Blogging just to manipulate rankings?
-
Hi,
I have been playing with Open Site Explorer for a while and have been trying to figure out how some of our competitors could rank with "not so great" articles. I don't want to sound harsh here but some of the articles outranking us are nothing but 6 images + 200-225 words from a press release and a Video. How exactly does Google justify this by ranking them higher than a 1500 word unique article that has been written in no less than 7 days?
According to OpenSite Explorer, about the two pages compared, the difference is the number of LINKS. The sad part is, without 1 exception, all their links are coming from blog pages like *.wordpress.com *.typepad.com etc. I would have been just FINE if their links were NATURAL.
You may ask me why I assume those blogs are created by them. Because every single post on those blogs are pointing to their domain... I don't think a normal blogger would keep pointing to the same domain.
So what are we supposed to do here?
-
Wait 3 months so people discover our articles and natural links will come? (It happens sometimes but then it may not...)
-
Do what they do?
Sorry about the ranting but I have one question if you don't want to read the rant. Is blogging to build links, considered black hat or not?
-
-
I agree. It is very hard to find a good writer. If we can't beat them with our content, then it's all fair anyway. At least you understand why you are outranked by them.
Thanks for your answers.
-
Good luck to you.
I think that it is very difficult to find an author who can write highly competitive content - no matter how much you pay them.
If you look at what is already on the web, ranking on the first two pages of google - that is what you need to beat. If the content can not beat that then I don't think that the "publish and forget it" method will work well.
-
Thanks for the answer again.
And it's great to hear it works in long term.
Something to stay positive...
We have a very decent team of writers and we do try to pay them higher than the industry average, as I am a writer myself and I try to make them happy and give them what they deserve. (instead of investing in (or purchasing) low quality links).
best,
-
We have got 1500 words + 15-20 high definition images + videos
Oh... thanks for adding that. It sounds like you deserve to be winning.
The articles that you are producing sound a lot like mine. They usually start out deep in the SERPs but over time they slowly climb the rankings. A year later, maybe two, they are at or near the top of google for their target keywords.
It is really slow progress, but instead of spending time/money on low quality links, I allow things to happen naturally and spend my time on another article.
-
No sir. Not like that
Sorry I forgot to -specifically- mention about our visuals but I was trying to compare the amount of unique text on the page.
We have got 1500 words + 15-20 high definition images + videos
anyway, thanks for the answer
-
hmmm...... you have fifteen hundred words...
They have two hundred words and six nice images and a video?
Imagine the contrast in the first impressions of a visitor...
Six juicy images and a video vs a block or black and white text.
I think just about anybody anywhere would rather watch a video and look at six nice images.
If I was you I would be buying a digital camera.
To be honest, I have the same frustrations as you do. I can't say if their satellite blogs are making an impact. But I think that you can make a better first impression if the visitors to your page see a big nice image above the fold and maybe more of them below. A digital camera will help a lot and if you don't have the topics needed you can license some really nice images from istockphoto for not a lot of money. I usually spend quite a bit of money getting props for images, paying someone for custom graphics. When I add them to an article the visitor stays a lot longer and I assume that it really helps with social sharing.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What a Brand should do first for Their Blog Keyword Research or Topic Research?
Hello Moz Community, Need your help guys. What a Brand should do first for their Blog? Keyword Research or Topic Research? Like for the Brand Product page/ eCom Pages, it's quite easy > 1. Buy "Product" Online
Competitive Research | | Max_
2. Buy "Product" "Geo."
3. Product Reviews [for Guest Posting or Reviews]
4. Best "Product" Online and so But, for the blog, it's tough for searching out the keywords that will work if the SEO team or the keyword research team is not aware or don't have the detailed knowledge about the niche they are working on. Please verify: Is it a correct method that an editor should provide a "topic" to the SEO team to find relevant keywords by using a Keyword Research tool that there are enough searches for it which can provide benefits to the blog via the search engine.0 -
Keyword strategy for wordpress category base blog in competitive industry
Hi friends, We have a client in the movie review blog industry, which we are aware is highly competitive, but we have tons of content (over 10,000 unique posts) and a good team of reviewers for fresh content. I was wondering about any input on keyword variations for our SEO Title of our wordpress main categories, like "Movie Reviews". I was thinking a modification to "Latest Movie Reviews", but the competition is only slightly less, and still seems questionable for attaining eventual rankings. "Best Movie Reviews" is slightly higher than "Latest Movie Reviews" but the competition still seems tough. What would be a good long term strategy with these category pages, any suggestions?
Competitive Research | | JustinMurray0 -
Why is this Page ranking so good?
This page has a high moz domain authority but compared to the other one abouve and bellow ranking for the keyword "audio pc" i dont see the factor why its ranking on #2 in germany in google serp. http://www.musicstore.de/de_DE/EUR/cat-COMPUTER-PCMDESKTOP what would you do if you would be on the places 1 or 2 or 3 bellow?
Competitive Research | | Exscape0 -
Alexa Rank
Ok, I have a pretty good Alexa Ranking of 159K and have been online for less than a year. What my question is why is my Alexa Ranking so much better than all of my competitors who get way more traffic and have been online for years. The only thing that seems to be going slow is my page rank is still barely .98, while competitors are higher although they have lower Alexa Rank. What am I doing right to get good Alexa Rank?? What can I do to rais my PR and Domain Rank? Competitors for example
Competitive Research | | realmccoy1010 -
Can deceptive ads help sites to rank? Pogosticking effect involved...
Hello,
Competitive Research | | fablau
I have a question for you. I have noticed that many music sites that appear in the first top results for keywords our users search for, include all the same ads that deceive people by inviting them to "Download" or get the "Full Album" of what people may be search for. Look at the following websites that are often displayed at the first spots for keywords like "Christmas Sheet Music" (just an example): [....] They all have, most of the times, the same ads. Look at the following screenshots taken from the sites above (the ads are at the top of the page): http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/storage/google/Shot1.jpg
http://www.virtualsheetmusic.com/storage/google/Shot2.jpg Those deceptive ads could engage users more than legitimate websites not showing those ads or not showing ads at all, making Google think that people are more engaged on those website showing those deceptive ads. If it is quality that Google is looking for, shouldn't they do something to avoid having sites ranking well just because of some deceptive ads that take users into action, but without any useful result? I am eager to know your ideas on this issue. Thanks! Fab.0 -
How does my competitor website jump from a natural ranking of 10 to 1 in a matter of days?
OK this has really got me baffled, and I really hope the MOZ community can give me the answers I am seeking.... My statements and queries below are my own opinions and thoughts. I am not an experienced SEOer and I am learning all the time, so if I have written something incorrectly, please feel free to correct me 🙂 I have been told that natural rankings take time, and I have read with the recent algorithm changes from Google, that purchased links do not have an effect like they used to. I have also read somewhere that google has clamped down on bogus article writing (MOZ please clarify) But what I am seeking some clarification on is, how does my competitors website, that has had a natural rank of #1 in the past, suddenly drop off; for a lengthy period of time, then suddenly re-appear at #10 on page #1, then some three/four days later, hit #1? I have read that natural rankings are purely natural. I.e. a domain owner cannot pay google to boost their natural ranking. But is this really true? Why is it when I speak to a close colleague of mine in the same industry, he mentions that his maps listing has dropped off, and after making a couple of phone calls to his SEO guys in India, maybe a day or two later, magically his maps re-appear? I really am starting to question is a "natural ranking" really "natural?" I have heard that some of these SEO agencies do have some tools that dramatically effect the natural ranking of a domain. What are these tools?
Competitive Research | | Giorgio680 -
Competitor's Ranking's Reports are Showing Blank Values for Rankings
When selecting competitors to see how they rank for specific terms in the ranking's report page here, it loads the page normally, but without any actual rankings. Where values should be, it lists all values as our competition not ranking whatsoever (for all competitors). I'm not sure if there is something we're doing wrong, or perhaps we just need to wait for a refresh, but if anybody could help out, that would be wonderful!
Competitive Research | | ACLens0 -
Looking for a recommendation for a site ranking comparison tool.
Hi, It seems that SEOMOZ provides only link ranking comparison with competators. I'm not conviced that this is valuable for my purposes as the comeption often has few links tool, probably the nature of the business.. First, is it worth trying to compare keyword ranking with competators? I think it is, but I'm not that experienced with SEO, especially with Wordpress/Buddpress sites. Second, any recommenations for a tool that will make this easier? Larry
Competitive Research | | tishimself0