What Is Pogo Sticking?

Date First Published: 15th October 2022

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: SEO

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 6/10

Learn more about what pogo sticking is in this article.

Pogo sticking is the act of clicking on multiple search results in the search engine results page and switching back and forth, indicating that searchers did not find what they were looking for. An example of pogo sticking would be a searcher searching for 'wysiwyg editors' on Google and they click on the first result. However, the first result does not have what they were looking for. They then click on the second result, but that page was slow. Finally, they leave the second website and click on the third result, which contains what they were looking for. This back-and-forth movement between different search results is known as pogo sticking.

Causes Of Pogo Sticking

Pogo sticking can be caused by:

• Visitors not finding what they're looking for - If visitors searched on Google for instructions on how to set up a network and the page they landed on contained no instructions in relation to that, it is very likely that they will return to the search results and find another page. This is usually caused by a misleading title tag and description.
• Slow page loading times - If a page takes longer to load than expected, visitors might get bored of waiting and decide to find another result.
• Technical issues - If visitors experience a technical issue, such as JavaScript or PHP code not working properly, or a plugin malfunctioning, visitors may leave the website.
• Too many distracting elements, such as popups and flashy animations that irritate users.
• An insecure website that does not have a valid SSL certificate. Browsers will often display warning pages when the SSL certificate is not trusted or has expired. If that happens, visitors may be wary of the website and decide to find another search result.

Difference Between Pogo Sticking and Bounce Rate

Pogo sticking and bounce rate are not the same things. Bounce rate is a measure of the percentage of visitors that leave after only visiting one page. For example, if a visitor clicked through a page on the search results and left without visiting any other pages, that would be considered a bounce. If a user was constantly switching back and forth between different search results, they would be considered bounces on the websites that they have left and it would also be pogo sticking. A high bounce rate does not always indicate a low-quality page as visitors may have found what they were looking for, but just not explored any other pages. But, a lot of pogo sticking is a sign that there is something wrong.

Is Pogo Sticking A Ranking Factor For Search Engines?

No, pogo sticking is not a ranking factor for search engines, such as Google. John Mueller from Google mentioned that Google tries not to use signals like that when it comes to search. He explained that there might be a lot of reasons why searchers can go back and forth between different pages and websites or look at different things in the search results or stay for a short period of time on one page and move back again. Pogo sticking is also prone to fluctuations at any time and easy to manipulate. We urge you to be wary of any studies that link pogo sticking with search engine rankings or say that pogo sticking will cause Google or other search engines to move a search result down.

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