Crazy SEO question (maybe I'm missing something?)
-
OK -
so one of our customers just called us and told us an interesting story:
A local SEO company called her yesterday to try to sell their services to her. She's in the process of starting SEO services with us, so she told them she wasn't interested. The sales guy told her that they were better (without even asking who she was currently using) and asked her for a term that she'd like to rank higher for.
She said she'd like to rank higher for "spray in bedliners northern ky" and he said "Gotcha, call you tomorrow"
He called back just now and told her to look at Google. She's now ranking number one for that term. He didn't have access to her site, so he wasn't able to change anything on her site.
He won't tell her what he did, and told her it was legitimate - but it seems to me that with only off-site tactics, it'd be nearly impossible to white-hat her site to number one overnight...
Any ideas what he's doing? First of all, we want to be able to tell her what he's doing, because she's curious. More importantly, we want to be sure he's not doing anything black-hat that's going to hurt our client's site.
Thanks for your help, Mozzers!
-
Because "spray in bedliners northern ky" is a low competition/no competition term, hence why ranking with offsite can easily be done -
They just provide a huge number of automated links over night from websites like:
http://pezis.com/linexofky.com (for example, guessing this is your client's site)
Tell her to say ok we want to rank for "bedliner" when they call back,
Kind Regards,
James Norquay
-
To echo what the others shared, the results work because of two reasons:
1. The term is a long tail and very specific phrase "spray in bedliners northern ky". It is 5 words and no one else on earth is targeting that phrase in that exact manner.
2. Google loves fresh data and links. It is easy to spam social media or various sites with new links which are given weight today but quickly fall to obscurity tomorrow.
Using Google's Keyword tool you can see there is absolutely no traffic at all for the given phrase. If you want to rank #1 for a keyword that no one searches for, the world will let you. It is pointless.
Try again with the phrase "bed liner". That phrase has over 100k searches a month (compared to zero for the other phrase) and it also has competition.
-
The reason he got her to rank for that keyword very quickly is because there is no search traffic behind the term and no competition. You easily spam a couple hundred blogs/forums.directories/other crap link source with the exact match anchor text and rank pretty comfortably.
Get her to pick a keyword that is searched for and tell them to try again.
-
I looked into a bit and think I found the links on Blekko and IceRocket. several anchor text links. Juice fading fast. I think it started out on PR 7 (PA 89) and it looks like a few PR4 (PA 66) sites. Not sure if the links started on the front pages, but they are not on the front pages now. I will send you the links. Didn't take much for such a specific phrase
-
Check the back links. you should see what they pointed to her site. I doubt they did anything that is repeatable for many keywords. They probably made short article and placed it somewhere with a lot of juice. Great for a demonstration, to valuable/expensive a spot to use for a lot of keywords.
-
To work that fast, I am betting that they have a link from a page with enormous power.... PR8?
Of course, "spray in bedliners northern ky" is a wimpy term to rank for... tell her to call him back and ask for a real money term.
-
Maybe Google have started their own SEO business??
That would be a sure way to wipe out the competition and earn some cash!
Seriously though, unless they have access to some amazing link resources then this has to be black hat doesn't it? unconsenting at that! like you say, if it's dodgy then some serious damage could be made here in the long term.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Localized SERP Rankings - Multiple Questions...
The Google SERPs for my keywords are pretty regional. We are in the "IT Support Company" space. I've checked with friends in other parts of the country, and we don't show up in the SERPs in other parts of the country for KWs that we are ranking for locally. Questions: 1. I see both national and local players showing up in the SERPs. Is there any kind of formula for how Google decides who gets on the first page? 2. Some of my keywords trigger Google+ listings. How long does it take to show up in Google+, assuming we're optimized appropriately, and we have earned a placement? 3. For Moz's keyword ranking tool, how does it handle regional searches? Moz's tool is going to show different KW rankings than what I will see. My immediate concerns are rankings in my area (NY Metro), but we want to go national. How do we track rankings in different areas? 4. Is it possible to be on the 1st page with Google+ and Organic listings? 5. Do the Google+ 7 packs have generally better, or worse CTRs than similarly placed organic listings?
Competitive Research | | CsmBill0 -
Is there an SEO benefit to purchasing domains for a website?
Greetings Mozzers, I wanted to see if someone could clarify the power of domains for me a bit. Is there an SEO benefit in purchasing fresh domains for a specific website? Something that would effect certain metrics like parking keyword domains to pages that target that keyword? I'm not talking about buying pre-existing domains that have value and are for sale. I'm talking about newly registered domains. Thanks for any advice/clarification.
Competitive Research | | MonsterWeb280 -
SEO Keyword Research
Hi, We are SEO beginners so please bear with us! We are trying to promote "Web based Invoicing Software". The SEO company we have signed with offer us 5 keywords for the package we are on with them. They have suggested\offered us: 1. Invoicing Software - Fine
Competitive Research | | Studio33
2. Online Invoicing - Fine
3. Online Invoicing Software - Covered by 1 and 2
4. Small Business Invoicing Software - Covered by 1
5. Invoice Template - Fine. Will Invoice templateS be covered on this one too? My question is does number 3 cover number 1,2 & 4 anyway? If so I am thinking to not go for 1,2, & 4 just keep 3 and choose three other new keywords. Would this be a better strategy and "more for our money?" Or, keep 1 and 2 and lose 3 and 4, would that be a good option. So, in summary options are (all assuming keeping number 5) 1. Keep all
2. Keep 1 & 2 - Lose 3 & 4
3. Keep 3 - Lose 1,2 & 4 4. Any other combo you can suggest? Any advice welcomed Thanks nutnut0 -
Will changing my domain name from a .co.uk to a .com affect my SEO?
Hi all, The .com for my domain name has become available (I am currently a .co.uk) so I am looking to move over my website to this but first would like double check if this would have any affect on my SEO at all? As a company we mainly target the middle east (Although based in the UK) but at the time of registering years ago the .com was not available. Do I have a 'history' logged with the current .co.uk domain or is my website solely dominated by the content? Also, if I do transfer what would be the easiest way of doing this just changing the DNS to a different location (will there be a duplicate content issue on both domain names?). Thanks in advance!!
Competitive Research | | starydynamo0 -
Can i see the keywords my competitors are optimizing seo for?
Ideally, I would get a list of the keywords my competitors are targeting.
Competitive Research | | sajalsahay0 -
Question about OSE
Just registered, so please excuse my ignorance. How can you get your competitors' recent backlinks using OSE? Thank you!
Competitive Research | | georgesan0 -
Pre-Launch SEO?
We are currently building a brand new site that should launch in the next 6 to 8 months. Obviously we have zero backlinks, zero mentions anywhere, etc. My plan is to set up a landing page with contact info, links to social network, mailing list signup, the usual. I'll be doing keyword research and gathering leads for potential links but should i start and active linkbuilding campaign? What kind of SEO work would you recommend while the site is in development?
Competitive Research | | AaronParrish0 -
What's the best SEO practice to get conversion rate up?
If you want to get conversion rate up what is the best method to do so?
Competitive Research | | blackrino0