How did this competitor get #1

14 replies
  • SEO
  • |
How can a competitor be #1 for a search term when the search keywords only exist in the meta title tag and keywords tag. And I am ranked very highly throughout page 1 and I have SEO all over my page, as far as the way it is written. They have ZERO keywords written into their page... it's only in the meta tags. And this is GOOGLE!

They slightly outrank me on other phrases, too.
#competitor
  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    Because people think, if I build it, I will be #1.
    Google does not work that way.
    Meta tags have nothing to do with it.

    Google will show the page it thinks is the most
    relevant and useful at any given point in time.

    All Matt Cutts has to do is put a certain keyword in
    a post. Bingo. It will show up. Matt Cutts' blog is a
    trusted, reputable source. Put a weird post here,
    and chances are it will show high in SERPs.

    I know it's hard to come to grips with, but sometimes
    google likes a page better than ours. Just work harder,
    do the right things. In time, you too can get there.
    But then again, you may not.

    That's why people are so uninformed when it comes to
    keywords. They think they are, so it must be. Google
    thinks otherwise.

    Paul
    Signature

    If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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    • Profile picture of the author livemusic
      So, the word shows up ZERO times on that page and only because it's in the meta title and keywords tags, makes it relevant? Hmmm. Seems to me that this page should be penalized for trying to trick Google.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

      Because people think, if I build it, I will be #1.
      Google does not work that way.
      Meta tags have nothing to do with it.

      Google will show the page it thinks is the most
      relevant and useful at any given point in time.


      All Matt Cutts has to do is put a certain keyword in
      a post. Bingo. It will show up. Matt Cutts' blog is a
      trusted, reputable source.
      Put a weird post here,
      and chances are it will show high in SERPs.
      Paul
      I suppose you just ignored my post.

      Keywords on a page sometimes will have little to do with
      SERPs. Again, google does not work on yours (or mine)
      set of search engine rules. You might think that if you
      do A, B, and C, google will rank it #1. Not going to happen.

      Any Tom, Dick, or Harry putting some keyword in the title
      is not going to be the reason it ranks #1, unless it is some
      convoluted word that never gets searched for.

      I checked one day where some traffic was coming from for 1 site.
      Google said it was for a particular search term. A term that
      I had nowhere on the site. Nil. But google thought my site
      should be where people go. I have taken that info and
      actually added some content relevant to that, and now
      it rocks. So, even though I had not that keyword, my site was
      relevant, very relevant, to the niche.

      Paul
      Signature

      If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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      • Profile picture of the author Black Hat Cat
        Banned
        Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

        I suppose you just ignored my post.

        Paul
        If he was smart he did.
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  • Profile picture of the author sparesigma
    i dont think that's due to meta tag, meta tag are being ignored by google search. it can be other factor since too many factor can affect the SERP, cant tell the reason before look at the website
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Gregory
    It definitely wouldn't have anything to do with their meta keywords. How does their backlink profile look?
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  • Profile picture of the author Lemints
    The Title tag is one of the most important factors On Page, but it's all about the links pointing to the site. Have you done any backlink analysis?
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  • Profile picture of the author evertd
    Look at backlinks to that page, and the anchor text of the backlinks.
    Is the site an authority, or trusted site. Does the site link to that page internally.

    Why does Adobe - Adobe Reader download - All versions rank #1 for click here? It doesn't even have those words in the meta keywords.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    because they are doing it better than you are.

    seriously, if you want a real answer you've gotta give up the url
    Signature

    I'm all about that bass.

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  • Profile picture of the author Daedric
    Google ignore keyword tag but not title tag. I'm guessing it's because that site is an authority site and they rank easily. Are there a lot of internal links to that page? Lots of internal links within an authority site can get a page ranked very fast.
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    • Profile picture of the author livemusic
      Originally Posted by Daedric View Post

      Google ignore keyword tag but not title tag. I'm guessing it's because that site is an authority site and they rank easily. Are there a lot of internal links to that page? Lots of internal links within an authority site can get a page ranked very fast.
      You have given the best answer, Daedric. I am not an expert but I have done pretty well, believe it or not. I ask basic questions, but, I have done well. And you have given a good answer. That google, if a site has better "status" than yours, whatever that is... it might "count" what you have in your title tag even if there is ZERO count of that keyword in the page? Is this correct?

      If so, this surprises me. I figure you, at least, had to MENTION the keyword in your copy.

      This is a very complex game, this SEO. It is not simple in the least respect.
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  • Profile picture of the author jrod11
    What do the backlinks look like?
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  • Profile picture of the author jaynejones2010
    Originally Posted by livemusic View Post

    How can a competitor be #1 for a search term when the search keywords only exist in the meta title tag and keywords tag. And I am ranked very highly throughout page 1 and I have SEO all over my page, as far as the way it is written. They have ZERO keywords written into their page... it's only in the meta tags. And this is GOOGLE!

    They slightly outrank me on other phrases, too.
    If you really want to know....

    Contact them and ask, they just might answer you.
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