How is it possible to rank first for a keyword, when the keyword isn't written on the page?
-
I noticed that one of our competitors is ranking in first position for a keyword but when looking on the page grader. The exact keyword is not used on the page at all (or in title, URL etc.). How is this possible, when other sites have content with those exact words?
-
They probably use it in their Meta Title and have enough LSI keywords or related keywords that Google clearly correlates them with the keyword you are searching for. Also, I bet they have a good amount of quality inbound links and possibly some internal or external ones pointing to the ranking page that have part of or all of the keywords in them.
I would try and evaluate why Google thinks this is the best result in terms of quality and content depth, not simply if they have the exact keyword in the page copy or not.
-
Popularity and off-site factors, e.g: backlinks which have a high degree of association with the key term. What other people think about you online (and how they reference you) often matters more than how you shout about yourself (through your own content, which is biased)
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
-
SEO question for page keyword focus - how to make it sound natural
So i have a page that sells say hockey sticks and the website is based in Canada. My keyword focus for the page would be hockey sticks Canada. It seems to be proper to have this key phrase within the page text and also at the beginning of the first paragraph. But how do i write a first paragraph with this keyphrase and make it sound natural. My first instinct is to write the paragraph like so Hockey sticks Canada - We provide excellent quality hockey sticks nationwide which come with a 1 year warranty and have exceptional build quality and exceed performance expectations. But it just doesnt sound natural. If i put it as follows Hockey sticks in Canada are well known for their quality and craftmanship. We provide excellent quality hockey sticks nationwide which come with a 1 year warranty and have exceptional build quality and exceed performance expectations. I add "in" into the keyphrase to make it sound more natural to the reader. Would google look at this and count it as pertaining to the keyphrase hockey sticks canada? Anybody have any info into making key phrases count on the page without looking to unatural to the reader?
Keyword Research | | chris9810 -
Keyword inside keyword
Hi, I'm a newb and I'm trying to wrap my head around how this keyword thing works. Let's say I find these KWs as part of my research: Acupuncture Acupuncture Clinics Acupuncture Clinics in Gainesville Acupuncture Clinics in Gainesville Florida Does optimizing for Acupuncture Clinics in Gainesville Florida optimize me for all the other terms as well? And furthermore, might I appear for searches like these too: Acupuncture Florida Acupuncture Gainesviile Acupuncture clinics Fl Thanks a bunch!
Keyword Research | | Graphbyte0 -
To switch high-ranking keyword for one with higher volume?
I have a client who already ranks very well for the keyword "odor removal service" (#3 average rank). I'd like to use this as my primary keyword phrase, but the search volume is not very high (avg. monthly search of 90). A similar keyword phrase like "odor eliminator" has a search vol. of 4400 and the same competitiveness. Even its long-tail derivatives like "natural odor eliminator" still have a much higher volume (360) and would be a more accurate description of the service. In cases like this where you are already ranking well for a relevant keyword (but are still not generating much traffic), is it worth losing that keyword ranking in the hopes of ranking better for a keyword with higher volumes. Just to be clear, I'm not referring to a secondary keyword, but to the main keyword phrase around which we'll be building primary and secondary related keywords. Thanks for any feedback.
Keyword Research | | Mike_E0 -
Google Keyword Tool alternatives?
Does anyone have any suggestions for Google Keyword Tool alternatives, since is has been closed by Google? Thanks
Keyword Research | | BoomDialogue690 -
Keywords + Country?
Hey guys, Let's say that I'm doing on-site SEO for a website that sells football shirts. This website targets 5 different countries. We only have a .com domain and no other country specific domains will be added at this point. When I choose the keywords, do I opt for product name + country or only product name? football shirts france or football shirts? Some info: Countries have been added in the title of the pages. Countries appear in the footer. Thank You.
Keyword Research | | BruLee0 -
Can't think of any keywords I'd want to rank for
I run a box-of-the-month subscription club for Japanese candy called "Candy Japan". Users sign up for $24 / month and then I start sending them products to try from Japan. I'm curious about SEO, but lack in imagination for terms I would even want to rank for. I already rank OK for "japanese candy", but people who search for that who click over to the site don't seem to convert. People who search for "candy japan" do convert (obviously), since it's clear they already know they want to subscribe. I started making content pages about specific candies, but those are not working. Firstly no-one knows the name of specific Japanese candies, so there isn't any search traffic for them. And even when I get some clicks, they don't convert because I am not selling those specific products (and am not interested in doing so) but rather my product is the subscription club itself. Any ideas on what kind of terms I might be able to find new converting club members from?
Keyword Research | | Bemmu0 -
How do you differentiate the Keywords for marketing??
I have generated more than 1000 quality keywords For my Foundation, now i am very much worried how would some on separate the keywords in to conversion keywords, Targeted Keywords, High priority Keywords. how would you justify that the keyword which are short listed will be the best keywords for website promotions??
Keyword Research | | AkshayaPatra0 -
Rankings got dropped
We were ranking no 1 on couple of keywords in our countries local Google Search but from last 3-4 days we have dropped to 2-3 though we havent made any changes. Any suggestion? http://www.pakwheels.com Google: www.google.com.pk Keywords: Used Cars Cars for sale
Keyword Research | | razasaeed0