Can't get past the 15th page of Google SERPs
-
I've been doing Local SEO for 9 years and have never had an issue that frustrated me as much as this one. I have a client who I can't get past the 15th page of Google's SERPS for their #1 KW. Here are the details:
- The domain is 4 months old
- In that 4 month span the site has gone from a DA 1 to a DA 24
- Spam score is a 0. I know this doesn't mean a ton but I can tell you from closely reviewing their AHrefs report, there's no influx of spammy links or anything like that.
- The design is a custom wordpress design
- The content is 100% unique and professionally written content
- The backlink profile (in my opinion) is full of high DA and PA sites from authority sites with high trust flow ... in my opinion their backlinks are superior to all but maybe a handful of competitors.
- I was not expecting 1st page results by now but I would have expected top 50 results a the very least. But to not crack the top 15 tells me there's some major issue here.
I really need some insight as to what could be holding me back here ... I don't want to share the domain publicly but but I will PM you it if you're interested in taking a crack at it. I will seriously pay someone a small fortune if they can help me figure this out.
-
Hi Brian,
Unless you are able to share the identity of the website, it's going to be shooting in the dark as to what might be going on. You've categorized this as 'local'. Could you be targeting keywords that don't actually relate to your client's geographic location? For example, a business outside city limits trying to rank for a geo+keyword term inside the city.
Everything cool with Google Search Console? No warnings?
How competitive is the market/keyword phrase you are targeting?
-
Hi Brian,
As I reviewed your website and found following points to fix
- Most important (this might fix your problem) Your website is accessible via http:// and https:// .. this can be a major issue as Google would view your content as duplicate. 301 all your http requests to respective https pages
- Robots.txt missing from the website, add it and enter the sitemap location on it.
Few less important but relevant points to fix.
- Promote > "Main keyword" to H1 instead of H2 (you can take help of developer if required)
- Your webpage has 46 'img' tags and 43 of them missing the required 'alt' attribute.
- Your webpage is using 17 inline CSS styles, fix it.
I hope to get positive results with this.
Thanks,
Vijay
-
Looking at the details provided by you. I am sure about few things:
- Your website is already ranked for few related keywords, that you might or might not be aware of .
- You are targeting a VERY high competition keyword.
Having said that, there should be no reason you should be moving up from the 15th page for the target keyword. Please discuss the details, I would like to take this as challenge and publish the findings here to help others (without revealing specific details of the project)
Regards,
Vijay
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
-
Google Places Competitor Category Ranks (Should we copy them?)
Competitors use "Interior designer" as primary category in Google My Business, they rank well in Google Places, across the phrases we target. Currently we use the same category, but "Office refurbishment service" would seem to be more relevant to us. Should we move to "Office refurbishment service" as the Primary category in Google My Business? If we do move would we need to change our citations? And for other keywords should we be influenced and copy the categories used by our competitors?
Local Listings | | GrouchyKids1 -
Has anyone tried using AMP links in Google Business Listings?
We have a client with multiple locations, and Google Business listings for each location. We've also created AMP pages for each of those location landing pages, and they're ranking on page one of their main queries, just below the local pack. We're wondering if anyone has tried pointing a GMB website listing at an AMP page, or if there are considerations to keep in mind before testing it out. So far, we've discussed whether to use the AMP url (amp.domain.com) or the Google viewer url (google.com/amp/s/amp.domain.com), and potential concerns for desktop users.
Local Listings | | WompM0 -
Can I use the same interior photos for multiple stores in Google My Business?
Hi, The company I work for has many store locations across the country. Getting good/quality interior pictures has become very difficult for us. We recently good a Virtual Tour from Google for one of the locations, and they took some really pictures. According to Google, the "Photos should represent the actual business" and "Represent the real-world business location". My question is: since our stores are VERY similar in the interior, can we use the same pictures for them while we get more pictures? Would Google penalize this? Thanks!
Local Listings | | StantonOptical0 -
How do you select a Google category for the SERPs?
Recently I was looking up law schools in Texas and came across a SERP listing I had never seen before. Google provided the category "law school" and narrowed it down by geographic location. I checked the code on both websites for schema and was unable to locate it. Furthermore, one GMB listing was claimed and another was not. I'm wondering why both Texas A&M School of Law and Houston College of Law showed up but University of Texas Law School did not. I have attached a screenshot of the SERP to see if anyone has seen this before or can provide any insight. Search term was "list of law schools in texas" but the same snippet showed up for "best law schools in texas." Thanks 8XHvZt4.png
Local Listings | | DigitalMarketingSEO0 -
Are Yellow Pages links good for SEO
I have a client that has 2500 yellowpages.com links like this one http://m.yellowpages.com/hillside-nj/guardianship-services Are these SEO relevant? Can they hurt SEO efforts. Is this something should push for clients? Can Yellow pages be a good link building strategy? What say you?
Local Listings | | donsilvernail0 -
Rankings on Google local search
Hi, I have been experiencing different rankings while searching with Google local site such as on: google.com.mt > English interface google.com.mt > native language interface but still searching in English. The search phrase is always in English. Also in both occasions the SERPs would contain English listings. There would be no Local/Map listings that affect results order. What is the solution to increase visibility on both English interface and native language interface? Thanks! Conrad
Local Listings | | conalt0 -
Google+ Business Listings: Hours Displayed Incorrectly
Hi, When I do a search for our brand + location name (basically making sure we at least appear for that) the hours displayed are incorrect except when I log into our account to edit the hours they are right. Ex: Google SERP displays hours 8am - 11pm but within business listing account hours entered are 8pm - 10pm. Has anyone come across this and why would it be? Is it a case of other citations showing the incorrect hours? Thanks for your help WMCA
Local Listings | | WMCA0 -
Google+ Pages and the old places listing dashboard
I'm wondering if anyone can help me... I'm trying to set up Google+ and Google Local pages for some of our clients. For the newer clients this is easy as all their accounts are using the new Google Places dashboard which allows you to create the Local Listing and then the partnering Google+ page. Simples. Example: https://plus.google.com/+twistfix/ (A verified Google Local listing, with a verified Google+ page for the company) The problem I'm having is some of our older clients already had a Google Places listing from years ago, but this is on the old Google Dashboard (doesn't allow me to create a partnering Google+ page for the business). What is the best way around this? Do I delete these old listings and start fresh using the new Google dashboard (creating the local listing and Google+ page together?) or is there another fix?
Local Listings | | bricktech0