Does SEO work?
-
Hello, I have a question which I really want to get to the bottom of.
We are carrying out some SEO for a client. Im currently using the tools in Moz to help me with this. Im currently trying to target "Dentist Balham". We are following all the "rules" creating content, created a mobile friendly site etc. However the site that is coming top is www.balhamdentalcare.co.uk which carries non of the things we are doing, in fact a lot of the content is PDF downloads. They don't do well in the SERP Report compared to other sites. Its basically not a great site but its coming up first. Does any one think this can be beaten or does it just come down to the fact that they use "Balham" in the domain name?
Thanks for your advice.
Ade -
Thanks for that, i feel inspired! I know it can be done its just sometimes you feel your doing a lot of work and you look at another site and think "there not doing half this stuff, why are they doing so well?" Im of course also looking at other areas/keywords to improve the SEO but as you know most clients get certain terms into there heads that they want to show up for. Thanks for your help.
-
Thanks Jeremy, I've not been working on the SEO that long, less than 2 months. I guess my question is more to do with the fact that its hard to say to a client "This is SEO and this is what needs doing on your site" then for a client to simply turn round and say " well this company doesnt do that and they are top".
-
I took a quick look at the BalhamDentalCare site.
You ask... "Does any one think this can be beaten".
In the organic SERPs, yes, absolutely. They can be beaten. There are many things that competitors could do a LOT better. But those competitors would have to do a LOT of work to match them.
In the local results. They have great position - but a smart competitor who is willing to work hard could beat them.
You also ask.... "or does it just come down to the fact that they use "Balham" in the domain name?"
Having the word "Balham" is slightly helpful. But that word in the domain will only decide their position against weak competitors. When competition increases a word in the domain means very little compared to all of the other work that needs to be done to be competitive.
Quite honestly. balhamdentalcare.co.uk has done a fantastic job creating content. If they ever learn how to do really good SEO or hire a really good SEO then the other "dentists in Balham" are going to have a difficult time beating them. If they simply write better title tags and sharpen the optimization of their pages they will be a lot stronger.
A small amount of smart work could make them a lot stronger, but most competitors have an enormous amount of work just to pull even with them in their current state.
Beat them now while they are in low form and hope that they don't get smart.
-
I think an important thing you forgot to mention was how long you have been carrying out your SEO strategy for this client. This is essential to know - high ranking websites do not happen quickly.
Having a keyword in the domain used to be extremely beneficial, but Google has began not factoring it in nearly as much.
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
-
Local SEO for E-commerce
Hi there I am running an ECommerce site that supplies products globally! We have 2 administrative offices - the UK and Ireland. When setting Google my business, do you suggest setting 2 listings - one for the UK and one for Ireland? Both listings will link to the same E-Commerce homepage but with different phone numbers. Please give me advice=)
Local Listings | | Insightful_Media0 -
Javacript & Schematic Markup for Local SEO
I am trying to apply schematic markup for a client who is using javascript for their store hours and maps. Will Google be able to comprehend the data in the Javascript file if I set up a schematic property for this? I wanted to use this specific property http://schema.org/openingHours. Our client is also importing reviews from a third party source. Would it be possible to apply schematic markup to a 3rd party source? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!
Local Listings | | RosemaryB0 -
Is Google + really being quietly shut down? What does this mean for SEO?
I've recently seen & read more and more articles about Google +'s imminent shut down. How likely is that to happen and how will this affect Google Pages for Business, and overall SEO strategies? Like this article right here.
Local Listings | | rodelmo42 -
Struggling with SEO and Rebranding...
I have a question for you... have a client who originally I built and ranked individual websites for them for multiple services. One website was for auto sales, one for auto repair and one for auto detailing. But the names were all different and individual. They decided to rebrand and they wanted to bring them all under one common name. And they were talked into building a new website under the one common brand name and put all the content under that website and have since 302 redirected everything. I know.... should have been 301's So of course now I have to go back in there and repair the SEO damage as everything has now tanked. So here is my dilemma I have the following brands/services - all located same city, some in different physical locations new website is XYZ.com XYZ Car Sales - located at 123 any street XYZ Auto Repair - located at 123 any street XYZ Auto Detailing - located at 456 any street XYZ Customizing - available at 456 any street Should I just build out the content on the XYZ.com domain and use subfolders so XYZ.com/customizing, XYZ.com/autosales, XYZ.com/autodetailing etc or should I use subdomains autodetailing.XYZ.com, etc And as a final question to this scenario... how does this affect the Google+ business pages for each of these businesses? If i use the subfolder method, should I have the XYZ Car Sales, XYZ Auto Detailing all point to the XYZ.com root or should each Google business page point to the actual subfolder? And how will this affect SEO? If I build out the Auto Detailing section for example I was thinking it would look like this XYZ.com/auto-detailing
Local Listings | | seo.help
XYZ.com/auto-detailing/about-us
XYZ.com/auto-detailing/services
XYZ.com/auto-detailing/contact-us Will that be good enough for Google to properly link the content to that particular section/brand assuming things like Title Tags/ H1 tags, etc are done properly? Keeping in mind we have Google business pages already in existence for XYZ Auto Sales
XYZ Auto Detailing
XYZ Customizing
XYZ Auto Repairs Your help will be hugely appreciated, Ive searched and searched, but most things seem to lead back to multi location SEO questions, this is multi-location but also multi brand and different business names (although quite similar)0 -
Default Local SEO question: Does Google really do improptu check ins?
I have a client who has multiple locations within his state, many of which are satellite offices. Although they don't have anyone working at these satellite offices full time, they have office space available to them their, someone who can take calls/mail and do use the space frequently in person. We've been in the process of cleaning up duplicate and incorrect listings in directories to get on the map in the SERPs in these markets, but the local SEO outfit we've hired has come back with a problem I found surprising. In order to clean up the duplicate & incorrect Google+ profiles that we've got out there for these offices, we evidently need to work with an actual Google moderator. This moderator has said that the satellite offices in question are actually not real business locations and are in violation of G+ guidlines. The local SEO I'm using says that it's not uncommon for Google to actually send someone out to do an in person improptu visit when they are suspicious that a listing might not belong in their listings, and I find this really surprising. Do any of you have any experience with whether this is the case? FWIW, this is a real business that could have someone working remotely in these offices remotely if that's what it took to make Google happy, but they'd rather not and certainly don't need to in order to offer their services in these markets.
Local Listings | | LeeAbrahamson0 -
How does dynamic call tracking affect local SEO?
I would like to begin tracking calls and offline conversions, but I am concerned that if I add a dynamic call tracking software that it will negatively affect SEO.
Local Listings | | FluidAdvertising1 -
Local SEO: Creating a Second home-based business?
I'm in a bit of a pickle, here's the issue: I have a home-based business with a physical address. I plan on starting another home-based business at the same physical address. I only have one phone (cellphone). I plan on operating both businesses unless one completely eclipses the other. I can probably see your head spinning right now . . . how big of NAP issues are we looking at? I own my house, I could probably add a line to the new business address (like a suite # or something) I can afford a landline or secondary cellphone if necessary Any thoughts, ideas, criticisms, direction, hate-mail, or solutions?
Local Listings | | roachdesign0 -
Local SEO: How many consistent citations needed to rank
Hello, Can you guys analyze this site and see how many (quality, consistent) citations they'll need to rank 1st (in local results) for the two following local terms: weight loss salt lake city hypnosis salt lake city website: The Brain Trainer LLC www.expandingpotentials.net Thank you
Local Listings | | BobGW0