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My site homepage has a PR of 6
with 196 back links and the
back links are from higher PR pages
The site includes 66 html pages of 'widget' history articles, book reviews and a directory to 'widget' history sites
The site that just jumped ahead of me in results for my 2 key word phrase has
a PR4
100 back links
no pages beyond the homepage
and that page has just 2 links to another site.
It appears to be a pointer to a mailing list on a topic that I would consider very worthwhile in the topic area so I am not really so down on the site as wondering why quite so high a ranking. It's ranked 4th for the key words and mine is 6th.
I know it really doesn't matter as both are high enough to be seen in the first 10 but it still seems strange to me.
Any thoughts?
Anne
Of course the site ahead of you is always 'inferior'. ;)
Does the inferior one showing 'fresh dates' in SERPS?
If so, the other one's glory will be short lived and you will regain your deserved position in just a few days.
Google likes 'fresh' pages.
I've seen similar things in my space and it really seems to be something that should go away but it probably won't. You might want to look at the anchor text of your and their inbound links. Since their page is a nothing it probably has higher keyword density than yours also.
Also keep in mind that it isn't just the PR and quantity of inbound links. They may be linked to from pages with very few links. You could be linked from a PR10 page (unlikely) but that page contains several hundred links. The amount of PR that drips down to you will be very small.
But PR is certainly not the most important thing determining SERP. Look into the anchor text thing and see if maybe you can improve your position by removing superfluous language on your pages.
But, you know, be careful cause you may get a ton of hits from keyword combinations. Say I am in your theoretical space. I have a PR6 - 7. On the keyword "widget" I don't do so well. But on "Pink Widgets" I do pretty well. And I get most of my hits from "Pretty Pink Widgets." As people get more and more used to keyword searching, very few search on single word "widget" unless they cannot find anything on pretty pink widgets.
Now do the same thing for your page. And, remember, if you have 5 pages about widget history on your site, then you're spreading that keyword out over those 5 pages. If "inferior" dude only has one page about it, his "keyword focus" is much more tuned into the subject.
(And, of course, there's what everyone else said about links and all of that stuff).
G.
You folks have sent a lot of interesting information on how it all works. I've learned a lot
Thanks
Anne
My site's now at #13 for my single keyword, while we have more links than all but five of the sites above us. Two sites above mine have a 0% keyword density! It's driving me crazy.
Despite these frustrations I still love Google! Of course this is all an opportunity to learn.
With your site, I'm pretty sure the problem is with your title. Check to see the sites above yours. I bet they have the words "widget" and "history" in that order, together, close to the front of a short title.
Having looked at the site in your profile, you'll see you have the words in reverse order, separated, and in a long title (reducing kw density). Start your title with "Widget History: Short Subtitle" (keep the subtitle to two words if poss) and I'm sure you'll be above that inferior site next month.
Now if you can return the favor with some good ideas for me I'll be a very happy bunny!
Bodhipaksa
>>They may be linked to from pages with very few links. <<
That is possible as the site I mentioned concerns a mailing list. Perhaps a lot of participants have linked from their personal pages.
I could up my word density some more but I don't want it to be awkward sounding.
Thanks again everyone.
Anne
If "widget history" is what you have determined is they key search phrase, then by all means DO be awkward sounding. This is one of the inherent problems with SEO. As a general rule, in ordinary writing the idea is to not use the same words over and over, but to use synonyms, etc. SEs like the reverse: lots of repetition. Such is life on the WWW. ;) One thing you should try to do is figure out a way to up the keyword density to a high level w/o it seeming too awkward. One idea that comes to mind would be a possibility like this. On your home page, link to all the internal pages with something like:
Widget history 1940s
Widget history 1950s
Widget history 1960s
Widget history 1970s...
or such. Find some way to cram your page with "widget history" that doesn't seem to weird to an ordinary user of your site.
For example if I did a thing like was suggested
Widget history 1940s
Widget history 1950s
Widget history 1960s
Widget history 1970s...
They would probably be links.
Anne
Very much so!
Bodhipaksa
