Why is this site ranking #1?
-
I've done extensive research into http://www.maggiesottero.com/ and cannot come up to any definitive conclusions as to why this site is ranking #1 for the term "wedding dresses." The page is not optimized for the keyword.
**Any thoughts? **
-
Sorry, everyone that responded so far. Should have been more clear here. We are well aware of all the factors mentioned above, however if you conduct some competitive analysis relative to all other sites in top 10, they are clearly getting beat out in all categories mentioned below by more than 1 site. More links from a higher PR and Domain and Page Authority, more exact match and phrase match anchor text, more linking root domains, more linking C block IP's, more external links, better internal links to the homepage with exact match anchor text, more highly optimized on-page elements, better social engagement, etc.
We are well aware of the general info mentioned above, but that is why it is so puzzling. If they are so clearly getting beat on many of these metrics, why in the world are they ranking at #1 vs. companies that are beating them on the metrics that matter?
-
Plus it has a solid domain age: Creation Date: 2001-07-16
-
Look at the strength of their link profile:
http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/links?site=www.maggiesottero.com
Their home page has a page authority of 74 which is fairly strong. Look at the anchor text section, they have many links with "wedding dress" and other variations of this term in the link text. They also seem to have a strong social presence on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
With shorter term phrases the link profile is a massive factor.
-
Well the title tag has "wedding gowns" in it, and if you look at the backlink profile in open site explorer you'll see an awful lot of relevant anchor text around wedding dresses/gowns from other sites in the wedding niche and from high profile/high authority sites... I don't see why this is a mystery! (2,058 linking root domains).
Ranking isn't just about the on-page optimisation.
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
-
How can stale, poor quality sites rank above fresh, high quality sites?
Dear Community, How is it that a Google search for temperature sensors shows the second result as site **A **(http://goo.gl/zRS1L) in a higher positionthan site B (http://goo.gl/3Xy2O) which is on the 2nd page of the SERPs. Site A blatantly does not follow Google's webmaster guidelines and recommendations for design, content or code. Site B scores an 'A' for on page analysis using SEOmoz, it also has a much higher number of root domains in and Moz rank, we have checked that site B has only quality inbound links, and anchor text is natural, it follows Google's guidelines for content and code diligently, and it is on an older domain. We are satisfied that site B has not been penalised by Google, e.g Penguin algorithm updates. We have also done a website verification with Google. Site B has fresher content compared to site A. Site B also has a sitemap yet site A doesn't. We're satisfied that we can rule out the following Algorithm Factors: Penguin algorithm updates Google Notified penalties Dodgy Inbound links Dodgy Anchor text Website verification with Google Fresh vs. static content Sitemap present Server Speed Server location Domain age and about 170 other algorithm factors Does anyone have any ideas as to why site A is ranking higher than site B in Google.co.uk? Thanks in advance. CD.
Competitive Research | | chichesterdesign0 -
Open Site Explorer Twitter and Facebook Links
I was using Open Site Explorer to compare some of my site's links to a competitor and I noticed that my Twitter page is not counting as an incoming link, whereas theirs are. From what I can tell, we have the same kind of setup on my twitter page, listing the domain in the company information... but no luck. Any suggestions on what I may be able to change? For reference: twitter.com/mediamegamall ... I know I need to work on the twitter presence... one thing at a time 🙂
Competitive Research | | Ask_MMM0 -
I must be tripping. How is this site ranking for the term "SEO Company"??????
When I go to Google non-custom search results and search the term: seo company The website "greencowseo.com" is ranked 3rd. OpenSiteSearch shows nothing. And get this... the domain was registered 14 days ago by somebody in Egypt. Do I need to quit my SEO Moz membership and hire this guy? 🙂
Competitive Research | | Bo-Jangles0 -
How is otr ranking?
With the only content a list of links to realaudio files, how is the website, otr ranking?
Competitive Research | | newmon0 -
Best way to check a sites traffic that you dont own. (Canadian Site)
We are looking for a way to get the estimated traffic for some sites in our niche. Usually we use compete.com or spyfu, but they only track traffic in the US. Does anyone know a way we can get traffic estimates in Canada? Thanks in advance.
Competitive Research | | ClaytonKendall0 -
My site is ranked in the top 5 for my keywords, but howcome I'm low in an organic search results for my key words?
Are the other factors such as page rank, Alexa rating and mozRank used to determine where I will show up in search results, over Goggle's key word rank for my key words?
Competitive Research | | allstatetransmission0 -
8500+ seomoz errors and still rank one for high traffic keywords
I plugged a competitor into the campaign manager that is ranking #1 for many target keywords like "sprinkler parts" (18k broad, 720 exact) and "sprinklers"(550k broad, 4400 exact) and #2 for "sprinkler"(1mil broad, 8100 exact). This site has over 8500 errors on SEOmoz - I have spent a good deal of time fixing errors on all of our client websites and have gotten them down to 0 errors. I am just wondering if I have been wasting my time and if the errors that SEOmoz reports on even make a difference. How can a site rank for such high traffic keywords when it has 4k duplicate content and 4k duplicate page title errors? The site has 75 linking root domains according to opensiteexplorer. any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
Competitive Research | | Splashme-1391910 -
Best place to view referral traffic on a third party site?
What is the best site / tool to use to view referral traffic on a third party site?
Competitive Research | | nicole.healthline0