Why is a sub page ranking over home page?
-
Hey guys!
I was wondering whether any of you Mozzers out there could shed some light on this query for me.
Currently, one of our clients is ranking (on the second page, at least) for one of their target keywords.
However, it's not the home page that is ranking - it is a sub page. I guess you could say both are targeted to rank for the keyword in question but the home page has a considerable more PA (+10) and has a lot more incoming links so it's a little bit baffling as to why the sub page has been given an advantage.
Does anyone know why this may be?
Also, on a secondary note, should I continue to build links to the home page or target this particular sub page to have a better chance of ranking higher for the keyword?
Any advice on this welcome!
Cheers!
-
Another good answer, Lynn. Thanks a lot. I'll be sure to take on board the advice you've passed on!
-
I don't think changing the .com links will move the needle, there are only a couple of them and they are being 301 redirected so not going to make that much of a difference I wouldn't think.
If you are going to shift that phrase over to the internal page then in the first instance I would focus on trying to get some more content on that page to reinforce that this is the main page about kitchens. You could add some content describing how/why each of the sub categories (worktops, doors etc) are relevant to the DIYer for example. You could use your internal blog for informational type posts that can further reinforce the main category page.
I guess what I am saying is that since the top sites for that term seem to be mainly root domains and partial/full EMDs to boot, then your content is going to need to stand out a bit for you to realistically get onto the first page. So, I would concentrate on that before I jumped into more external link building which has the potential to look slightly unnatural given the nature of the content as it is now.
Might be worth focusing on some social signals before external links also, which could sync with your internal blogging efforts, try encouraging clients to leave reviews on relevant sites, that kind of thing. Once the content is there and the social signals are supporting it then external links will seem more credible and probably be more effective.
Hope that helps!
-
Hey Lynn, great answer.
The .com links were built initially when the site was intended to be a .com. Would you recommend trying to change these links to .co.uk - would it be beneficial?
I definitely take your point that, from a consumer's point of view, it's probably more beneficial for the /kitchens/ page to be ranking. With that in mind, do you think it would be wise to concentrate link building efforts towards that sub-page?
-
Hi Mathew,
Well a couple of things stand out at first glance (not necessarily in order of importance)
1. You have a handful of exact / partial match links to both the home and secondary page, so potentially confusing to the search engines which one is best suited to show.
2. Some of the relevant links to the homepage are going to a .com version of the site which is being redirected to the .co.uk
3. All your internal linking is indicating that the internal page is the most relevant for this phrase.
All things considered I think your content/internal linking is the main issue. The internal page is much more kitchen focused (texts, products etc) while the homepage to me seems more focused on flooring. That in combination with the external links into the internal page and perhaps some lost value in the 301 redirects to the homepage is likely why the internal page is ranking for the term.
Beyond the technical side of it, as a user searching for diy kitchens I would prefer to see the internal page anyway, it is more immediately relevant so maybe a rethink of which phrases you are trying to focus for on each page is worthwhile and focusing the diy kitchen phrases on the internal page makes sense in this case.
My two cents!
-
Hi Mathew,
Care to share the site/keyword in question? Pretty tough to give an idea without seeing the pages, there could be a number of factors at play.
-
Can anyone else provide insight into this?
-
Hi Matthew,
With e-commerce sites the content (if not there) is greatly obtained by the text from the product so the product titles , the product descriptions, and the alt-text from the product images.
-
Oh, and it may be worth mentioning that for another competitive keyword, we have a second page ranking and that one is the home page.
-
Hey Lynn, thanks for your detailed response.
The links we've built have all been carefully sourced and managed in a way that there should be some good variation in anchor phrases while steering well clear of underhand techniques like mass paid directories.
-
Never link to the home page? Can't say I've heard that one before. Why would the ranking be suppressed?
-
Hey Ard. The site in question is an ecommerce one so it has very little text on both of the pages. In fact, it has more on the home page.
-
Hi Matthews,
It could be a cause of better relevant and quality content on the keyword on the subpage than on homepage.
-
Hi Mathew,
Just this week I saw something very similar, a newish site that had unfortunately gone the route of mass paid directory links with loads of exact match text variations (not saying this is your case!). From one day to the next I saw the second page ranking they had for their homepage and main keyword get switched out with another page on their site. I got the impression this was a specific page+specific keyword type of penalty or suppression. If the site in question has been a bit over enthusiastic on the exact match linking game then it is something I would keep an eye out for. I think that is what Irving is implying also....
-
never link to the homepage, you can't 404 a homepage if the page gets ranking supressed. This is what might have happened to you already.
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
-
Primary keyword in every page title of website
Hi all, We can see many website page titles are filled with "brand name & primary keyword" at suffix. Just wondering how much this gonna help. Or can we remove "primary keyword" from other non-relevant pages and limit the same to important pages to rank well? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Translate page?
Hi Guy's I have a question about Google asking me to translate the page when i search on brandname. It's in the Dutch Google and the searchquery is: "rotomshop" I can find why Google wants to translate the page because all our settings are Dutch. Does anyone have a suggestion? Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | Happy-SEO1 -
Duplicate content on a sub domain
I have two domains www.hairremoval.com and a sub domain www.us.hairromoval.com both sites have virtual the same content apart from around 8 pages and the sub domain is more focused to US customers so the spelling are different, it is also hosted in the states. Would this be classed as duplicate content ? (The url’s are made up for the question but the format is correct)
Algorithm Updates | | Nettitude0 -
How can I check Googles Page Cache ?
Hi I use to have a handy tool in Firefox (Google Toolbar) that was very handy for checking page ranks and what date a page had been cached. For a while with the newer versions of Firefox I cannot seem to locate this useful tool, Can anybody recommend any useful tools for checking the above. Thanks Adam
Algorithm Updates | | AMG1000 -
How do search engines calculate ranking?
On SEOMoz, I can see that when people type in X keyword, my website comes up at Y place. For example, if someone googles "Mobile Productivity", a page on my website comes up at #10. How is that #10 ranking calculated? I would've guessed it's based on some combination of linking root domain and page authority, but I see sites that rank below mine that have higher scores on both. For example, on the aforementioned 'Mobile Productivity' search, my site comes up #10 with a Linking Root Domain score of 2, and a Page Authority of 29. But Honeywell Products and Services comes up #13 on the same "Mobile Productivity" search (ie, BELOW my site), even though they have a Linking Root Domain score of 40 and a Page Authority of 72. Similarly, Mobileproductivity.com comes in at #1 for that search with scores of 7 and 31 respectively, but mpifix.com comes in at #2 with scores of 61 and 47 respectively. How are the search engine rankings calculated? Thanks in advance, Julian
Algorithm Updates | | MobileDay0 -
Has Panda update made you lose your ranks but put them back again?
I noticed recently that one of the main sites I run dropped ranks quite heavily across the board. I then noticed that with very link building during the time that the ranks were down (about 1 month) that my ranks went back up again really quickly. All this with very little link building effort, and its the same link building campaign I've been running for a while. So I'm wondering has any been experiencing ranking flux between jan and feb? I know that people reckon if you fix some things your ranks can improve again, but I barley fixed anything on the site and yet it dropped some keywords from 1st page to 3rd page and then back to 3rd page; some keywords went back to original position some were lower but non were higher.
Algorithm Updates | | upick-1623910 -
Why is this site ranking 1st?
I'm a relative SEO newbie, so please go easy on me. I've been an SEOMOZ pro user for a few months and have used it to dramatically improve my organic rankings. However, for the life of me, I cannot determine why the site that currently ranks number one, does so. For the factors I can determine, they shouldn't be ranking where they are, but reality is different. Could someone please offer me some ideas? My target keyword is "photography classes edmonton" My site is www.bsop.ca and I'm targetting the Google Canada engine. Any and all assistance is appreciated.
Algorithm Updates | | pburwell0 -
Title of home page is changed to domain name in SERPs
Hi, We have a unique problem, we are getting a totally different title in Google serps for a large site. When we search with domain name with space in google.com. We are getting title as domain name with space. We don't have any Open Directory listing. We don't have any cannonical issues and other pages with title as domain name. Can you please tell us what we have to do get our original title back in SERP ? Thanks, With Regards,
Algorithm Updates | | semshah1430