What To Focus On SEO / Link Building for this campaign to rank again..

[Circa]

Hi All; I recently joined Moz and I am really starting to learn a lot here. I am still finding it difficult to figure out what to focus on the most to improve my rankings (although I do have some page 1 ranks)

I have one strong competitor who has a SOLID spot in the top 5 of google for the past few years for the keyword I would like to be ranked for again. (as they have always been a competitor of mine either 1 spot above or 1 spot below). then i fell off google in January and finally made it back to page 1. But their links are thousands higher than mine.

What parts of my SEO Link Building should I focus on the MOST to improve my ranking to move up a few spots?

Followed links vs No Followed Links

Followed Linking Root Domains vs NoFollowed Linking Root Domain

Any help would so greatly be appreciated; also please explain why you would focus on that part of my campaign so I can better understand as well.

Thanks again
(there are 3 images total)

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[IM_Learner]

Hi Circa,

Your focus should be on link building as well as on-page SEO.

The number of links don't matter but the quality or value matters. A page with 5 quality backlinks can rank better than a page with 100 low quality backlinks.

As far as on-page SEO is concerned, focus on keywords, internal linking and most importantly content! Go through the content of your competitors site, identify the gaps or disconnect between your content and the keyword you want to rank for. Write for the users and fill those gaps.

Regards

[Carla_Dawson]

Hi Circa,

More information will be needed to be able to give you a completely correct answer. Here are some tips

Onsite SEO  - 30%

Offsite SEO - 70%

From what I can see based on the images you attached, your competitor has many more links than you (or your client) and the c-block variation is big. C-blocks are really important.

I would go for dofollow links with the right anchor text. Becareful not to over optimize your keyword . It is really easy to do. 

Their social media is way ahead of yours as well. I would start with getting more white hat keyword links.

Good luck