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If you have a page that ranks high (say top 5) for a keyword phrase that dominates (90%+) your keyword universe for a particular business ---
Q1) what is the value in creating additional pages on your site that target the same keyword phrase- is this even necessary?
Q2) if one is already ranked high for a keyword phrase that dominates the market, how exactly does one go about publishing new content? Would one keep ADDING content to the already high ranked page, thus convoluting (de-emphasizing) the content already there, or does one REPLACE existing content with new content in the hopes that it can be as keyword rich and successful as the previously ranked page. And if it’s the latter, how imminent is the incentive to replace content that one knows already works for the user and Google?
Q1) what is the value in creating additional pages on your site that target the same keyword phrase- is this even necessary?
1 A second page ranked similarly to the first page might get you an indented result in the serps as well.. increasing the amount of visual real estate you occupy on the SERP and increasing your apparent relevance to the searcher.
2 Don't just target the same keyphrase. If your first page is about blue widgets, your second page should be about blue widget, (note the singular), aqua widgets (aka blue widgets), periwinkle widgets, multi-fit widgets, 1/6" widgets... whatever other descriptives also apply to your product (assuming single product)
Q2) if one is already ranked high for a keyword phrase that dominates the market, how exactly does one go about publishing new content? Would one keep ADDING content to the already high ranked page, thus convoluting (de-emphasizing) the content already there, or does one REPLACE existing content with new content in the hopes that it can be as keyword rich and successful as the previously ranked page. And if it’s the latter, how imminent is the incentive to replace content that one knows already works for the user and Google?
1 If you have a page ranking that well... leave it alone! Don't add, don't subtract, don't change... just DON'T!
:)
"1 A second page ranked similarly to the first page might get you an indented result in the serps as well.. "
Understood. Other than the possibility of an additional intented listing, does this second page(s) in any way promote the PR (enough) or general ranking of the first page to make additional content publishing a routine if your most concerned about the top keyword phrase (90% of market)?
"2 Don't just target the same keyphrase."
Understood. But in my example of 90%+ market dominance of a keyword phrase (excluding the singular vs. plural argument which is very valid), is there any benefit to your primary page ranking by creating these additional pages, if they infact target different keyword derivations?
"1 If you have a page ranking that well... leave it alone! Don't add, don't subtract, don't change... just DON'T! "
Are you suggesting that over the long-term (all else equal, including competition) that one would be able to preserve its ranking void of any content changes to that page?
is there any benefit to your primary page ranking by creating these additional pages, if they infact target different keyword derivations?
In and of themselves, no (I don't believe 'site' ranking is a factor). In fact care will be needed when including these in your site navigation to make sure that you don't adversely affect the amount of PR passed to your primary page (not difficult usually). BUT as a benefit to the whole site I believe they are very valuable. If you increase the scope of your site, the authority, improve the user experience and so on, you may reap all sorts of benefits including more and easier link exchanges (or, better yet, non-reciprocal links), word of mouth traffic, etc.
(Have you ever tried to get link exchanges for a one-page site? It ain't fun.)
Are you suggesting that over the long-term (all else equal, including competition) that one would be able to preserve its ranking void of any content changes to that page?
I'm mostly saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
To break it down to the simplest level... there are three elements in maintaining that position:
- Things you do.
- Things other sites do. (tweaking their pages)
- Things Google does. (algo changes)
You can only control one of them.
Unwittingly or...err.. 'wittingly'... you have come rather close to perfecting the formula for that search term, relative to what your competitors have been able to do, and for the current algo.
I'm saying leave that one there, because it is the ONLY measure you have by which to judge the success of your next effort. Say your next page ups the keyword density by 2%.
If you overwrite your current page with the new one, when the next update is over and your primary page has slipped to No 13 instead of No 5 how will you know (when you have finished tearing your hair out) whether it was your changes, Google's changes, or your competitors' changes that have affected that position?
If you place your new page with the different density alongside your primary page and after the update your primary (current) page stays at No 5 and your new page is at No 13, you can say ‘well that didn’t work’, save your hairline, and carry on to the next experiment.
It’s about being able to take a position that is both risk averse and pro-active to improve your position, versus a gambling approach when you just throw out a page that’s working.
