How to compete with big sites for search rankings.

13 replies
I was browsing through google for some different searches today and noticed that in my area most business categories are dominated by big directory sites or other big sites that seem impossible to compete against for rankings.

I did a search for lawyers and found that only one local attorney had a spot on the first page of Google except for the places listings. The top three spots are owned by lawyers.com then the next few are taken by findlaw.com. This same scenario played out with numerous other business searches also.

I further searched different products and found that the top listings were dominated with companies like Ebay, Amazon, Etsy and the like.

How does one compete with these large giants when it comes to SEO and getting your sites ranked?
#big #compete #ranking #rankings #search #seo #site #sites
  • Profile picture of the author Adwizard
    Any SEO guys on this site that care to lend a hand with this?
    Signature
    Building Businesses Beyond their Four Walls by
    Thinking Outside the Box... since 1993.
    Is anyone capable of designing a mobile site for
    this e-commerce site for a fee:
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7671611].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author kellyyarnsbro
    It's all about SEO. It really doesn't matter how big or small your site is. It is about having a good SEO works and stuff that makes the sight rank the highest.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7671760].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author nathan1
    One thing to look for in say this niche would be getting good links by possibly the state bar association, or possible a city council type organization.

    I work more in the healthcare field, and it is very frustrating that these big sites are getting top rankings, when it isn't what will benefit the user in the slightest.

    It isn't something that is going to happen overnight, I have been able to move clients up to the front page for city specific keywords using purely white hat methods, but it will take time.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7671790].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Dustin Blevins
    It's all about SEO. If you do not have the time to learn it then you should just pay someone to work on ranks for you. Unfortunately most local seo firms are worthless, but it's a choice that is up to you.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7671831].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author sandalwood
      I'll echo the SEO recommendations. We have done it for several sites in our area. The we is actually my son. He is the whiz bang when it comes to SEO.

      I'd give you his secrets but we'll probably be doing a SEO boot camp for 5K or some number we like. It actually works if you work it is all I'll say.
      Signature
      Get 30% or More Retirement Income If you are serious about your retirement, you'll love this product.

      The Money Ferret Finance Article Directory
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7671856].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
        This is not as difficult as you might think.

        There are a few keys:

        # Niche tight.

        When you're talking to clients find out what services or products
        they offer that bring in high net profits.

        Usually big directories are not targeting long tail keyword phrases
        and there are huge opportunities in targeting low competition
        long tail keyword phrases that suggest a prospect is looking for
        a high net profit product or service your client is selling.


        # High quality content.

        Once you've identified some high net profit lines and some long tail
        low competition keyword phrases related to those lines you can
        create high quality unique content that educates visitors with
        valuable information and leads them to the conclusion they
        should buy from your client.

        As a guideline start by doing one page of quality content for each
        long tail keyword phrase.


        # Some keywords don't show at all.

        Some of my clients make most of their profits (sometimes HUGE
        profits) by targeting keyword phrases for tightly niched services
        that don't appear AT ALL in any search engine keyword results.

        Uncovering these can be tricky but it can be done.

        Sometimes pay per click helps.

        Sometimes your client will have a service that doesn't appear in
        any keyword results but a prospect for that service might be
        worth thousands of dollars.

        In that case create a page of content...educating and selling
        the service.

        If it gets just one client in a year it's worth the effort and
        sometimes the traffic, though modest can surprise you.


        # Half of searches are unique.

        What many people don't know is that around half of the searches
        made on search engines like google are unique...meaning those
        keyword phrases will never show up in any keyword tool.

        SEO is a whole lot more art than science.


        I hope you find something here helpful.

        Always remember that you should avoid directly competing with
        anyone.

        Find ways to be far more profitable than others in your industry,
        niche tighter and play the game smarter targeting easy victories
        and lots of small easy to get traffic.

        Kindest regards,
        Andrew Cavanagh
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7672503].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author John Durham
          Originally Posted by AndrewCavanagh View Post


          Always remember that you should avoid directly competing with
          anyone.
          The greatest teacher I ever had said "Not being in the competition is the best way to compete"


          Great post. Still learning SEO is a good thing. I dont know it, but daily I see that I could add alot more value to myself by learning it, and using principles like you describe along with it.

          Yeah, directory sites are ranking monsters!

          Imagine if you had a thousand directory site subscribers all back linking to their pages within your site from all over the net, from other relevant sites.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7678173].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author georgescifo
    1) Do a proper competitive analysis and study.
    2) Implement SEO techniques in the right way.
    3) Try getting links where you competitors are placed.
    4) Try to find out what your competitor website is offering more.
    5) Improve your website and its services based on your competitor.
    6) Identify your competitors online marketing techniques and try to implement for your website also.
    7) Provide more quality and useful content.

    Hope the above points work to some extent to get on par with your competitors' website.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7677796].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author moneyman2010
    One of things i do is go for long tail keywords the low hanging fruit i found that most of the big sites over look these keywords..
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7677946].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Adwizard
    Thanks all for the info. Especially thank you to Nathan and Andrew for the thought put into your answers. Like John I am realizing the value added by learning this SEO stuff and well my wife and I have a site selling foot jewelry, a pretty unique item that doesn't get much search traffic. Trying to learn SEO on a non local site and coming up against so many results with sites like Ebay, Amazon, Etsy and the like is very frustrating. Actually I think if I were dealing with a local site it would be much easier to tell if anything I were doing was actually working or not. My main reason for asking the original question was to get feedback on whether or not it was even possible to beat out the giants like Ebay in rankings or would efforts be fruitless for the most part.

    I understand the concept and agree with thinking about the long tail keywords and picking up the low hanging fruit, but in this case I just don't think there are enough to even make that work. Anyhow, thanks again for the responses folks. :-)
    Signature
    Building Businesses Beyond their Four Walls by
    Thinking Outside the Box... since 1993.
    Is anyone capable of designing a mobile site for
    this e-commerce site for a fee:
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7686576].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author SpankinNewbie
      Originally Posted by Adwizard View Post

      I have a site selling foot jewelry, a pretty unique item that doesn't get much search traffic.
      Although you may be able to get a few clicks from long tail keywords, you're right, may not be worth the effort. That's why social media is the great equalizer. Facebook, Pinterest, etc. A foot fashion show sounds like it has the possibility of going viral. Maybe a foot beauty contest with contestants wearing your jewelry and facebook fans voting?

      Point is, search isn't always the best answer (or only). Good luck.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7704947].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author DABK
        Are those big sites actually optimizing for the keywords you're looking at? They might be there because there's no competition and Google needs to fill a void.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7713026].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ErnieH
    Do a competitive analysis using something like Market Samurai and you will find that it will either take you years to compete with the big sites or lots and lots of money. I have to agree with the above post by moneyman2010 about long-tail keywords. Take the "lawyer" keyword and add to it such as "lawyer in boston" or "find a good lawyer online", etc.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7713188].message }}

Trending Topics