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My site that covers only fuzzy blue widgets and has tons of useful information about them is much more appropriate for the search user than the big sites that only briefly mention them (IMHO). However, it seems that because the mega-sites have such huge PR to pass down to individual pages, I'm having trouble out ranking them.
Has anyone else faced something similar? What can I do to improve my ranking?
To get a bit more specific regarding your question, you should absolutely be able to outrank them in some SE's at least, but to an extent it will depend upon the category. Do not think just in terms of going out and getting links, however. Think hard about your true advantages. That path will lead you to more effective marketing strategies and tactics, typically ones that will also positively affect your rankings in the SERP's.
Has anyone else faced something similar? What can I do to improve my ranking?
Write content ... lots and lots of good content. Become "the" authority on your topic. Don't think of yourself or your site as "the little guy". You are the top dog and your site should reflect that.
Its a lot of work, but it is an effective strategy. Most of the big sites which have one page of generic information on any given topic often outrank really good quality sites with dozens of pages of excellent info. Its not right ... but its the way it is.
To outrank them, you have to put in the effort to get noticed. By getting noticed, you will eventually begin attracting natural links. Its a very slow process, so be prepared to wait a loooong time and put in many, many hours of work to topple them.
But you can beat them on a lot of long tail searches.
You have to get a lot of good links to overcome that.
Not really annej, you just have to get a few good quality (natural) links with good anchor text. Really! I have a site which outshines many of the big sites for various keyword searches that aren't what I would consider "long tail". Two words is all it takes. Single keywords searches are admittedly very difficult to beat the big sites on.
But if you provide the information people are looking for, you can eventually beat even the mega sites.
I guess my point really is that beating the big sites isn't really necessary. The long tail and even the not so long tail can overcome them if have you have articles with good information on a lot of specific but related topics.
The competition isn't between their homepage and your homepage. It's how well you do with thousands of search phrases that bring visitors to your various topics.
But generally, in most cases, I've never seen a SERP that can't be penetrated. That said, often, it's not the top, sexy, category defining term that wins the game. That's just bragging rights. The winner of the game is s/he who makes the most money, and that's a combination of battling on the bigger terms and being smarter on the longer tail terms.
Have you got something you can use as a gimmick that might have some viral potential? This can often be the key to outgunning the big guys.
An online "How blue is your widget" java/activeX/whatever app? Anything like that.
It has to be useful of course. Not always easy, but sometimes if you give it a bit of thought for an hour or two you can come up with an interesting/creative idea.
Don't think "me too" when competing with another site, think "me different".
TJ
Try to find out how to outperform the bigger competition by offering real value in use, meaning: something that bothers you at your competing sites.
JUST DO A BETTER JOB WITH THE OBVIOUS THAN THEY ARE.
One smart CEO once said: "If you can't compete, DON'T!"
You can't compete with size, pick something else.
That's the name of the game in ANY COMPETITION.
Don't forget the age of the site.
I think many forget about the importance of age. It has taken me 7 years to have top rankings in all of the SE's. No matter how new or large my competitors are it will not be a simple task to overtake me. Many have tried and not succeeded.
There is a reason that sites have high rankings and most are well aged sites. Many expect to achieve the same thing with newer sites, which will probably not happen.
I believe the single most important factor in SE rankings (from experience) is the age of the site. I am thankful for this factor because it will always give me the advantage over spam sites and MFA sites.
I'm not saying that new sites should give up on SE rankings, but they should look for alternative traffic until they have been around for a while.
Re "What can I do to improve my ranking?"
What do you want your visitors to do when they reach your site? Do you want them to buy a fuzzy blue widget from you?
If you do, make SALES your goal. All the traffic in the world won't help if your site visitors look and leave. Create a compelling sales page and buy some PPC traffic.
OTOH, if you've got an AdSense site, create an info product related to fuzzy blue widgets, and advertise that. You could create a report or ebook on how to use fbw, how to save money on fbw, ec.The people who don't buy the info product may click on an ad. :-)
I am not ranking because I have a great seo strategy, but simply because the site has aged enough, and has had consistent (same type) content over the past 6 years. I have average PR.
another proof that PR doesn't guarantee serp and traffic. I've realised that Alexa rating is actually gives a better overview of a site's TRUE importance.
okay, back to the topic.
I'm more into blogs right now, my experience on "real" sites is still minimum. but one of the most effective method I know is publish and ping.
publish, and then spread the word immediately. put your content on one of those press release sites, or get your content aggregated by related (and popular) newsmaster/aggregator sites.
