Another how the *%#^ is this site ranking question
-
I saw a question posted by someone a while back asking how a certain (in their opinion crappy) site was ranking in the top then.
It happened that there were some good reasons for that site ranking.
Well.... I have stumbled on a site that seems to be ranking for (almost) no reason at all:
-
relatively low DA/PA
-
very few inbound links (none seem to be that special)
-
thin content
The only thing I can think of, is that the site has the keyword in the domain name. But looking at the search results, there are other domains with exact match keyword in URL and somewhat stronger metrics that don't rank.
-
-
I am sure those reasons are part of the answer.
When ran the site through OSE, I saw 18 inbound links. That is fewer links than other sites ranking in the top 10. So, I thought maybe the site has a high domain authority. That was not the case either.
I think I figured out the reason (in addition to what you listed):
-
They have a lot of unique content on their pages. Even product pages.
-
When I run a backlink analysis on Majestic, the number of links are much higher.
Mystery solved!
-
-
This site does not look that bad to me, why should it not rank?
a) pr3 homepage
b) a large amount of pages indexed with unique anchor texts and title tags
c) good breadcrumbs and decent url structure
d) no obvious keyword stuffing
-
What's the URL?
-
Probably because google has killed all their competition and they are the last ones standing.
-
Interesting. I guess you are right. There are only two domains in top 10 with those two keywords in the domain name. I don't think Exact Match is a huge factor anymore but that's the only explanation in this case.
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
-
Why my website's Alexa rank is dropping
My website Alexa rank has dramatically dropped in the past 3 months: Website: www.sastasundar.com End of July, 2012: 5217 Global, 265 Local(India) But Now: ** 29260** Global, 2274 Local(India) Definitely something big has affected my global ranking and I'm not able to figure it out. Please help.
Competitive Research | | foreseegame0 -
Moz Rank /Moz Trust Tips and Tricks
I've been working on the following website (www.pleasantparkkennels.com) for about 2 years now for SEO and been able to place the site for many keywords. At times some competitors seem to come into the mix and 'just get lucky' in their rankings regardless of all the work I've done ... it seems they've implemented no SEO strategies whatsoever and yet them sometimes rank better. Upon comparing link metrics with these competitors, I seem to be doing well in most criteria but Moz Rank and Moz Trust always seems to be a category I fall short in.
Competitive Research | | MainstreamMktg
Does anyone have any resources / tips and tricks / checklists that I might be able review to assess my website for to see how I make it better. I'm running out of ideas 🙂 Thank you!0 -
Best way to find the highest ranking pages for a message board?
What is the best tool or method to find the highest ranking posts and content on a message board or forum? What is the best tool or method for finding the highest ranking keywords for a message board or forum?
Competitive Research | | Hondaspeder0 -
Why do some sites perform great but show no data on the tool bar?
Hey everyone, Been a paid member for 3 days and this is my first time posting 🙂 I have a quick question about competitive analysis with the MozBar. I do not want to point out the exact website (unless that is something cool to do on this forum), but there is a site ranking for a single keyword in the local 7 pack in slot one, which is also slot one for the SERP entirely. When I go to look at the page in more detail, the MozBar is showing no DA, PA, anything at all, and the Open Site Explorer is showing no links internal or external. I know that the page has to have at least some of these elements populated in order to be ranking for a term this competitive, so why is the bar not showing anything? The bar works GREAT on other sites below this one. Thanks for any help!
Competitive Research | | tonyflorespsa0 -
Confused about sites ranking when compared to each other
I'm looking at the keyword "snow guards" for two competitor websites: snogem dot com (SG) snoshield dot com (SS) I've been watching these two for about 4 months. SG stays in the top 5 SERPs consistently, while SS bounces around from 15-20 on Google. I've looked at the competitive link comparison and SS appears to have a much better link profile when it comes to DA. Page specific metrics in OSE show SS with a higher mozrank, moztrust, internal followed links, linking root domains, total linking root domains, and linking C Blocks. It appears to me that SG has many more links, but their links seem to be many site wide exact match keyword links, and paid for advertisements on a major site in the metal roofing industry. Honestly the linking profile of SG surprises me that they rank so much higher than SS after the Panda/Penguin updates. I have two questions: 1. When competing against these sites, should I model SG's link profile? I'm nervous to because of my previous statement thinking they will get hit with Panda/Penguin like updates. 2. What would it take to bounce SS to competing with SG on the first page? Is the number of links the only thing this site is missing, or is there something else to focus on.
Competitive Research | | kadesmith0 -
Question About Keyword Difficulty Report
If I am trying to assess the difficulty of ranking for a longtail keyword phrase that is 3 or more words long, should I put that phrase in quotes when I enter into the Keyword Analysis Tool or not? For example, let's say I want to see how hard it would be to rank for the phrase "best educational resources for teachers". Should I enter into the keywords analysis tool as "best educational resources for teachers" or just as best educational resources for teachers? Which one would give me the most accurate difficulty assessment for that phrase?
Competitive Research | | AndyHawkins0 -
Competitor Keyword Rankings
Is there a way within SEOMoz to uncover the keywords your competitors rank for and their respective SERPs? Thx
Competitive Research | | qiherbs.com1 -
How a site only with Frame can be at #1 google in a competitive keyword?
Guys, I need help. I have a company in Brasil and due to lack of budget, I'm doing the SEO for my self. And for two years Im reading everything that I can to do my best in my website. I worked very hard, but the #1 in the most important keyword for my company is a very bad website only with frames. What they are doing? Could anyone give help? Keyword: "acampamento"
Competitive Research | | Naghirniac
Google Brazil (www.google.com.br)
#1 website: www.acampar.net My website: www.acampamentoaguiasdaserra.com.br Thank you in advance Miguel0