Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
How does this site rank higher than a seemingly better one??
-
Ok, I'm really trying to wrap my self around all this SEO stuff. Right when I think I'm grasping it, I come across something like this.
When running a keyword difficulty report for the term "essay editing", the top two results are:
www.papercheck.com/essay-editing.html
www.gradesaver.com/essay-editing/
The first result has a PA of 37, 2 linking page domains, DA of 48, and 197 root linking domains.
The second has a PA of 65, 32 linking page domains, DA of 68, and 2,572 root linking domains.
What the heck is going on here!?!? I can't understand it. I checked anchor text and that doesn't appear to be it. The only thing I can find is that the papercheck has a link from a site (marketwire) with a DA of 90 while the #2 guy's highest linking domain has a DA of 60.
However, I have a really hard time wrapping my head around this considering the total linking domain stats compared to one another.
Any insight is much appreciate... this is frustrating trying to grasp these situations!
Thanks!
-
You're not considering a lot of factors that go into SEO:
-
Page speed could be better on #1.
-
Over optimization on page 2 - with many links with anchor text that includes "editing"
-
"editing" appears 80 times on page 1, 66 times on page 2, despite page 2 having more text. I'm not saying this is a case of keyword density/spamming it, but maybe they're on the line and #2 is under it.
-
Better overall inbound link authority to #2 possibly.
-
Page 2 has repetition of both keywords in the title. Google already punishes this if you don't have noODP by replacing your title with a more suitable one. They aren't big fans of duplication but even so, #2 has a much different title.
-
Co-citation. Even with a better DA and PA, the related inbound links may be more relevant to essay editing on page 1. Also, more domains may point directly at the subpage essay-editing.html than they do the absolute page at /essay-editing/index.php
-
Analytics matter. If #2 bounce rate is double #1, and the time on site for #1 is 4 minutes longer per visitor and they get more traffic through an email list that actually stays on site, they'd have a natural boost in the "analytics" department, as well.
There are always a million reasons why one site could or may outrank another. All you can realistically do is improve your site as much as possible, create relevant links back, get citations that all match, engage on social and have a site that responds well when people click it.
-
-
The seo moz stats for a site is not the exactly same as what google uses to determine authority/trust so just because one seems to have more authority does not mean google thinks it is more relevant.
Hence why even some new sites with minimal back links can outrank some very trusted sites on the same topic.
Welcome to the wonderful world of seo, strap in and get comfortable because it's a never ending journey.
All the best
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
-
Block Links From Spam sites
can you block links from other websites?ie: links backlinking to your site, causing a high spam score.
Link Building | | Socialdom0 -
How Many Backlinks does I need to rank?
A keyword Olehana private label cosmetic company that also my competitor have 4k ref domain for this keyword. So Do I need more than 4k ref domain with anchortext "olehana" Please help me. Thanks.
Link Building | | arainbadami0 -
Back link from site with DA of 72 to a website domain. Clicking on the link redirects to our website not the attended one.
Hi,
Link Building | | JIMBO16
I've ran a back link check and discovered a good back link to a site which then gets redirected back to my company's website. I have a feeling that an old SEO agency has purchased a small website which has a decent link back from a relevant organisation with a high Domain authority and then redirects the domain to our website to get the link juice. What are your thought on this? Is this really bad practise and possibly damaging? Thanks, Jim0 -
Need advice: How to replace a high-ranking pdf with a landing page -- without dropping much in rank?
Hi! We have a pdf of a white paper on our site that ranks #1 for a niche term. We are now exploring the idea of building a landing page for this paper with an overview (2-3 paragraphs) and a registration form for interested parties to fill out in order to access the paper. Do you think there'd be any hope of ensuring the new landing page would rank almost as well eventually (top 3)? I'm thinking a key consideration would be preserving the link juice from the existing links that are coming into the pdf, and that 301 redirecting the pdf URL to the new landing page URL could help with that. Am I right? Or would it be better to try to reach out to the linking sites and ask them to update their links (seems daunting). Any advice/opinions on this situation would be appreciated. (If folks think that there would be a significant risk of permanently dropping out of the top 5 by attempting this, we would likely choose to leave the pdf ungated as is.) Thanks!! -John
Link Building | | jomosi0 -
Is it safe to submit the same article to multiple sites?
Hello, I am just getting into SEO and I need some guidance with article submissions. I have read in many different places that submitting articles to other sites (EzineArticles, Digg, Etc.) is a great way to build links back to your site. My question is, can I submit articles already posted on our site to these sites or is it best to write new articles?
Link Building | | ScottReinmuth9 -
Why is my Page Rank 0.
Hi, I am trying to understand why my Page Rank is 0. Many forums say that it is because my site has been blocked by google. Any help with this would be much appreciated. http://davincidrivers.com
Link Building | | MariaPerrone0 -
Building backlinks for a newspaper site?
Anyone have tips on building links to a newspaper site? I am looking for a strategy to create links to a news site beyond building one link at a time. We have so much content that is constantly updated that it would be impossible to do this one page at a time.
Link Building | | BostonWright0 -
Which Directory Sites to Choose?
Hi All I am a newbie to SEO and have a quick Q. Assuming that appropriate steps would be to; a) Ensure all onsite matters are are correct, title tags, meta descriptions, redirects, canonical issues. b) Submit to Directories c) Build Links I am approaching step b) Which Directories are worth submitting to? For those which require payment, how can I decide which are value for money or should I just use SEOMOZ list of links and assume that theyre worth the $50 - $100 if my higher ranking competitors have links from these directories. Also, can this be looked opon as grey/black hat 'buying of links'? Thank you Sean www.pretavoir.co.uk
Link Building | | seanmccauley0