Trying to understand why my site isn't on google's first page yet...

[bobrittany]

Hi everyone!

I've been reading the forums for a little over a month now, but this is actually my first post. Usually if I have a question I find out that its already been answered about 10+ times on the forums! This place is awesome, I can't believe how much helpful information is here on one site.

Anyway, I couldn't find an answer to this seemingly silly question, so here goes:

I have a moderately-low competing keyword that I've been optimizing my site for the last month or so. I can see that I've made progress, because I have over 100 back links and when I search my keyword in quotes in google I am in the number 1 spot (actually i am holding the top 2 spots with 2 different websites). However, when I search without quotes, my sites are pushed back to page 2 or 3.

If my site is #1 when searched with quotes, how is it possible that I wouldn't be on the first page somewhere without quotes?

I'm confused.

[Craig McPherson]

Bob,

With quotes tell you that the page is optimised for that phrase.

Because you are on page 3 without means that Google deems over 20 other pages to be more relevant than your page.

Have the pages on Page 1 of Google got heaps of backlinks?
Are there exact match domains there?
Are the sites aged?
Are the sites really tight in terms of subject matter?

There are a few variables that come into play.

I know it is a tough call but put the URL up so one of us can check it out for you

Craig

[Tom Goodwin]

Originally Posted by Craig McPherson

Bob,

With quotes tell you that the page is optimised for that phrase.

Not really. It just shows that the results for a search with quotes is more optimized that sites that show up without quotes (and aren't included in the with quotes search). In order to check optimization, you would have to at a minimum check things like keyword in title, keyword in URL, etc.

[Matt Helphrey]

More than likely it is because it is so new.

I know it is tough but you have to be patient and focus your attention on things you can control like onsite content and picking up back links. No matter the competition, 1 month old websites rarely ever take the #1 spot so soon. If it's not there yet, do more to get it there.

Assuming you have your onsite SEO right, work work work and eventually it will be on top...and that's really all you can do.

[theseoguys]

You may want to look at the links behind your competitors sites...that may give you an indication of how much work you need to do to 'catch up'.

[KateD]

Hi....

It really depends on the strength of your page 1 competitors. You can have 100, 500, 1000 backlinks, but if the first page competitiors are strong enough, you just won't beat them.

Not to mention that the number of backlinks is just one factor in determining search engine rankings. Domain age, keyword phrase in the URL, title, description also play a factor. And the quality of the backlinks can make a difference too.

KateD