Fishy Rank 1\. Google Algorithm Bug?
-
We have noticed some strange rankings for a while that do not make any type of logical sense from an SEO standpoint. After an SEO review, it is found that these sites rank for top terms in very competitive markets for no clear reason.
To demonstrate, here is research for one of the categories where this is taking place.
Google for "Phoenix Computer Repair"
Rank #1: www.datafast.net/phoenix-computer-repair.html
Rank #2: www.mobiletechsupport.com
Rank #4: www.mypctechs.com
Linkscape Visualization and Comparison Report
The first thing we run is a linkscape visualization and comparison report. Compare site #1 to #4 or site #2 to #4. In all instances, site #1 and site #2 are completely dominated by site #4.
Visualizer stats, with higher ranking site #1 on the left. Lower ranking site #4 on right:
| Overall Score | 29% | 53% |
| Page mozRank | 3.72 37% | 5.66 57% |
| Page mozTrust | 5.41 54% | 6.09 61% |
| External mozRank | 3.38 34% | 5.62 56% |
| Subdomain mozRank | 3.91 39% | 5.70 57% |
| Domains Linking | 11 12% | 74 29% |
| External Links | 10 0% | 17461 60% |********Linkscape Report
Next, running a linkscape report to evaluate inbound links for site #1 shows a collection of cheap profile spam links. There actually appear to be no high quality inbound links:
-
****http://fastw3b.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=3432;sa=summary
TARGET: www.datafast.net/phoenix-computer-repair.html
TITLE: View the profile of Phoenix12****Anchor Text: Computer Repair Phoenix
URL Metrics
- mozRank: 0.00
- mozTrust: 0.00
- Passing: 1.59
domain Metrics (fastw3b.net)
- mozRank: 5.19
- mozTrust: 5.05
-
http://djdriblemouth.com/Simple Machines Forum 1.1.11 blog/index.php?action=profile;u=1897;sa=summary
TARGET: www.datafast.net/phoenix-computer-repair.html
TITLE: View the profile of Phoenix59****Anchor Text: Computer Repair Phoenix
URL Metrics
- mozRank: 0.00
- mozTrust: 0.00
- Passing: 1.56
domain Metrics (djdriblemouth.com)
- mozRank: 2.38
- mozTrust: 2.59
-
http://www.bettingfc.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1990;sa=summary
TARGET: www.datafast.net/phoenix-computer-repair.html
TITLE: View the profile of Phoenix59
********Checking Page Text and Content
Full evaluation of the top site #1 shows there's not much relevant content on the pages to warrant rank 1. Just a few bare pages with very little text. Site #2 does have a lot of on-page information, but still not enough useful information to justify rank #2 in this market.
********So, what's going on?
How is site #1 without any good inbound link and very little page content and site #2 with little inbound links and low trust ranking above sites with tens of thousands more inbound links, sites with more content, and sites that dominate in every way with MOZRank.
Is this some kind of black-hat SEO that is exploiting an unpublished weakness in Google? If so, what method is being used? Spammy profile links? The current site ranked #1 has been reported to Google as SPAM 3 times in the past. Every time it disappears from the top ranking for a few weeks, but is back again a short time later.
-
-
We all have "get links" drilled into our head repeatedly, and for good reason. Links are a key factor in determining a site's authority and worthiness in the eyes of the public.
Relevancy can definitely outweigh links, as you see in this case. There is nothing wrong with Google's ranking in this case. Below is an analysis for the #1 ranked datafast.net:
Search Term: phoenix computer repair
Page Title: Phoenix Computer Repair | Computer Repair in Phoenix Arizona (AZ)
1. Page Title begins with an exact phrase match for the searched term.
2. Page Title is short, so the words used have a lot of weight
3. Page Title offers a full second match of the phrase, though not an exact match
Your page title (the #4 rank) is optimized for the search term but not quite as well based on word order and word count.
On Page factors:
4. The top ranked site misses an opportunity by not using the ALT tag for it's images. Just an fyi.
5. The first words in the content area of the #1 ranked site is the phrase from the page's title: Phoenix Computer Repair Services. The words appear in large bold-type, though not a H1 header.
6. Exact phrase match appears twice more on the page, once in the content and once in the footer. The content appearance is in bold.
7. The phrase "computer repair in Phoenix" is also used, in bold.
The page clearly offers very little content. But there are several things that work in it's favor. There is no header text, no ads, the side bar only contains the navigation, and the footer only contains basic site links. The content area text has a lot of weight in that regard.
The content, while very light on word count, is straight forward and to the point. Their focus is a perfect match for the keyword phrase involve.
This page is not spam. I would not advise reporting the page as spam. The Google account used to report this page can be devalued in the eyes of the spam team for doing such. It would seem you are reporting the page to eliminate competition, and not due to any actual spam.
The #1 ranked page was designed for the exact phrase you are using. The domain and page authority aren't great, but a 3x ranking isn't bad either.
The #4 site's page uses the key phrase....ZERO times. There is a (non-exact) match in the footer with "Computer Repair Phoenix". The #4 site is heavily stuffed. The footer is a list of 15 cities and 200 zip codes.
Bottom line, Google got it right. The #1 site is a local, established business with some authority and a page perfectly optimized for the phrase involved. The #4 site needs work to be more competitive on this phrase.
-
Yesterday (June 9th, 2011) I had my top ranking website on page one number one be deindexed completely. No reason was given, no explanation in webmaster tools. All previous statistics in my webmaster tools account are gone, its empty. Something is going on with google right now.
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
-
Rank Report Not Updating
The ranking tool indicates that a new rank report will be generated every Tuesday. My last report was on November 15th. It is now November 25th. It missed last week. Should I report something wrong or is this normal? How do I keep it updating on a weekly basis like it's supposed to? I checked in settings to see if I had done anything wrong and couldn't find anything. Regards, Dino
Moz Pro | | Dino640 -
Google Analyitics Average Position for Queries
Why is the Average Position in the Queries view of Google Analytics SEO report so different on each query from the position shown by SEOmoz?
Moz Pro | | rfaulk0 -
Test page ranking in search engine
Is there a tool on SEOMOZ that allows me to get search engine ranking(s) for a specific page with a specific set of keywords?
Moz Pro | | Webxtrakt0 -
Freaked out over domain authority ranking drop.
Should I be freaked out that website's domain authority dropped 4 points? Is it normal for websites to fluctuate a couple of points or have I really screwed something up?
Moz Pro | | bewoldt0 -
Rankings Check and Googles Quality Guidelines
Hi, I am trialing SEOmoz at present. What i dont understand is how come the rankings check, which presumably involves sending requests to Google, doesnt contravine the Google quality guidelines and cause a website to be penalised. Sorry if being a bit dim - but if anybody could explain it would be really helpful cheers stayin
Moz Pro | | stayin0 -
Woo rank features
Is there a way to find the same type of information that woo rank provides via the pro toolset? I am just learning SEO and exploring the PRO tool set and just received a woo rank report for a clients site and right off the bat I see that it is missing the robots.txt file, but I haven't found anything like that on SEO moz. Thanks!
Moz Pro | | ClayW0 -
Is the SEOMoz Rank Tracker still accurate?
I monitor several keywords on several domains and i have found that rank tracker gives me one result yet when searching via Google myself (on different machines) i get a different result. I've tried several devices on different networks so there is no chance that Google is remembering my searches as such and i ensure that i am always signed out of my account. All devices provide the same results yet Rank Tracker provides a completely different result. It's as though Rank Tracker is a day ahead or something. Can anyone shed any light for me please?
Moz Pro | | MarkHincks0 -
Only Crawling 1 page?
Hi Guys, Any advice much appreciated on this! Recently set up a new campaign on my dashboard with just 5 keywords. The domain is brammer.co.uk and a quick Google site:brammer.co.uk shows a good amount of indexed pages. However - first seomoz tool crawl has only crawled 1 url!! "Last Crawl Completed: Apr. 12th, 2011 Next Crawl Starts: Apr. 17th, 2011" Any ideas what's stopping the tool crawl anymore of the site?? Cheers in advance.. J
Moz Pro | | lovealbatross0