, social media pages you’ve interacted with, and other things through those little mysterious cookies, you have to agree to let a site use all the time.

Chances are that you visit your website quite often to check on how it looks, how everything is working, or maybe just to marvel at it. Google knows this, so when you type in a branded keyword or something closely related to what you offer, you’re probably ranking fairly well. If you have any, this can give you a false sense of security regarding your search engine optimization strategies. People often feel so secure by this that they do nothing to help improve their rankings.

But what does the rest of the world see when they search on Google? How would you be able even to know this if you’ve been fed this lie for so long?! Luckily we have the solution.

According to an article by Oberlo, Google Chrome is used by over 65% of people on the internet. If you aren’t using it yourself, we would highly recommend it for a number of reasons, but specifically its Incognito Tabs. Google does not sponsor us, this is just from one marketer to another business owner.

“What is an Incognito Tab” you may be asking. Google’s Incognito Tabs are fresh browser tabs that are not logged into any accounts and are free of any prior website tracking that may influence your search results. It lets you see search results in their most raw state through private browsing. Anytime you’re trying to check on your rankings, you should be in an incognito tab.

You can open an Incognito Tab by clicking the three dots in the top right-hand corner of your browser window, and it should be somewhere around the third option to open an Incognito window. These windows don’t keep browser history or track cookies, so you can see things the way the rest of the world sees them. This should give you a clearer understanding of the current state of your website and should help inform your decision on what needs to be done with your SEO strategies.

If you need help with your SEO, book a call with us TODAY, and we’ll get you on the right track!