Double Listing

[azguy]

So what does it take to get a double listing? If someone has already answered this, please just send the link.

Obviously lots of anchor text links to both pages. Also, do I link from both pages to each other for google to see the correlation? For example, homepage link to interior page. And interior page link back to homepage using same anchor text that I want to get the double listing for.

Thanks in advance!

[Joe.Robison]

I agree with EGOL's answer - right on.

I was trained in theory in my early days that you should NEVER have two pages targeting the same keyword, similar to Ryan's first answer about Google getting "confused" about both pages and ranking neither. I've now seen in practice over the years that this isn't true and that double listings from the 1&2 or even 2-4 positions are very possible, especially for "chunky middle" and long-tail terms.

Similar to how Rand and many others have been saying over the years, you do want to create the perfectly optimized page for your main keywords, fully of great content, rich media, focused CTA's, etc. But there is also a natural use of certain keywords throughout your site that occurs. There are similar but not exact pages that just happen to target the same keywords - and these often create the double listings. So following the advice from others above, what I've seen work well for double listings is to choose a primary keyword for each of your main pages, but don't worry about overlapping certain keywords among your pages - this happens naturally and you can get double listings as a result.

[NickEubanks]

There are a lot of great responses here.

I personally am a huge proponent of architecture (IA), between both URL's and content. If you construct your site the right way you should be able (to EGOL's point) to rank highly for your individual product terms and then have additional results listed underneath such as your homepage and potentially a news or archive page.

For example lets say you sell brass, silver, and gold widgets. You would want to set the site up so you have a trickle down hierarchy with implied relevance, i.e. homepage/product-category/product-name. This will allow you to build authority at all three directory levels and rank your category landing or product detail pages for your product queries as well as your homepage further down the results.

[destdigi]

another factor that we need to be aware is "the competitiveness" of the keyword.  In a low competitive market, this has workd for me, but at higher, needs some good quality external links coming in.

cheers!

[RyanKent]

Very good point. I often find SEOmoz Q&A results on the first page of Google SERPs.

[EGOL]

If a site is making good money, clearly the right choice is to hire a SEO.

I agree.

I recognize your concerns are legitimate, but have you ever heard of that happening this year on SEOmoz?

No, not this year on SEOmoz.  But I know for a fact that forum posts sometimes attract very strong competitors and very aggressive scrapers.  And, I know for a fact how badly your income can be damaged.

[RyanKent]

I see your point EGOL. But our websites are already exposed to the world. When a user comes to this Q&A, there choices are:

• generic Q&A which often does not reveal the true issues on their site

• share their site and receive targeted, specific information related to their site

• hire a SEO

If a site is making good money, clearly the right choice is to hire a SEO. Otherwise users are stuck between the first two options. I recognize your concerns are legitimate, but have you ever heard of that happening this year on SEOmoz?

[EGOL]

Think very very carefully about exposing a site - especially if it is a good one making money.  Lots of young testosterone and old weasels hang out in SEO forums just looking for opportunity.

Your most dangerous competitor is the one who has not yet arrived.  A lot of people could put a few pages of new content on their website tonight and be at the top of your SERPs by morning.

Dropping by just two positions could cost you a pile of dough - every month.

[azguy]

Well is there anyone in the golf niche I need to be worried about in regards to exposing my site?

[selcor]

yes i have had this work for me before... however it was a blackhat guru that i learned it from.

[KeriMorgret]

Hi Harry,

Have you had this work for you personally, or can you give us some more information? This seems to be counter to what most people are saying in the thread, so it'd be interesting to hear more about your experiences.

Thanks!

[selcor]

This is my understanding of how it works...  you need a "main page" keyword with a link to a 2nd page for the term you want to rank for.  Then page #2 must also have an text link back to "main page" with same keyword.  Then you need backlinks to both pages for keyword-- once both pages get on page 1 of google, google automatically gives you the famous "double listing"...

[KeriMorgret]

SEObook also had a recent posting (June on "Super Size Your Listing" at http://www.seobook.com/how-super-size-your-listings-google.

[EGOL]

On a site like this I would have several pages about "brass widgets".  Maybe news, history, sales, styles, manufacturing....  Each of those pages would have a "brass widgets" menu that links to all other brass widgets pages.

[RyanKent]

Your keywords do not need to be "totally" different, just have some difference. Any variation is fine.

If you have a page for "blue widgets", then that page could be optimized for "blue widget" and "blue widgets". Your home page would not specifically be optimized for those two terms, but could use a term that includes them.

If you can share your site's URL or a page you are considering, a more specific example can be used.

[azguy]

Awesome! But, do you do any linking between pages (not one-way, but to each other) to get the double, triple, etc. listing?

[EGOL]

Great news, Joe.

Thanks for the tips and for letting us know you are getting some nice results.

[joemas99]

Excellent response. I love when my pages show up and dominate the first page. One of my search terms in yahoo grabbed the 6th- 10th, spots of the first page of the 10 results. Some were pages i have on blogger type sites.

BTW if you remember 1-2 months ago for a couple of weekends I was on here day and night learning from you and others. I have now mastered on page optimization. WP has a great plug in that saves tons of time. I've stayed away so from from any automatic link posting, or page generator, etc. I have also targeted terms best suited that buyers will click on, both for pages and for PPC. The best advice I can give, is that I've found pages that meet the tests of DA, PA, content, back links etc. for good search results, and found that now google and others are favoring local searches, favoring still the key words in the url, especially the root url, that once you do the basic stuff of on page SEO and develop the best set of key words to target for your business, the hits go up a lot.

All these extra back links don't mean much. Google gives credit for no follows from sites that they like as authority. Plus each key word has it's own difficulty to rank, so if you can't rank a page, try one on another site to rank it, or pay for an ad. i pay Yahoo $10. a month for an ad that pulls! I'll keep the other tricks to myself, but anyone interested can run reports on www.taxproblem.org and see the changes (assuming you did it before) or at least see that pages are better, plus try searching some key words in my industry. There's a lot you can do off site to get seen.

[RyanKent]

I love not only the answer but the enthusiasm! I actually get energized when I read your advice. Big thumbs up from me.

[Thos003]

Awesome... And thus the reason EGOL is the Guru.

[EGOL]

I have lots of double listings... some triple and some quadruple.

I view keyword cannibalization as an opportunity to dominate the SERPs rather than something to be avoided.

Would you like to own the top three positions in google?  Tell the truth!

All of the searchers will click into your site because they see your dominance and say... This guy is The Widget Man!

The way that happens is to have three strong pages for the same keyword.

Let's imagine that you have a website about widgets on the domain of egol.com.

"Brass Widgets" are your favorite.  You have a page about the history of brass widgets, another about brass widgets in the news.  Your title tags might be....

Homepage:  Brass Widgets by EGOL

News Page:  Brass Widgets in the News!

History Page:  Brass Widgets History

There you have it... a strong homepage, strong history page and your homepage all have enough power to rank in the top ten.  Your homepage has enough power to rank #1.  There you have earned #1, #2 and #3 for "brass widgets"..

Nothing wrong with that... a great way to run your competitors out of town.

Now let's say you also have information about "wooden widgets"... and "plastic widgets"... and.... "aluminum widgets...you have the same type of news pages for wooden, plastic and aluminum, the same type of history pages and your homepage title tag says...

EGOL's Widgets:  Wooden, Plastic, Aluminum and Brass

If you have all of this widget MoJo you might rank #1 for "widgets"

A final word on anchor text.....  link to your brass news page with "Brass Widgets News" or "News about Brass Widgets"... similar for history.  This is not duplicate anchor text but the targeted keywords (brass widgets) appear in different context.    Works great. Don't worry about it.  Try it. Dominate your SERPs!

Added later:  This tactic works best for search queries that contain two words.  That allows you to have three word anchor text.  My luck has not been as good for three and four word queries as that is when I believe that cannibalization becomes a problem.

[azguy]

Thanks!!

[Thos003]

Ryan's advice is solid. The only reason I believe that double listings would legitimately appear is because your site has overlapping categories. Like "widgets" and "blue widgets". Your secondary category my pull enough rank to graduate to the first page. In your case, your home page and store front could overlap. Like "Widgets" and "Buy Widgets". If your content is unique enough then you should be fine.

[azguy]

Thanks!

Well, I have my secondary keywords in my homepage title, then my store has the same keywords but slightly modified, and I was just wondering if that would warrant google a double listing.

Are you saying my homepage should be totally different keywords than my store page, even though the keywords are relevant to both pages on my ecommerce website?

[RyanKent]

You should never use the same anchor text to link to two different pages within your site.

When a user enters a search term into Google such as "blue widgets", it is Google's job to find the page which is most likely to satisfy the user's query. As a site owner, you have many ways to send Google clues as to which page is the most relevant on your site for a given term.

If you use anchor text on your site linking "blue widgets" to a particular page, then Google will take that as a strong indicator the target page is the most relevant page on your site relating to "blue widgets". If you then link to a different page using that same anchor text, Google will get confused and possible rank neither of your pages well.

The goal should be optimizing one page on your site for a given search term. Once a user is on your site, make them aware of related pages through other means. You can use your sidebar block for "related pages" as an example. You can also use anchor text in the page for "white widgets" to help direct users to other content.

Your end goal should be having one strong listing, not multiple listings which may be weaker. If you already have the number one listing and wish to add a second result, be careful you are not cannibalizing your primary page. To get a double listing Google will need to determine both pages from your site are relevant for the search term.