Are keyword focused pages actually hurting me?

[CalicoKitty2000]

Is the practice of having keyword focused pages a thing of the past?  Here is what I am seeing.  My biggest competitor ranks #1 or #2 in most of my relevant keyword phrases (about 20 that I consider most important).  They DO NOT have keyword focused pages.  They have a PA of 42.5 and a DA of 33.8. They have 72 root domains that link to them. Their home page is fairly lite for content.  Only 1 paragraph of text really... and a few reviews local to their page (not TA or anything). Socially, we we have the same FB following... but I also have  blog, G+, twitter, pinterest, flickr, instagram, youtube, and linkedin.

My keyword pages will rank #8 or #9. My home page hardly ever ranks. My home page has a PA of 40.3 and a DA of 29.1. I have 60 root domains that link to me.

BUT... my keyword pages fall much lower.  For instance, one has a PA of 16.1 and only 1 root domain link.

So, my question is... are my keyword pages actually hurting me?  Meaning... is google seeing my keyword page as more relevant content wise (because they are perfect for keyword placement, % of keyword to text, etc), but they rank them lower because of PA and back-links?

Should I take down my keyword focused pages (one at a time maybe???) and work on building my home page?

[Grant-Westfield]

Hi,

About your keyword pages, they don't have to sit on a main page of your website. For example you could include a link with something like "find out more information on XXX" then the link redirects them to the keyword page. This way you get to keep all the SEO benefits, but remove them from immediate viewing on your website.

Hope this helps a little

I too am trying to discover more about links so thanks for your post.

Jason

[JaneCopland]

What I don't know is how to do good link building and some of the nitty gritty details about what ranks and what doesn't.

I would suggest the link building category on the blog here. There is nearly 10 years of link development information in there, clearly with the newer information being more relevant than older.

Should I do them all at once, or one at a time?

I really can't say if you should take them down without seeing them, unfortunately.

Will I forever be penalized by google for directory submissions?

You are very unlikely to be penalised "forever" for anything as long as the offending links are removed. If you receive a penalty (which you are not guaranteed to do if you use directories for link development, but it's a risk), how soon you recover depends on what type of penalty you received. If you received a manual penalty, i.e. someone from Google's webspam team looked at your links and decided to penalise the site, you will first receive a notice in Webmaster Tools telling you that you have been penalised and why. You should then remove or disavow the bad links (try to actually remove them before using the disavow tool) and file a reconsideration request. If the site / links now meet Google's standards, they will revoke the penalty (although it can take multiple iterations of filing for reconsideration and having those requests rejected before you are successful).

If you have been penalised due to the Penguin algorithm (i.e. your links trip a trigger in that algorithm and cause you to receive an automatic penalty that has not been overseen by a real person), you will have to wait for a "refresh" of Penguin to see that penalty removed. These refreshes seem to happen ever few months or so, but there is no set period or refreshes.

In short, if you remove your bad links, you will not be penalised in the future after those links are gone.

I would take down the links that were placed in directories for link building purposes alone and leave those that have been built for a combination of reasons, including for the purpose of people finding them and clicking on them. Do review the other sites the directories link to as well though - if you find that the directories linking to you also link to spam sites, remove your links. You are judged not only on the quality of your links, but on the quality of the sites that sites linking to you ALSO link to, if that makes sense.

I am working on getting my husband to write "fishing reports" (We are an deep sea fishing company) and have them published on the top florida fishing websites.  Will this help?

It might, but this is not really enough information to know whether this is a good tactic or not. If the reports are placed on high-quality websites (which top fishing websites should be) and links are placed back to your site, this could very well be beneficial.

[CalicoKitty2000]

Jane, thank you for taking this time to respond to me.  My head is just spinning!  I am so new to SEO.  I know how to build a good site.  I know how to do good social media.  I can follow the google webmaster guide just as well as anyone else. What I don't know is how to do good link building and some of the nitty gritty details about what ranks and what doesn't.

My keyword pages look nice, but they are written specifically to attract that keyword page.  I'm afraid to take them down. How long would it possibly take me to recover taking them down?  Should I do them all at once, or one at a time?

Will I forever be penalized by google for directory submissions? Some are really good... like city search or mapquest. But, some are for the sole purpose of link building. Should I take them down?

I am working on getting my husband to write "fishing reports" (We are an deep sea fishing company) and have them published on the top florida fishing websites.  Will this help?

[JaneCopland]

Hi there,

Not Samuel, but I'll pitch in too.

A few years ago, he paid some company to create these keyword-focused pages. I HATE them! But, they have always ranked.  Are you suggesting that I delete these pages? (Please say yes lol)

It's hard to say without seeing the pages. At best, the pages might be fine - this is a page that targets some specific keywords that is perfectly okay: https://www.endsleigh.co.uk/personal/gadget/phone-insurance/

So is this: http://www.johnlewis.com/home-garden/tableware/salt-pepper/c80000896

However, on the other end of the spectrum you have low quality, made-for-SEO pages that include "doorway pages". The grey area between pages targeting certain phrases legitimately and doorway pages is large. Would you class these pages as being somewhere on that spectrum, and if so, where?

2. What do you mean by publish?  Are you talking Press Releases?  We have a blog that we publish to WP and then syndicate to FB, Twitter, G+, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

Samuel was likely talking about publishing high quality content across your web "properties", focusing mainly on your own website but also keeping your social media accounts up to date with good stuff as well.

I've requested to be added to 50-60 directories (yelp, city search, etc.). I have links on all the major social media sites. I add weblinks on the content I put out on youtube and Pinterest.  Our blog has been shared quite a bit. My SEO says he's done press releases, but I don't know if he used anchor-text or not.

There are some red flags here. Directory submission for SEO purposes is a very outdated tactic. Using directories for exposure is fine, and if you would have submitted to all of those directories for visibility purposes as opposed to SEO, fine (I doubt this though, given the high number). Google takes a dim view of directory links, usually because they're either from low quality websites, they were paid for, the directories link out to a bunch of spam indiscriminately or all of the above. Directories should only be used if you are using them for other purposes besides SEO, e.g. a directory about florists in London area, and you are a florist in the London area who might get business from the listing.

Social media links are fine, but they are usually nofollowed by the social media site, meaning that you do not receive SEO value from them. A large, active social media following where people often share your content is a good signal as far as search engines go (a real brand usually has this sort of activity whilst a spam site does not), but we are yet to really have it proven that any of that activity counts as a certain "ranking factor".

You absolutely need a list of the links your SEO has created. Try to have him send you a spreadsheet report of all the links he has made once a week or once a month (month is usually easier; week would be perfect. As an SEO, it was easier for me to do it once a month though). You need to know of all the ways in which your site is being represented on the web, even or especially from press releases. Like directories, PRs were roundly abused by SEOs in years gone by, meaning that Google is fairly unforgiving about either not crediting links from PRs as having much value, or considering a backlink profile built largely on PRs low-quality. This is from less than a year ago about press releases and SEO: http://searchengineland.com/google-links-in-a-press-release-should-be-nofollowed-like-advertisements-168339

[CalicoKitty2000]

Thank you for taking the time to respond to me.  

1. I have a really good website experience.  A lot of my customers tell me what a great website I have, how well laid out it is, they love the content... that was what drove them to call me.  My husband and I run this business together.  (I used to work full time and he was getting it started). A few years ago, he paid some company to create these keyword-focused pages. I HATE them! But, they have always ranked.  Are you suggesting that I delete these pages? (Please say yes lol)

2. What do you mean by publish?  Are you talking Press Releases?  We have a blog that we publish to WP and then syndicate to FB, Twitter, G+, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

3. I have a really good social media following... best out of all of my competitors (in my opinion).  We have the most page likes, the most user engagement. We are the only of our local market to have all of the social media outlets covered.  (Most don't even have FB). We are ranked #1 on TA (have been for well over a year, maybe 2-3) and have earned the 2014 Certificate of Excellence. The TA links about my business actually outrank my website many times.

4. Understood

5. Yes, that's the goal!!!

Okay... talking about link profile.  I'm not really sure to be honest.  This is my weak link (pun intended haha).  I'm just not sure what to do. I've requested to be added to 50-60 directories (yelp, city search, etc.). I have links on all the major social media sites. I add weblinks on the content I put out on youtube and Pinterest.  Our blog has been shared quite a bit. My SEO says he's done press releases, but I don't know if he used anchor-text or not.  I have never used anchor text, just used http://www.mydomain.com as my links.

(Also, I get most of my traffic through Google PPC and my campaigns are really well crafted (high conversion rate and CTR) and we get most of our traffic and business.  I'm looking to rely less on PPC and more on organic search).

[SamuelScott]

There is so much I can say, but I'll try to be brief.

1. Focusing so much on keywords is SEO from five and ten years ago. Don't worry about keyword percentage in the text -- write text for humans, not search engines. Just sprinkle the keyword a few times naturally. If I were to read your page, I should not be able to tell what keyword you're targeting. Moreover, focus on the user intent behind the search query. What exactly is the person looking for when he or she types that query? Make your page the best resource for whatever that happens to be.

2. What's your link profile? Are you building links with exact-match anchor text? If so, that's a big no-no today. The other site may have more earned links (sites are linking to him or her without him or her having to do much of anything directly).

Here's the general process that I would recommend for anyone:

1. Build a great website with a great user experience that is the best resource for your industry or sector.

2. Publish the best content on your given topic.

3. Use social media and PR to promote the website as a whole and the content individually.

4. Repeat indefinitely.

5. See rankings, traffic, natural links, sales, and more increase naturally over time.

Without even knowing you or the competitor, I'm 99% sure that he is doing this process better than you at the moment.