Www.barntondental.com

[dentaldesign]

Hi guys,

wondering if anyone could shed any light:

just taken on a client who wants to rank for 'Dentist Edinburgh' - using opensightexplorer it looks as if the website has a decent amount of links and authority but it is languishing on page 5 for the above term. If you compare link metrics with some competitors which rank higher Barnton's number seem to be stronger. The site ranks well for less competitive key terms such as '6 month smiles Edinburgh' and 'teeth straightening Ediniburgh'  but we are struggling with the main keyword 'dentist Edinburgh'

I've checked webmaster tools and there are no manual actions, so i'm thinking its an algorithmic penalty - any help would be much appreciated.

Marcus

[TheeDigital]

Looks like your client is part of a link network with exact match anchor text, check out these:

http://cornhilldental.co.uk/index.htm

http://www.modburydentalpractice.co.uk/

http://www.farcottondental.co.uk/links.html

[dentaldesign]

thank you - will have a look at the points you've suggested!

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Marcus!

I highly recommend a full audit in this scenario. Here is a super post on this:

https://moz.com/blog/ultimate-local-seo-audit

In a big city like yours, in that industry, competition is going to be tough, and there are several hundred local search ranking factors to consider. You need to start at the bottom of this and work your way up through as many factors as possible, as well as doing a competitive analysis to see how competitors are outranking your client. Then, create a strategy to move the client up.

[NEdocs]

If you really want to tap into this local market, I would suggest building out your Google+ page - add some photos, maybe shoot for some reviews. This should help you rank in the maps section of the results and can be just as good as a natural p1 ranking (it is before just about every result anyways).

However, it does look like your competition (Edinburgh Family Dentistry) is making use of URL keywords to rank (top 3 results) - and it looks rather crowded. Even their Facebook page is making page 1.

Here is where you might have an issue:

1. What could be going on is over stuffing the keyword Edinburgh into the titles of every page. I would suggest keeping this to a few key pages to rank for, rather than informing Google that every single page is addressing Edinburgh. (Even Edinburgh Family Dentistry has a few pages in which they do not site their name/location)

2. While putting location keywords in your titles is a great way to rank locally...you also should include that keyword in your meta descriptions! I noticed that while you have Edinburgh on just about every page...it is lacking in the description. I would advise targeting keywords in both to strengthen keyword signals.

Hopes this helps! Good Luck!

Best,

Christopher