Does SEO work?
-
Hello, I have a question which I really want to get to the bottom of.
We are carrying out some SEO for a client. Im currently using the tools in Moz to help me with this. Im currently trying to target "Dentist Balham". We are following all the "rules" creating content, created a mobile friendly site etc. However the site that is coming top is www.balhamdentalcare.co.uk which carries non of the things we are doing, in fact a lot of the content is PDF downloads. They don't do well in the SERP Report compared to other sites. Its basically not a great site but its coming up first. Does any one think this can be beaten or does it just come down to the fact that they use "Balham" in the domain name?
Thanks for your advice.
Ade -
Thanks for that, i feel inspired! I know it can be done its just sometimes you feel your doing a lot of work and you look at another site and think "there not doing half this stuff, why are they doing so well?" Im of course also looking at other areas/keywords to improve the SEO but as you know most clients get certain terms into there heads that they want to show up for. Thanks for your help.
-
Thanks Jeremy, I've not been working on the SEO that long, less than 2 months. I guess my question is more to do with the fact that its hard to say to a client "This is SEO and this is what needs doing on your site" then for a client to simply turn round and say " well this company doesnt do that and they are top".
-
I took a quick look at the BalhamDentalCare site.
You ask... "Does any one think this can be beaten".
In the organic SERPs, yes, absolutely. They can be beaten. There are many things that competitors could do a LOT better. But those competitors would have to do a LOT of work to match them.
In the local results. They have great position - but a smart competitor who is willing to work hard could beat them.
You also ask.... "or does it just come down to the fact that they use "Balham" in the domain name?"
Having the word "Balham" is slightly helpful. But that word in the domain will only decide their position against weak competitors. When competition increases a word in the domain means very little compared to all of the other work that needs to be done to be competitive.
Quite honestly. balhamdentalcare.co.uk has done a fantastic job creating content. If they ever learn how to do really good SEO or hire a really good SEO then the other "dentists in Balham" are going to have a difficult time beating them. If they simply write better title tags and sharpen the optimization of their pages they will be a lot stronger.
A small amount of smart work could make them a lot stronger, but most competitors have an enormous amount of work just to pull even with them in their current state.
Beat them now while they are in low form and hope that they don't get smart.
-
I think an important thing you forgot to mention was how long you have been carrying out your SEO strategy for this client. This is essential to know - high ranking websites do not happen quickly.
Having a keyword in the domain used to be extremely beneficial, but Google has began not factoring it in nearly as much.
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
-
SEO without a budget and Cheating Competitors
I have law clients in the atlanta ga area. I have worked with one client http://bestdefensega.com for the past 4 months trying to get him to the top. We blog 3 times a week, have manually built citations and legal directory profiles. My client doesn't have a large budget to purchase profiles on some of the larger legal directories like findlaw, lexus nexus etc.. With that said,
Local Listings | | underdogmike
Using Open Site Explorer I have discovered that his competition all have multiple business websites pointed back to their main websites.. So each law office has several really generic websites in addition to their main site. Other's appear to be receiving links from some type of link farm and really generic directory sites.
The domains of these guy's are older and more established. Where as, my client has a new practice and a new domain. How do I compete in the local market without a budget for the premium legal directories? So after 4 months my client appears in the local pack search results for only select keywords. Criminal defense attorney woodstock ga. His competition appears in the results for all variations, where my client only shows for this one term. How do I get me client in the local pack for all variations of Criminal Defense in my area? According to Moz, my site has a couple spam score issues and the explanations are not clear enough for me to make some types of changes.
**How do I make these changes to reduce the spam score? My site has more back links than Moz is reporting why?** All of the other sites that I manage perform well and my clients are realizing their ROI with relative ease. But criminal defense is a different beaat and it is starting to frustrate me. RAR! Thanks in advance!0 -
What is the best address format to display for a buissness for SEO?
There is a new location opening soon and would like to set up local pages for it. What is the best/most SEO friendly way to write out the physical address? I looked on USPS and they show: 7227 W GRAND PKWY S
Local Listings | | nat88han
RICHMOND TX 77407 But local businesses seem to have the West and South written out: 7301 West Grand Parkway SouthRichmond, TX 77407Is there a best practice for this, or does it not make much of a difference as long as the website/local listings all match exactly? Not sure about writing out "West" or using "S." for the cardinal direction.0 -
I really need an Seo Web Developer or Firm.
I am sorry if this is the incorrect place for this but I have searched all over trying to find a reputable firm or person to create or modify my current webpage and rank it better for my keywords. There are just so many people and companies out there, everyone I have worked with has done seemingly nothing for what I paid them (could not be transparent or answer questions). Everytime I look for a firm I come across this site and I use Moz Local, seems like the place to find or get help finding the right person or company to help me. I am looking for an expert in local SEO. I want to ensure that my website is always on top of the current algorithms, I want someone that can rank offsite pages like Facebook and Yelp. Can create or work off my current responsive wordpress site to ensure it is properly optimized to rank well for the local keywords I want. I am not cheap, I am willing to pay. But I need someone who knows local seo in an out. Map listings, citations, link building, different landing pages for services for various local cities, and web design. Graphic arts is a plus as well. I would really appreciate any help or references in finding the correct person or company for me. If it matters I am a local plumber and hvac company based in the chicagoland area. Could anyone please lead me in a positive and honest direction?
Local Listings | | MattRyanNonnie1 -
Local seo citation tools
Hi I have been manually adding my details to local/national directories in order to help my ranking in my google places placing. It is a bit of a grind, and I am aware there are tools out there. I was wondering if anybody has any experience with any of them? I am UK based. Also I was ranking for "Liverpool Photographer" on google places for a couple of months and it brought in quite a bit of work, although I have since slipped back to about 15th, so out of the visible results. I am mainly a wedding photographer so my home page was optimised mainly for "liverpool wedding photographer" Although I hired an SEO company who changed the home page title to "liverpool photographer", I cannot remember if I was ranking on places for this keyword because of this change or I was already in the results before the changes were made. So my question is how Can I rank for "liverpool photographer" and "Liverpool wedding photographer" on a places result at the same time? I hope this makes sense. Best wishes. David.
Local Listings | | WallerD0 -
How do we setup renting space without hurting our local seo?
Currently, one of our offices has two businesses in it that our owned by the same person. The law firm and the title company. They both use the same address, but they both rank locally for this area. I'm worried that having another company rent space here that is not affiliated with the owner AND is using the same address will hurt us. What are our options here? The best thing I can think to do is have them add a suite number or something to their listing, but I'm not sure exactly how to do that. Do I need to get the post office is to verify that? Will google and the rest just overturn it, if it's not in their records? Anyone know how best to proceed with this? Thanks, Ruben
Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup1 -
Swiss SEO Companies
Hello Moz Community! My name is Colby. I work with Comit Developers here in the US, but I currently have a client that is in need overseas. My client is looking for SEO work in Switzerland. We've never worked in this country, but we are willing to outsource to get a little help. I am looking for some smaller SEO companies in or nearby Zurich. Does anyone have any ideas? We are looking for companies who can charge fair prices. I'm not sure how expensive the Swiss market is for SEO, but I'd love some insight. Can anyone help me?
Local Listings | | ComitSEO0 -
Does embedding Google map help local SEO?
Hi I am curious if adding a embedded Google map to a footer helps for Local seo? Thank you
Local Listings | | Berner1 -
Best Practices For Local SEO For A Nation Wide Property Company?
Hi There, I've recently acquired a client that sells property all over the country (South Africa). It's in their best interests to rank well for localised keywords relating to the areas they have listed properties in. eg. Property for sale in example suburb/town/province. The project has a number of challenges which I'd appreciate any suggestions for The site acts as an aggregator for numerous partner property agents and, as s such, has a lot of duplicate content on it The company only has offices in one city. It handles online bookings which it then passes to its partner agencies - this presents me with a problem of creating listings in the areas I need to rank for I cannot list the actual addresses of properties Your thoughts and advice would be seriously appreciated.
Local Listings | | KJDMedia1