Is it possible to outrank wikipedia and .gov?

[frankthetank2]

Very new to SEO and wondering if I am wasting my time/money on something that is not possible.   The top 3-5 keywords I want to place have top results offered by a .gov, wikipedia article (title is my keyword) and about.com.

My gut tells me that I could work my tail off for the next few years creating content and links and never be able to out rank these sites so I might be better off just buying ads for those terms.   Before I make any decisions I wanted to get some perspective from the experts.

Thanks!

[EGOL]

These domains can be very difficult to beat.

I currently have an entire website of information that includes articles, videos, products, printable resources and more, yet some thin content on a guide page of About.com and a product page on Amazon are above me.  My site is way better than what they have in every possible way.

Domain authority is hard to beat.

[EppieVojt]

Yes, it's possible to outrank Wikipedia, .gov sites, and about.com -- the key is that you want to target terms where these sites have very few links pointing directly to the ranking page.  If they are ranking exclusively based upon their domain authority, but the pages themselves aren't inherently authoritative, they're much easier to surpass.

Even if those pages do get links pointed to them, it's not an impossible task -- you just have to create something really exceptional and pull in a lot of links.  Do a Google search for family history or genealogy and you'll see Wikipedia knocked down the SERPs by more commercial sites.

Also, as Alan noted if the term is one that will have a mix of informational and commercial searches, being below Wikipedia won't matter at all.  The key is to be the first site listed that's relevant to your target audience's search intent.

Good luck if you decide to pursue the terms!

[AdoptionHelp]

Unless you have a combination of great skill and lots of resources, you may be chasing the impossible. That being said, you should always optimize for the keywords that make sense. If you are running a business not in competition with wikipedia or a government service, then appearing in SERPs right behind them can be considered success.

I'd also suggest that you look into PPC (buying ads) independently of your SEO efforts, as both are important aspects of a comprehensive in-bound marketing plan.

[AlanMosley]

No imposible, but you are correct you could spend a lot of time and money trying. but depending on the keyword being below them is not so bad.

If your keyword was lawnmowing, then someone wanting their lawns mowed would skip wikipedia and the .gov and go to you, but if the keyword was Founding Fathers, then where better then wikipedia to get info.