Main landing page does not rank as good a single news article - why?
-
We are running several special interest websites in the German speaking market, covering outdoor sports and vacation topics. We are trying to focus on one main landing page for events and keywords, this should be number one für search engines. Besides we are producing numerous content (news, pictures, videos), which are supposed to rank well and to be found on Google News, but not to rank higher for the specific keyword than our designated landing page. It seems, that we fail with this attempt.
Example one: The main page for the alpine Ski World Championships on our skiing portal www.skiinfo.de was supposed to be this one: http://magazin.skiinfo.de/3170--ski_wm_2011_garmisch-partenkirchen.html
for the Keywords 'ski wm 2011' in Germany. We missed this goal. Many of our own news articles ranked higher. When searching for 'ski wm 2011' on skiinfo.de only directly after the World Championships, the main page was ranked on 33rd position - 32 of our own articles ranked higher.
Why does the landing page rank worse than an article like this:
Another example: Our designated landing page for the Event 'International Mountain Summit' (a major mountaineering and climbing event in Bressanone/ITA) is this:
http://www.bergleben.de/klettern/2148--international_mountain_summit.html (Keywords: international mountain summit, IMS). We are experiencing that our news articles rank higher, when they are 'fresh', this one still does: http://www.bergleben.de/klettern/2149-international-mountain-summit-4.html. Why?
It would be perfect, if good content would strengthen the designated landing page. We are linking back to this landing page from each article in the breadcrumb, but this does not seem to be very successful. How can we achieve this?
-
I think backlinks is the biggest issue here....
-
I saw some German special interest videos once, don't remember much sports happening though
Besides we are producing numerous content (news, pictures, videos), which are supposed to rank well and to be found on Google News
Have you been approved by Google News? If not, you're not going to be found in there.
Here's info on what you need to do to get in (if you're not already) - http://www.google.com/support/news_pub/?hl=en - Basically create a news sitemap and submit your site for approval. If you get stuck, just ask
As for the ranking issue, well...
So. Much. Code! It gives me a headache to look at for a start, but that shouldn't be your problem A lot of links on there too (340 for the ranking page, 400 on the main page :s)
Anyway, it's hard to tell you exactly (especially as all the SEOmoz tools are down just now) but for the first example I'm going to give you a few gut feeling suggestions.
-
There's very little content on the main page and what is there doesn't seem to be unique to that page. I always like a static section, even at the bottom of the page, of unique content targeting my keywords.
-
The code to content is probably making crawling your site more difficult than needs be. I'm not saying your site is uncrawlable, but I can't look at it and know what's going on.
-
There is a LOT of links from the main page with 'ski wm 2011' in it. Linking out with the keyword you're targeting in the anchor isn't advisable as it suggests to search engines it's not a destination page, but a hub. Not always the case and not a strong factor, but the sheer volume here probably doesn't help.
-
Your keyword is the first words of the title on both those pages (among others). Not a problem on it's own, but if Google's having to choose 1 or 2 pages to display about that keyword then you're saying that all of these pages are about 'ski wm 2011' so it has to choose.
-
If the event is current then some of the results may have a Query Deserves Freshness (QDF) factor, resulting in a boost to your newer articles (this is probably the case for your second example).
-
Your main page for this event has very little authority and is buried 3+ levels deep. Effectively either page seems reasonable to Google as with not many links going to each, so it has to judge more on On Page factors (going back to lack of content and no unique content).
So, how to rememdy this.
-
Build external links. Get links with the anchor text 'ski wm 2011' going to the page you want to rank.
-
Build internal links. Make your important page immediately accessible from your home page.
-
Add unique content to the page. Instead of just a collection of other stories with links to them, add a few hundred words explaining what the event is.
If I get a chance later I'll look into running some of the SEOmoz tools against the pages (since they're currently down) and see if I can come up with some more specifics. In the meantime I need to do some work Hope this helps your thinking process.
-
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
-
How many pages should we optimise?
I have more than 250 pages on my site including my products. Is it a good idea to optimise each page with a unique keyword or is there a limit to the number of pages we should aim for?
On-Page Optimization | | Timberwink0 -
Why does keyword fluctuate in Google - I.E rank 48 - 13 - not ranked
Hello, I would like some advice on Google ranking, my site sportingdesires had a few keywords rank and now their not ranked for those keywords. Am still in the process of on-page and am not too bothered about them ranking high, more of a curiosity I suppose. am not expecting them to reach any where near top due to tough competition. Am just starting from top of website down to individual products ( this will take about 10 years lol ) sorting out seo issues. then will concentrate on link building & content engagement maybe i over optimised the page take a look at AC Milan club shop for example Kindest Regards, ste
On-Page Optimization | | sportingdesires0 -
Ranking for "synonym" terms on separate pages?
(My title says "synonym" but it's not exactly the most accurate word, but works best for the title_) I have a site that ranks #1 for a term, and let’s pretend it’s “cheap phone”. It’s also ranks #1 for “cheap phone service” and #3 for “cheap phone plans”. These are all the home page with those rankings I have a sub page whose natural title would be “Cheap Phone Plans” or “Cheap Phone Service”. I have it named something these and it is not optimized for either of these terms because I think it would be best to not mess with the good rankings I have already for those two terms So here’s my question: what would likely be the outcome if I optimized that subpage for “Cheap Phone Plans” or “Cheap Phone Service”? If Google began to direct searchers of this term to my subpage rather than my home page, would my home page lose some of it’s ranking with it’s main and most popular keyword, “cheap phone? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | bizzer0 -
How on earth does this rank?
Hi Everyone, Im speaking to someone about doing decent SEO, follwing the basics and not doing dodgy stuff for the short term. He is a driving instructor trying to rank for driving lessons peterborough (this is in the uk) and one of the websites coming out towards the top of serps is ian-rayner.com/index.htm. Its got no links, no social signs, has a page labelled SEO Stuff with a whole list of keywords and internal links back to his home page. It has a Domain authority of 11 and page authority of 1 !!! Is it because no one is following the basics and uncompetitive that its ranking or is he doing something other than a few keywords in the content, meta title and description, and a internal links that im missing?
On-Page Optimization | | Ant710 -
Can a page lose ranking because it has too many bold tags?
I run a product search website for the Engineering Sector. Each of the companies listed on the website has a profile page. This page used to rank very well in google. Over the last couple of weeks these pages disappeared for google i.e they fell about 20 to 30 spots in the search results for relevant keywords like the Manufacturer Name. I was trying to analyze the page and found that Each of the Categories that the manufacturer supports was listed in "bold" and linked to the page for that category. A manufacturer can support up to 20 or 30 categories so this results in about 20 or 30 Bold keywords. Is this a bad practice? Could this be a reason for a drop in ranking or do bold keywords on a page not matter? What are your views?
On-Page Optimization | | raghavkapur0 -
Keyword Landing Page Transition
We are redesigning the site to launch soon. We are a manufacturer. Our most valuable keyword currently ranks around 8th on Google in a competitive market and responds with a link to our product selection page as the landing URL. This link / URL is currently listed on every site page in a right column menu with the keyword as the anchor text. My concern is that I have redesigned this product selection page, and would like to change its file name to include the keyword as well as use the same keyword anchor text. And to complicate the matter, for political reasons my boss has asked me to consider keeping the old product page available to alleviate board concern (not rational, but may be required). Since the old page shows similar information to the new selection page, if I keep it, I am considering calling it a "Visual Selector" as opposed to the "Product Selector" menu name for the new page. I will list both in a list under the keyword product name on the home page menu and then drop the old selector page link on all other pages to lower visitor confusion. So the alternative choices to proceed are as follows: 1. Keep old and new product selection pages a. Show both on all page menus (Keeps the old page visible to Google, duplicating the current presentation for current keyword landing page) b. Only show old product page on home page menu to alleviate the Board concerns (Keeps the old page visible to Google, but with one link) 2. Get rid of the old product page and redirect URL to new one (our primary keyword would be ranked on its own merit and the current Google ranked page would redirect to the new one) Number 2 is the logical method for users, but I am nervous about dropping and/or redirecting the current landing page which ranks my best keyword at 8th in a competitive market. Your recommendations or comments? What do you predict Google will do in these three scenarios? Hope you can follow this maze... Thanks! George
On-Page Optimization | | rhawk0 -
Woah, my A-grade optimized pages that were on the first page have all vanished outside the top 50 in Google... is this Panda?
Yep as mentioned, I had some pages hit the top ten pretty quickly after ensuring they were A-grade for pretty uncompetitive keywords however, today, all bar 2 have just vanished from the top 50! All were ranking in Google.co.uk and I know we were predicting the Panda update to hit soon but WOW! My client is understandably a little upset, what on earch do I tell him and what should I do about it? Cheers! jT
On-Page Optimization | | Switch_Digital0 -
Does keyword density on a landing page effect SEO?
I'm relitavely new to SEO, and I just wondered how keyword dense the homepage to our businesses site should be? Is there any value in loading the frontpage at the potential expense of readibility, or should our content elsewhere be responsible for our yield in search engine results? Look forward to any responses. Thanks, Mark
On-Page Optimization | | RobertHill0