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Why Does This Rank Higher Than That?

by edco
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi. I'm new, yet trying very hard to learn SEO. I have a fairly popular 1 1/2 year old site. It has over 100 original articles, some original videos, we get up to 1000 page views per day, and 4000 real fans on Facebook. I consider it something of a success, and it does make money.

Yet, when it comes to ranking for keywords in Google, I seem to be at a loss.

Can you tell me why, when one searches for "Cockapoo Temperament" in Google, why are the first and second links in the order they are in? I would post the links, but I am new and haven't earned the privilege yet, which I understand completely.

It seems to me that the second link, the Cockapoo Crazy page, with the much longer article and much larger site, is better, has more information, is less generic, and should rank higher. What magic does that first, generic, can't even be bothered to come up with a logo, tiny website have over the second, larger one? I can only assume it is a matter of SEO, but no matter how hard I try I can't seem to figure it out. If I could crack this one nut, I could be on my way to cracking lots of...nuts.

I hope I'm not violating any terms in this post. I am highly appreciative of ANY advice pertaining to this situation, as I think there must be some key SEO tactics I am missing. If you scratch my back, I'll do what I can to scratch yours, rookie though I am.
#google rank #help a newbie #higher #newbie question #rank #seo help #site analysis
  • Profile picture of the author Danny Garcia
    Hey Edco,

    There are several factors that contribute in a site's ranking. Domain age is a key factor. Also your onpage optimization plays an important role. the cockapoo crazy might have a long article but both the sites are providing information about the same thing. but the cockapoo puppies site clears states that it is about cockapoo temperament by stating just that in its title tag and in meta description. Maybe the cockapoo puppies have a better offpage optimization as well. Always remember quality over quantity. although the cockapoo crazy site has more backlinks but it might have been the situation where quality won over quantity.

    Even i'd like to know what other people here have to say about it.
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    • Profile picture of the author edco
      Domain age is a key factor.
      I just checked...my site is 1 year and 4 months, while theirs is over 3 years old. If that's the issue, and older domains are just going to always perform better, I guess I'm SOL. Nothing I can do about that, unless they feel like selling or let the domain expire.
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      • Profile picture of the author Danny Garcia
        Originally Posted by yukon View Post

        I think I see part of the reason why this guy is ranking for the keyword (Cockapoo Temperament).

        He has a small network of sites related to dogs, he owns the list of sites below:
        • pomapoo[dot]net
        • cockapoopuppies[dot]org
        • maltipoopuppies[dot]org
        • yorkie-poo [dot] org

        They are linking all the very relevant sites/pages to each other across multiple domains.

        I imagine they also have external links outside of that small network working for them.

        BTW, domain age has nothing to do with SEO.
        Hey Yokun,
        You know better. i've been following your posts for quite a while now. having a network of related sites would be a great help in ranking a keyword.
        but domain age has nothing to do with seo? the older the site the older the backlinks and the higher you rank. thats what i've experienced and thats what i keep saying.


        Originally Posted by edco View Post

        I just checked...my site is 1 year and 4 months, while theirs is over 3 years old. If that's the issue, and older domains are just going to always perform better, I guess I'm SOL. Nothing I can do about that, unless they feel like selling or let the domain expire.
        It is easier to rank an aged domain over 3 years old than one that is 1 year and 4 months old. but again if the aged domain didn't had any activity in the past or lets say if they hadn't done any backlinking then its completely different.
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        • Profile picture of the author edco
          OK, I'm gonna admit my confusion about the aged domain VS newer domains and move on. Age may or may not matter much to SEO, but since there's nothing I can do about that, I'll defer to other ideas for improvement. Which I know you guys have! =)

          I'm currently revamping keywords on some pages, in the same way I did for that page. I'm also trying to build better navigation, which will take some time, as their is SO much content on our site that a simple search button is not good enough.

          Additionally, I'm going to try and slowly build legitimate back links. But any other on or off-page SEO you recommend for my site will be welcome. I can't imagine not being able to outrank that tiny site for our most popular article, over time. Surely it will happen if we do the right things...do these sound like the right things?
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  • Profile picture of the author edco
    Hi Danny! Thanks for the info and response, I really do appreciate it.

    I have gone through and tweaked several things (headache inducing, as I am no HTML or SEO expert.) Honestly, the differences don't seem huge to me, but maybe they will help...

    My title: "The Cockapoo Temperament | Cockapoo Crazy"
    Theirs: "Cockapoo temperament"

    My meta description: "Cockapoo temperament: A thorough explanation of the temperament, personality, and nature of Cockapoo dogs."
    Theirs: "Cockapoo temperament - learn more about cockapoos and their behaviour. Generally, cockapoos are eager to please, and is a very friendly breed"

    My keywords: "cockapoo temperament, cockapoo, cockapoo personality, cockapoo disposition"
    Theirs: "Cockapoo temperament"

    Does either of these have an edge over the other? Can they now stand on the merit of the article and site, rather than on-page SEO? I am terrible at off-page SEO, I just let the public link back to me generally, rather than link-building. We have some comments on blogs with links, some breeder sites linking to us, etc. Is back-link building the answer (or part of it) to this particular dilemma?

    As for quality, I am assuming you mean quality of SEO. I'm certain our article quality is good, as I have been a professional writer for many years. Marketing is the new game to me, I'm used to writing or editing. But I know quality means different things to a reader VS a search engine, too. So my next question is: Is there anything in this particular article that makes it less friendly to a search engine than the other?

    The reason I am hyper-focusing on this one Google search and two competing articles is simple: if I can figure out how to improve the ranking of this one, than I can also do the other hundred or so on our site. =)
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    I think I see part of the reason why this guy is ranking for the keyword (Cockapoo Temperament).

    He has a small network of sites related to dogs, he owns the list of sites below:
    • pomapoo[dot]net
    • cockapoopuppies[dot]org
    • maltipoopuppies[dot]org
    • yorkie-poo [dot] org

    They are linking all the very relevant sites/pages to each other across multiple domains.

    I imagine they also have external links outside of that small network working for them.

    BTW, domain age has nothing to do with SEO.
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    • Profile picture of the author edco
      I think I see part of the reason why this guy is ranking for the keyword (Cockapoo Temperament).

      He has a small network of sites related to dogs, he owns the list of sites below:
      pomapoo[dot]net
      cockapoopuppies[dot]org
      maltipoopuppies[dot]org
      yorkie-poo [dot] org

      They are linking all the very relevant sites/pages to each other across multiple domains.

      I imagine they also have external links outside of that small network working for them.

      BTW, domain age has nothing to do with SEO.
      OK, I see what you're saying. Wow. I'm guessing that's a pretty big advantage, basically linking to yourself through a plethora of other tiny sites. I'm glad to hear age isn't that important, since it is something I can't affect.

      Any ideas on how my wife and I, running and focusing on making our single site an authority on its topic, can compete with their "many tiny sites" method? Should we just focus on more high quality back links? I use AdSense and don't want to violate any policies, so I try to be very careful of my methods. Any books I should pick up that might help me to further improve a site like ours?

      I am determined to do better, as it seems that our site should be able to rank higher and bring in more traffic. We believe the massive original article database is a worthy thing to bring to the world of enthusiasts, have true passion for the subject, and want more people to know we're out here. It's all the pesky technical details that get in the way. =)

      Do you think the formatting and on-page SEO is acceptable on our site? Any further advice for us? I can take advice and criticism. After all, I'm here because I need help, not because I think I know everything.

      BTW, you guys rock for taking the time to help, and for free at that! If there is anything I can ever do to help you, let me know.
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