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The results were good across the board for my first SEO job in conjuction with a website redesign.
The "problem" is that Google is listing the index page only under the two most important phrases the client needed results in.
The index page is a legit entrance page with a flash intro and two buttons for the two unique sets of people he needs to cater to.
Content wise- the ONLY text is the copyright information with a tagline and several important redundant links plus a sitemap link.
No, I am totally confused why Google decided this page was best to show for "industry name company" as opposed to a WHY? page we made that has a good amount of content, and 'industry name company' density is pretty good + page title is "industry name company", H1 header "industry name company" and in general best content possible without over doing 'industry name company' throughout the page.
For SURE I thought that page would rank VERY well under the a search for 'industry name comapny'.
Well, I did get that phrase from #32 to #3!
Only, Google picked the index page with zero content instead of my optimized page! ?
Additionally, the most important phrase which I am going to be working on is simply "industry name".
Every page from their site is indexed and I thought I gave Google plenty of good content pages to pick.
So, a search for 'industry name' went from #36 to #14 - AGAIN Google picked the ZERO content index page to list.
I just don't get it. :(
It's a problem because they'd like to get higher up for just 'industry name'. So, if I change just the index page title that would probably do a lot for this client.
But, then it would counter the current #3 ranking for 'industry name company'.
Can anyone shed some light on why Google is using the no content index page for both these SERP's?
BTW, of interest- it even lists the index page for a keyphrase that is not in the index page _at all_.
Not sure if this helps- but this industry is known by ONLY one phrase. There is one variation but few use it and it's very rarely searched for.
Analyzing the top ranked for 'industry name' reveals that off page links have no relevant anchor text.
The #3 spot is the first company, with #1 being their industry organization. #2 is a popular Web based forum for their industry.
From #3 down are actual companies. #3 has no reference _at all_ to 'industry name' on their index page.
Their page title is just their company name which does not contain the industry name at all.
They have no content..just an entrance page with links. No DOCTYPE, no hidden text, no META TAGS _at all_.
ALL the sites in the industry have the same PR5 as they all have the same backlinks for the most part.
So, I'm not seeing why Google places them at #3 for that SERP. ;)
SO...even though Google has 26 pages (a lot for this industry) to pick it's using the index page with no content.
Why?
TIA
AW
there is no definite answer, because nobody knows the exact ranking algorithm.
My opinion is that there are three main factors why Google shows the index page:
- This is probably the page with highest PR
- Google seems to prefer homepages (this is my experience)
- Anchor text
Anchor text is also the explanation why a page appears for a keyphrase that is not in that page at all (if there was no change within the last weeks for this page).
To improve your ranking you can
- get (change) incoming links to the optimized content page(s)
- change your index page
If you are doing the latter (and you want retain the Flash intro), you can for example put an optimized summary/description on the index page (with links leading to the content pages) and also a flash detection which automatically redirects to the flash intro (if Flash is installed).
Also, ensure that there are links on your pages (especially for Flash content), which can be found by Googlebot.
there is no definite answer, because nobody knows the exact ranking algorithm.
True, but that is why we need to do as much educated speculation as possible. :)
My opinion is that there are three main factors why Google shows the index page:
- This is probably the page with highest PR
- Google seems to prefer homepages (this is my experience)
- Anchor text
Page with highest PR. I think that's a key. Frontpage is PR5 with internal pages of PR4's.
Preferring home pages- well, there are a few ranked higher that are not home pages. Perhaps they have a High PR though...as I'm sure there's a spread of PR 5 in the category...5, 5.1, up to 5.9
Yeah- everyone's backlinks anchor text is almost exclusively 'companyname'. I can get them a couple valid links with 'industry name' in the anchor text.
To improve your ranking you can
- get (change) incoming links to the optimized content page(s)
- change your index page
Changing the incoming links is pretty tough. Can try though.
I think I will make some safe changes on the index page. :)
Thanks so much for the educated speculation. I think it is correct and makes sense to me in retrospect.
Forgot about this:
If you are doing the latter (and you want retain the Flash intro), you can for example put an optimized summary/description on the index page (with links leading to the content pages) and also a flash detection which automatically redirects to the flash intro (if Flash is installed).
I think I will just change Page title from "company name - a full service 'industry name' company"
To "industry name company - Company Name - a full service industry name company"
That should (?) help with both 'industry name company' search results and 'industry name' results.
And...
In a medium grey (that goes with the color scheme) perhaps add an H1 description in body.
Will work on link development too.
Regards,
AW
[edited by: Alphawolf at 7:06 pm (utc) on April 12, 2003]
Yes, if lots of people link to that page, it'll come up highest. I have a domain with a picture and a copyright notice coming out at #1-3 for the designed queries, and all the content is on other pages. Why? I suspect that the keyword-in-domain effect is greatest on the root page of the domain, and secondly i agree that google loves root pages!
Thanks for sharing.
I'm still confused how a page with only 'company name' inbound links that has nothing to do with the 'industry name', no content and no mention of 'industry name' on the page can rank #3.
That has me stumped pretty good. Unless a fractional PR (let's say they are really a PR 5.9 instead of 5) would be the deciding factor.
Don't see how that would over ride the fact that there is no reference to 'industry name' in their backlinks or on their index page.
I won't worry about them too much is all but would be nice to understand.
Have to go make a tweak and wait another month+. ;)
Regards,
AW
Alphawolf
did you check all backlinks (internal and external) or just the important ones which are shown for the "link:" command in Google? Maybe you should also have a look at the other backlinks, e.g. try alltheweb.
Also, did you looked at the cached version if they changed the content?
did you check all backlinks (internal and external) or just the important ones which are shown for the "link:" command in Google? Maybe you should also have a look at the other backlinks, e.g. try alltheweb.Also, did you looked at the cached version if they changed the content?
Ah. I sometimes forget to use ATW to check backlinks instead of Google. Indeed, that company has 145 backlinks as opposed to my client who has 42.
Sadly, for his 'industy name' SERP the results kept changing thoughout the update from #14 to #32. It seemed like #14 would stick, but it didn't. They are ranked #32 after it settled.
But...
#3 ranking for 'industry name company' stuck.
I changed the Page title of the index page and added a statement that is like a tagline as per client.
They are working on the links with a premade e-mail I gave them using thier position #3 on Yahoo as a device to say "Hey, we're a valuable company for your visitors."
Wonder when the next update will be? ;)
Regards,
AW
