Ranking factors - don't underestimate DMOZ, YHD and domain age

markowe · 08-12-2011, 04:08 AM

Just analysing the competition for a keyword where I seem to be stuck forever on mid-page 2, despite much more effective SEO than most of the competition. The pattern I am seeing with sites (actually, mostly inner pages, like mine) outranking mine is:

1) Domain age - 10 year-old site is at no. 1 despite very few inbound links to that subpage and no on-page SEO (Title, Desc, H1 etc.) - also has a YHD listing.

2) DMOZ and YHD listing - sites (again, inner pages) high on page 10 with little more than a domain listing in these directories.

3) Backlinks are a poor third - sites with thousands of crappy backlinks, and even some solid off-page work are only on mid-page 1.

4) The only semi-EMD is on page 2, just above me, so that hasn't helped them too much.

Also, most of the page one competition has VERY few keyword-optimised anchor links in their BL profile - interesting, huh?

So again, it seems age, and high-authority directory listings are not to be sniffed at...

Thoughts?

Rough Outline · 08-12-2011, 04:46 AM

What is the PR of these pages like? I bet they're all PR 3 and above.

markowe · 08-12-2011, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rough Outline

What is the PR of these pages like? I bet they're all PR 3 and above.

That too

But I think their PR is a direct result of these factors I have mentioned.

Actually, there is a PR0, some PR1s and then PR2s and PR3s, so even that is not really as significant as it should be. And I always think that high-PRs can be beaten eventually (and I will, make no mistake

) as they are not always very well optimised off-page and on for the target keywords. So I still think those basic authority factors (age etc.) play a major role.

I also have a crazy little theory about "keyword age" - that ranking changes are much slower for "evergreen" keywords, i.e. those where rankings have not historically changed much over a long period of time. It would make sense that Google will favour the status quo with those kinds of ranking.

I would be happy for anyone to blow my "keyword age" theory out of the water

mianriz · 08-12-2011, 05:49 AM

same case i have.... just waiting for good solution

08-12-2011, 04:08 AM	#1
markowe The Wordbay Guy War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,532 Thanks: 185 Thanked 315 Times in 191 Posts Social Networking	Ranking factors - don't underestimate DMOZ, YHD and domain age Just analysing the competition for a keyword where I seem to be stuck forever on mid-page 2, despite much more effective SEO than most of the competition. The pattern I am seeing with sites (actually, mostly inner pages, like mine) outranking mine is: 1) Domain age - 10 year-old site is at no. 1 despite very few inbound links to that subpage and no on-page SEO (Title, Desc, H1 etc.) - also has a YHD listing. 2) DMOZ and YHD listing - sites (again, inner pages) high on page 10 with little more than a domain listing in these directories. 3) Backlinks are a poor third - sites with thousands of crappy backlinks, and even some solid off-page work are only on mid-page 1. 4) The only semi-EMD is on page 2, just above me, so that hasn't helped them too much. Also, most of the page one competition has VERY few keyword-optimised anchor links in their BL profile - interesting, huh? So again, it seems age, and high-authority directory listings are not to be sniffed at... Thoughts?
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08-12-2011, 04:46 AM	#2
Rough Outline Keyword Extraordinaire War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: England, UK Posts: 836 Thanks: 90 Thanked 90 Times in 76 Posts Contact Info	Re: Ranking factors - don't underestimate DMOZ, YHD and domain age What is the PR of these pages like? I bet they're all PR 3 and above.
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08-12-2011, 05:49 AM	#4
mianriz Active Warrior Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 53 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Ranking factors - don't underestimate DMOZ, YHD and domain age same case i have.... just waiting for good solution