How long until listing changes show in the otto.de ranking? A measurement protocol

Why there is no general answer

Between your change and a new position lie several steps you cannot see from outside: the change is transmitted, checked, shown on the product page and at some point taken into account by the search. On top of that, positions on otto.de move between two checks anyway, even without any change.

Anyone who gives you a fixed number of days is guessing. What you can get instead is a reliable working value for your products and categories, measured with a fixed procedure.

Step 1: record the baseline

Before the change, check the product two or three times on different days for its most important keywords. A single measurement is not enough, because you might take a random fluctuation for the normal state. Note the organic position, overall position and page.

At the same time, pick two or three control products: similar products from the same category that you will not touch for the next two weeks. They show how much the search results move without your doing anything.

Step 2: change one thing and note the time

Change exactly one element: the title, an attribute, the first image or the price. Note the date and time of the change in OTTO Partner Connect or your integration. If you change title, images and price at once, you cannot tell afterwards what worked. Advice on the title change itself is in optimising product titles for otto.de.

Step 3: record two moments separately

There are two different moments that are often confused:

1. The change is visible on the product page. Open the product page on otto.de daily and check whether the new title or image appears. Note the first day it does.
2. The position moves. You only see this in rank tracking, and the change can only take effect from moment 1 onwards.

The time between the change and moment 1 is processing. The time between moment 1 and moment 2 is the actual response of the search. Measuring both separately makes your results comparable.

Step 4: check daily for two weeks and keep a log

Set the product and the control products to daily checks for two weeks. How often to check otherwise is covered in how often should you check your rankings?. A simple log per test is enough:

• product, keywords, what was changed, date and time of the change
• baseline (mean of the two or three checks before)
• day the change was visible on the product page
• daily positions of the test product and the control products
• day from which the position stays away from the baseline, or "no effect"

Judge only after two weeks: did the test product move clearly differently from the control products? After a few tests you will see how long changes typically take in your categories. The general approach is also described in measuring rankings after listing changes.

Typical mistakes

• Changing several things at once: the effect can no longer be attributed to one element.
• Judging after one check: a jump the day after the change can be a normal fluctuation, see ranking fluctuations on otto.de.
• No control products: if everything in the category rises, your product rising is no proof that the change worked.
• Not separating ads: judge the organic position. The overall position also shifts because of Sponsored Product Ads mixed into the results.
• Overlooking seasons and promotions: avoid measuring in a week with discount promotions or a strong seasonal shift where you can.

Frequently asked questions