Category Pages in competition with Homepages

[onlinemediadirect]

I am finding it a real uphill task with a few of our clients with there either product or category pages competing against other sites on main keywords.

The sites either categories or product specific pages are in direct competition with other sites homepages and I am finding it increasingly more difficult to break into positions.

What are other peoples experiences with this ? Do you feel the way the pages are ranked within the xml sitemap with priority could also be a factor.

[AlanBleiweiss]

Yeah sorry about that Garry - EGOL helped clarify.

[onlinemediadirect]

thanks EGOL some great replies. On the sites in question it ranks NO1 for its major keyword on google .

Its a very competitive term in the supplements industry.

Whey protein which other competitors target from their homepages. The sites page is the highest ranking non "homepage"

[onlinemediadirect]

alan I am well aware of the complexities (Granny and suck eggs) comes to mind

Not looking for a in depth response just wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this difficulty with category pages.

[EGOL]

When I read the question I assumed that Garry was talking about the homepages, category pages and product pages of retail sites.

Really hard to get links into those types of pages - especially good links.  However, informative pages on the same site can attract links from other websites - and if they are really informative attract enough links to compete.

Search for "hiking boots" and look for the REI page about how to pick a hiking boot.

If I was going to attack "poker" I would do it with an interactive probability game with feedback that every statistics professor on the planet would link to from his .edu webpages.  "Don't go along with bets when the odds of drawing your needed card are smaller than the multiple of potential winnings compared to the size of the wager."

[AlanBleiweiss]

EGOL,

What did I not read in the question that allowed you the ability to provide a recommendation?  We're talking multiple sites.  In unknown markets.  Without any insight into the quality of the on-site SEO or the off-site signals for these sites, right?

Just checking in because if I missed something and was way off in my response, I need to understand how that happened.

[EGOL]

I've found that the best way to break in is to produce "information" pages that attract links.

That will get you into the difficult SERPs.  Then you either feature a sales item or two on a content page or pull them into your retail pages with seductive ads or links.

A better alternative is an information site with a store.

[AlanBleiweiss]

Garry,

With all due respect, you're asking a question that is impossible to answer with anything resembling a valid, helpful answer.  SEO is such a complex set of multiple factors, not the least of which is that every site is unique, every specific market is unique and every primary topic within every market has a unique set of circumstances determining why some sites show up higher than others.

Your situation could be due to improper information architecture, topical dilution, lack of off-site authority - or any of a host of other issues, or a combination of all or part of these.

The only way to know is for you to perform a proper audit for each site compared to each competitive landscape. Barring that, any answer you get here would be throwing darts on a wall while wearing a blindfold.

Without any more specific examples, there's just now way to point you in a healthy and wise direction.