Unexpected ranking
-
We recently built a page for a client which consisted of a one paragraph of about 30-40 words, We weren't expecting this to rank, but it has ranked at #3 on UK Google.
So, we are now trying to work out the likely reason for this, as pages which we have optimised do not rank this well.
We realise there are a number of factors which influence ranking, but on this particular page we have a news module at the bottom of the page containing 8 short intros to other related content.
Could it be that search engines are ranking for the main content shown by the menu link and the 8 short intros associated with that main content?
Hope that makes sense.
Thanks
Ian
-
I don't think there is a definitive answer there, but my gut would be that those links out to relevant content are helping the credibility/quality consideration of your page and that they may be helping time on site and user engagement data as I mentioned before.
What you might want to do is test adding that similar feature to a couple of other pages and monitor ranking impact!
Best,
Ricky
-
Thanks Ricky,
Good observations - particularly about the modules keeping people on the page longer, never considered that.
The page speed issue is a problem at the moment. JCH optimise seems to crash the site. We will have to get to the bottom of it soon.
So you don't think Google is taking into consideration the content of related modules?
Ian
-
Hi Ian,
Unfortunately, no one call tell you exactly why you're seeing so much success with that page for that term, but we can give our best guesses based on what we do understand about Google's algorithm.
Some contributing factors from what I can tell...
- You have clear on-page targeting (title, heading, url) related to the exact keyword in question that seems to be lacking (fully) on other pages showing up on page one.
- Your domain authority is on-par with other pages ranking toward the top of page 1 for that term (26).
- Your page has a very large number of internal links point to it (396) vs other pages showing up on page 1.
- The fact that this topic is mentioned in several places through your site may be helping (http://www.laughology.co.uk/teacher-workshop-s-inset-days/inset-days)
- User behavior/experience seems to be good (the fact that you have all of these other resources linked may be contributing to longer time on site, high user satisfaction etc...signals we BELIEVE Google is using to some degree).
One thing I also checked was site speed...to my surprise your page speeds were VERY low..so you're winning despite that at this point. I wanted to point that out though because it could be something that helps improve performance of other pages for other terms!
-
Hi Ria.
This is the page, we have used the term in link and H1 , but not overly optimised the page content.
But I am more interested in whether search engines are taking into account everything that is seen on screen along with the main content.
If they do, then should I be giving more consideration to the content of the modules that display with the main content, to influence page rank?
http://www.laughology.co.uk/teacher-workshop-s-inset-days/inset-days
Term: inset days workshops
-
Could be anything really... Maybe the page which is supposed to rank for that query (but was previously ranking poorly in comparison) is over-optimised, so Google prefers the new page created. Google will also be crawling the supplementary content on the page, such as the modules and menus you mentioned, though this should have less weight than the main content itself.
But as Ricky said, without knowing the page and keyword, it's hard to say. There might be something really obvious.
-
Could you share the page and the keyword you're ranking for? Pretty impossible answer without that info..thanks!
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
-
Can lost pages be redirected with a 301 in order to do not lost keyword rankings?
Hi, I have got a website and some posts rank well, but I am not so interested in keep them for branding reasons. So I planned to do 301 redirects to home and remove those contents. Is it ok? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | patrizia_h0 -
.htaccess Question and Ranking
I have some basic rules set up in my .htaccess file and just curious as to the implications of them as I seem to have a website ranking very low on Search indexes for no particular reason that I can fathom. My question is a follows I have a htaccess rules set up in my application application that first strips the file suffix and then adds a closing brace for example Rule 1: http://www.domain.com/my_page.php becomes http://www.domain.com/my_page
On-Page Optimization | | ecrmeuro
Rule 2: http://www.domain.com/my_page becomes http://www.domain.com/my_page/ Will this rule expecially Rule 2 effect ranking or will these rule have no adverse affect on the website as my MOZ reports still seem to have pages listed win the Top Pages by PA section without the www? Below is an example of the htacess file. RewriteEngine On Redirect Trailing Slashes... RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [L,R=301] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} /+[^.]+$
RewriteRule ^(.+[^/])$ %{REQUEST_URI}/ [R=301,L] Redirect non-WWW to WWW... RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^contractor-accounts.co.uk [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.contractor-accounts.co.uk/$1 [L,R=301] Handle Front Controller... RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]0 -
Will I cannibalize a ranked product by introducing a new product in the series with the same keywords?
Currently http://aoi-corp.com/safety-monitors/series-1000 ranks #4 for Oxygen Deficiency Monitor, the newer product http://aoi-corp.com/oxygen-deficiency-monitor/series-1300-oxygen-deficiency-monitor needs to rank for the same keyword. Will I hurt the Series 1000 ranking? Thoughts/advice on strategy? Thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | JJSAMRA0 -
Multiple page rank - harm or good?
Can someone explain this to me, as I just ranked a page on our website and intended to do the same for 3 other pages. our home page is currently ranked well, but after reading this (below from Moz) I'm concerned if i'm doing more harm then good. I just ranked the page 3 days ago, I haven't seen any drops yet. When multiple pages with the potential to rank well are combined into a single page, they not only stop competing with each other, but also create a stronger relevancy and popularity signal overall. This will positively impact your ability to rank well in the search engines. Thanks in advance, Lauren.
On-Page Optimization | | MissThumann0 -
Ranking well for 3 keyword phrase but not for 2?
Hi all, We have a site that sells whisky and is ranking well for a specific 3 keyword phrase for example "glendronach hielan whisky" (brand, product, type) which is great but the site isn't doing well for 2 keyword phrase for example "glendronach whisky" or "glendronach hielan". I'm a little confused as to why it wouldn't rank higher for the 2 keyword phrases given that there present in the 3 keyword phrase. Is there a massive jump between ranking well between 3 and 2 keyword phrases? If so what could anyone suggest to try and rank on the 2's?
On-Page Optimization | | Jon-S0 -
Need help in understanding why my site does not rank well for our best content?
Hi, We are a technology site from India (Digit.in) and we create a lot of original product review content (http://www.digit.in/mobile-phones/nokia-lumia-830-review-24655.html) but don't seem to rank even in the first 4 pages on Google results. Please let me know the reason for this and how to get this fixed. Thanks Arun
On-Page Optimization | | 9dot90 -
Does microformats improve my ranking?
Hi, does Mircofromats like schema.org improve my ranking? If so, just because my products are listed in google/products? Regard
On-Page Optimization | | censeo0 -
Can Other Websites You Own Affect Your Rankings?
Let's say you own three websites. One is low quality and Google frowns upon it, another is moderate and a third has stellar unique content. Would Google penalize the third website because you own the first website? On a related note - If you were banned from Google AdWords, would registering a site in your name potentially harm your rankings?
On-Page Optimization | | DerekP0