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Ranking for an unusual keyword that suddenly gets popular [question for SEO experts]

by James-Robson
10 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey guys,

I've got a question for any SEO experts out there and any answers or informed opinions would be greatly appreciated!

Let's say I 'discover' a new or obscure product/object/thing/whatever and create a simple website or blog about it. I then do a bit of very basic SEO and lo and behold end up ranking at number one in Google for the main keyword(s) associated with that product/object/thing/whatever, but only because there are no other (or very few) websites talking about it.

Now imagine that new or obscure product/object/thing/whatever suddenly blows up and becomes mega-popular.

My question is, how easy would it be to continue to rank highly for the main keywords associated with it? Do the main search engines give you a lot of credit for being one of the first websites to talk about a particular thing (almost as if you 'own' those keywords, if you know what I mean), or is that irrelevant and you end up being assessed the same as the millions of other similar websites which have since cropped up?

Sorry if this has been answered before elsewhere (though I couldn't find it) or if it seems like a simple question - I'm pretty inexperienced with all but (very) basic SEO.

Cheers,
James
#experts #keyword #popular #question #ranking #seo #suddenly #unusual
  • Profile picture of the author Disloyal
    Hey James,

    I'm no SEO expert but I though I'd give my opinion. I am sure though, that you wouldn't get any special privileges for being the first. Just like everyone else you will have to work to maintain that spot.

    The difficulty will be determined though by who your competition is/will be. Like I said though, I'm no SEO expert, but that is what makes the most sense to me.
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    • Profile picture of the author James-Robson
      Thanks for your reply Disloyal.

      Normally I would have guessed the same as you, but I can remember reading something ages ago (though I can't for the life of me remember where) about Google seeing a site as a good high authority site almost automatically if it was there right from the beginning of a new keyword, almost in the way that aged domains seem to do well (though I've got no experience on that either).

      That's not to say that original information I read was correct either though!
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Disloyal View Post

      Just like everyone else you will have to work to maintain that spot.
      That's exactly the answer, the page with better SEO wins regardless of how easy/tough competition is.

      If competition gets tougher, you'll need better SEO for the page you want ranked.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
      Originally Posted by Disloyal View Post

      Hey James,

      I'm no SEO expert but I though I'd give my opinion. I am sure though, that you wouldn't get any special privileges for being the first. Just like everyone else you will have to work to maintain that spot.

      The difficulty will be determined though by who your competition is/will be. Like I said though, I'm no SEO expert, but that is what makes the most sense to me.
      Lets make you one. Everyone else is.

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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Kevin Maguire View Post

        Lets make you one. Everyone else is.





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  • Profile picture of the author axemantech
    It depends on the niche that you are targetting. Google separates keywords into two categories - fresh and evergreen. If the users benefit by seeing new content, the keyword is a fresh keyword, while if the user benefits by seeing old authoritative content, it is everygreen content.

    Search for the sample keywords and see what kind of sites rank at the top. If a lot of sites have a date shown in the results, then it is likely that this is a "fresh" niche, where it is easier for new sites to rank (at least for a short "freshness" period)
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  • Profile picture of the author James-Robson
    Cool, thanks axemantech - I've learned something new today
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  • Profile picture of the author LloydMS
    All else equal I wouldn't be surprised if there was some advantage to being the first domain or page to rank for a keyword. After all there's definitely a benefit to having an aged domain over a new one. So Google does recognize age as importance.

    But I'm guessing it would be a very, very slight advantage and you'd at least have to keep up with everybody else to maintain that advantage.
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  • Profile picture of the author dewayneboyd
    Originally Posted by James-Robson View Post

    Hey guys,

    I've got a question for any SEO experts out there and any answers or informed opinions would be greatly appreciated!

    Let's say I 'discover' a new or obscure product/object/thing/whatever and create a simple website or blog about it. I then do a bit of very basic SEO and lo and behold end up ranking at number one in Google for the main keyword(s) associated with that product/object/thing/whatever, but only because there are no other (or very few) websites talking about it.

    Now imagine that new or obscure product/object/thing/whatever suddenly blows up and becomes mega-popular.

    My question is, how easy would it be to continue to rank highly for the main keywords associated with it? Do the main search engines give you a lot of credit for being one of the first websites to talk about a particular thing (almost as if you 'own' those keywords, if you know what I mean), or is that irrelevant and you end up being assessed the same as the millions of other similar websites which have since cropped up?

    Sorry if this has been answered before elsewhere (though I couldn't find it) or if it seems like a simple question - I'm pretty inexperienced with all but (very) basic SEO.

    Cheers,
    James
    In my experience, I usually, but not always, lose my rankings when hundreds of sites jump on the bandwagon and target those exact keywords. Getting there first does not seem to insulate you from being beaten later by sites with higher authority.
    Signature

    1,574,810 unique visitors and counting. And that's just one of my websites.

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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    There is no advantage given by search engines for being first.
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