I seriously doubt that the number of backlinks is the only factor here. And, especially without links to check out, it could be any of a thousand different things.

I've noticed this hundreds of times, and sometimes it's a bit discouraging. Backlinks aren't the only factor. Domain age is another huge one. also, the links coming from tesco could be more relevant or of higher pr than the links going to the affiliate site. Also, If the tesco site has 20,000 backlinks or something...and then it refers to their specific url within that specific niche, That is a huge link. I know there are more factors. Just do some research. Look into both of their back links and page sources and you could learn some awesome seo tricks.

I took a look at the Tesco website, and I've got news for you. That site has thousands of backlinks - dozens to every single page. What most people don't realize is that internal linking counts. Maybe not as much as the right external links, but in cases like this, it all adds up.

Yes, could be a number of things but Dave mentioned one important one...

'the links coming from tesco could be more relevant or <b>of higher pr</b> than the links going to the affiliate site.'

I do understand about the aspect of higher quality links but being honest i'm still bewildered :S.
Looks like I may have to take a few risks in a few niches especially when the big players are involved.

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Maybe because they are already well established in the eyes of Google.

This is what I read according to a guest post on Problogger.

Well, as you said, strange, yes, it is. the reason why is has got top ranking with lesser backlinks could be because of high quality links - possibly paid links.

What about the fact "authority"?
Maybe they are so important that they deserve to rank high and the government make them like that.

Because all these authority website are getting many visitors & link with other major authority websites

tesco is a uk company. emd affiliate may not be targeting uk.

Another factor is on-page SEO. But sites like Tesco (and Amazon, Walmart etc) may also rank temporarily for a particular product.

It is because their On page SEO is nice in the eye of Google also their link is quality!

That is why we call them "Authority Websites" Google trusts them more and give priority.

because search engine consider many things when giving your site ranking it is not only link, content it also check hosting, domain etc

Domain age, number of indexed pages, pagerank of homepage and other indexed pages, on page SEO, and just plain "trusted domain." -- all these factors influence Google rank, especially after the latest algorithm updates.

Links are only part of the puzzle. sometimes we must go deeper to try and figure out why a site is listed higher than the other sites!

The quality, not the quantity, of links makes all the difference. The page with less backlinks probably has backlinks that originate from parent domains with a high PR.

Ted this is because tesco have millions of backlinks to their actual domain (50 million according to Majestic SEO). They are a massively recognised brand in the UK - equivalent of Wallmart in the US - in fact £1 in every £8 spent in the UK is in Tesco.



Kenny