Trying to rank against keyword in domain
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I am trying to rank for let's say the keyword "their site" , my competitor has theirsite.com, with next to no seo but are ranking #1 , my site lets say is mysite.com/their-site my site is about the same age and has a PR of 4,their site has a PR of 0 and 2 backlinks, how difficult will it be to get to number 1, am at spot # 5 in google now. Thanks David
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I'll just add the comment that you shouldn't push the exact-match anchor text too hard. You will definitely need some well-targeted links and copy, though.
If they really have PR0 and 2 back-links, I'd focus hard on quality, too. A couple of strong, relevant links could make a huge difference, much more so than dozens of spammy links. If Google is letting a site with 2 back-links rank at #1, it's not just the exact-match domain, most likely. It's likely that the rest of the Top 10 has some quality issues.
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Other factors to research as James pointed out, but keyword in the domain is only 1 of many factors. I've seen many examples of Exact Match domains being in the 8 or 9 position AND they have a lot of strong SEO elements.
I wouldn't spend much time sweating it. Focus on developing the best property you can, with great content, structure, UX, backlinks etc.
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I would say links and quality ancor texts is the key here. I'v overtaken exact match domains before and ofcourse on-site opt has a big role in this but it was the links with exact match ancor text that did the job for me.
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Would need to investigate the site, can Exact Match Domain is powerful yet it is dropping.
My advice is to target this keyword via your Index Page too, and also target it on the dedicated sub folder.
Push quality link building, Push quality content, Push Social signals, keep working hard and you can do it. I have seen in many niches where exact match domains are dropping in rank.
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