My SEO Conundrum

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   alipuckettposted 13 years ago

   Hello HubPages!  I know there are a lot of SEO experts here, so I thought I'd ask your advice about my latest SEO conundrum.  I've been trying to optimize my business website for a specific keyword for months now.  Last week, I was at position #11 in Google â�� just 1 away from being in the top 10!  So, I did some article writing on Squidoo with an anchored link to my website with my keyword, hoping that would bump me up.  Yesterday, I checked my Google rankings again.  My position went down to #14, and my new Squidoo article has now outranked my business website.  Ahhhh!  The Squidoo article is only a week or so old, while my website has been around for nearly 2 years, is optimized for Google with IBP, and has around 50% of inbound links including my desired keyword.  I realize that ranking fluctuates and that personal search results are different for everyone now, but in Google without Places, my rank is still down.  Do you have any advice for what I could be doing differently?  If it helps, here is my data:
   
   My website:  <link snipped>
   Keyword: custom button pins
   My Squidoo Article: <link snipped>
   
   Many thanks!
   Ali

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      couturepopcafeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Another factor is Panda giving more credence to the newer article. If you continue to add fresh content to your own webpage, the crawlers looking for new fresh content will pick that up.
      
      Forget Squidoo. Take it off. Whatever the article was, put it on your own site.

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         alipuckettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the comment.  Why do you suggest removing the article from Squidoo?  I would think a high-ranking article that points to my site would be helpful.  Also, you mentioned the need for fresh content.  I have a blog on a sub-domain of my website that I update frequently.  Do you think this counts?  Or does the fresh content need to be on the root domain?

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      Greekgeekposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      !Yes, articles there tend to get indexed very fast and can rank well. Ironic when that becomes a problem!
      
      Google favors new content, so it's possible that after a month or so, that Squidoo article may drop below your website in search results.
      
      In the meantime, this may be a great opportunity to study how to do conversion -- getting people to click links or do what you want them to do -- and above-the-fold (first screen the viewer sees) optimization. You've got the Squidoo article ranking, so take advantage of it.
      
      Optimization: making a good first impression
      
      Visitors form an impression within the first second or three of landing on a page. Help make that impression with clear, strong, polished language in the first few sentences. Immediately tell them what the page is about and what they'll get from it. If you've got s link you want them to click -- and in this case you do, and you want it within the first couple of sentences -- make clear the topic, purpose, or business of that site, and give visitors an idea what they'll find there and what's in it for them.
      
      Conversion: getting them to click your link
      
      The first rule of conversion I learned was "talk benefits, not just features." People click links when they think they'll find something useful, interesting, or beneficial to them at the other end. But they'll shy away from fake marketing, misleading claims and false advertising, so you also have to be honest -- tell them what your site is really about, not just what you think they want to see.

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         alipuckettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you for your thoughtful comment.  While I'm waiting for those rankings to improve, it is definitely a good idea to work on conversions.  Great point!

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      Aficionadaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      
      I have been trying to use Scroogle to check my position in SERPs; but every time I've tried, the result says "Forbidden."  Can I use "Google without Places," and how do I do that?

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         alipuckettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Hi there!  Google Without Places is something my SEO software (IBP) has included, but you can turn off Google's personalized search. 

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   Peter Hogganposted 13 years ago

   Search engines are giving the article more weight because of the authority and trust the Squidoo domain has built up over time. A few more high quality articles and a few social mentions might be all that is needed to bring you on to the front page.

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      couturepopcafeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Gotta agree with you on this regarding social mentions.

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      alipuckettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you!  That makes sense.  Frustrating, but makes sense.  I will do some social promoting today, and maybe that will bump me back up.

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   Peter Hogganposted 13 years ago

   Don't remove the article from Squidoo, that makes no sense whatsoever. it has, however, given you a benchmark to aim for. Also you know a link from that page is a good one because it outranks your own page. So another page on Squidoo might be a better idea than removing the one you already have!
   
   if you keep building links from unique and useful articles, placed on trusted domains like HP and Squidoo, your site will eventually catch and outrank the articles. The fact that those articles might outrank your main site to begin with might be frustrating, but in the long term these are exactly the type of articles you want in place to successfully promote your business in the long term.

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      alipuckettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I agree.  Keeping a high-ranking article makes sense to me too, and since I am clearly getting rankings there, writing another article could be a good idea. 
      
      The previous poster did make a good point about having fresh content.  Do you think this applies just to specific pages or to entire domains?  For instance, is it helping my my root domain (main page) to rank by having a subdomain blog that I update regularly?  Or perhaps it would be better to create a feed of those blog posts on the root domain, so the fresh content appears there? 
      
      Thanks so much for your helpful comments.  I really appreciate your advice!

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         Peter Hogganposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Fresh content is always a good thing, however don’t create content for the sake of it as the benefits of freshness quickly diminish. It's more important to create content that your target audience finds interesting and useful. Placing it on content farms like HP, your blog and on your main site are all beneficial actions in their own way. Keep building links by writing good stuff and distributing it over different websites, as well as your main site and blog. And don’t forget to use your social connections to mention each one. Eventually you will achieve the rankings you want, the time it takes is dependent on how competitive your keywords are.

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            alipuckettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks so much for your help, Peter.  I really appreciate it!

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         Go Writerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         You can do this for any page: domain, subdomain or your inner pages. On a static website, you would have a homepage (usually your main domain) and lots of other inner pages.
         
         Squidoo and Blogger do subdomains. yourusername.blogspot.com. That kind of thing.
         
         With a blog, your inner pages are your blog posts. I would spend more time backlinking these blog posts and getting them to rank because not all of them will be optimized for the same keyword.
         
         So if you have ten different blog posts ranking for ten different keywords, that's ten different ways for people to come to your blog.
         
         Anchor text is anchor text, no matter what you point it to.

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            alipuckettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Perfect.  Just what I needed to know.  Thank you so much!

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   GmaGoldieposted 13 years ago

   I read somewhere and wonder what your opinion is - "a website needs a daily update."
   
   This is an important issue for me as I soon wish to start to monetize my website.
   
   Daily seems demanding but IF that is what it takes...then that I shall strive for...your thoughts?

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      alipuckettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Good question.  I think an SEO expert might argue that it's more about the quality of the content that you post, rather than the frequency.

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