Currently Number 2 - Worth Shooting for 1?
-
Hello SEO Community,
So I was able to rise to #2 in a highly competitive search term after a guest blog post that I wrote really took off (wish I could recreate that for my other terms, haha)
Anyway, I steadily rose from 30ish to number 2 and have obviously seen more traffic, which is awesome and I'm happy.
But still, in terms of the amount of traffic that google estimates the keyword gets, and the amount I'm getting at #2, it seems like #1 is getting the VAST majority (I know this is how most markets work).
Judging from my link profile compared to #1, it would be extremely difficult to dethrone them.
So what do y'all think? Is it worth spending time and resources shooting for the glory and traffic of #1 and potentially never getting there - or focusing my efforts on my middling keywords and getting those on the first page as well?
-
It depends on what your end goal is.
The #1 position will always get the lion's share of traffic. If getting more revenue is the end goal and moving from 30 to 2 has been profitable for you, then it will likely remain profitable for you to go for 1.
Not all competitive terms are profitable so you should monitor the performance of your search term to help you decide what to do next.
-
I agree with Egol - if you can provide an enticing Title Tag people may want to click your link over the first. Maybe pose a question or again offer a deal.
-
Use your title tag to steal clicks away from them.
offer free beer
tell them you have Secrets
shout a kickass price or free delivery
make your title tag so much more interesting and enticing than theirs.
-
Very good question and becomes a discussion over time and resource management.
It should be said - you will usually see a marked increase in click-through rates even between #1 and #2. So on that basis, always go for #1.
Whether or not to spend most of your focus improving this ranking to #1 or whether to improve some other keywords will depend on a few things - competition for those other keywords, what's their estimated search volume, can you attribute different levels of searcher 'intent' (eg 'red shoes' versus 'buy red shoes in london' - second one has much more intent to convert).
What I would do over the coming weeks is monitor your traffic and conversion rate in analytics. Look out for any significant improvements that you can attribute to this higher ranking term - either through direct last-touch channels, or indirectly through increased brand search and/or conversions where organic search was a touch-point. If you see a big increase, it may be worth pushing for the number one spot. However, if you don't see a decent increase, even when ranking at 2, then it might be better to focus on your other keywords instead.
Hope this helps, would be good to get other feedback as well.
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
-
Which is the best tool to check number of css, js, images and it's size?
Hello Team, Can you please suggest which is the best tool to check number of css, js, images and it's size of my competitors? Also what if they are using CDN network and bundling? Will that tool consider that also? Thanks! Wrights
Competitive Research | | wright3350 -
How can you rank nr 1 for high competitive keyword with low DA and only 1 backlink?
Hi! Was wondering if anyone can explain this a bit clearer...
Competitive Research | | AleksanderOlsen
Image attatched... How is it possible to rank on Google Norway for spot nr.1 (page in English language) and spot nr.2 (page in Norwegian language) , when all you competitors have higher PA, DA and a lot more backlinks and better on-page optimization according to MOZ? Is there something I´m misunderstanding?
Just when I thought SEO started to make sense 😞 7sXH00d0 -
How Do You Currently Analyze Outbound Link Profiles?
So I'm looking at some potential guest blogging &/or article writing opportunities and I'm looking for a tool which will analyze the OUTBOUND links from the site....it would be handy if inbound were displayed too but not essential as there are many tools available for this. When I ask for sample sites it is clear that a number of them (all?!) have been created purely for us content purposes, however it would be good to analyze the site further. A tool that could analyze its outbound links would give me a rough idea if the site is suitable or simply a glorified link-farm. Also, if you have any useful links regarding industry averages on outbound links for blogs & article sites (eg Ezine) for benchmarking it would be good! Thanks
Competitive Research | | cmooki
C:)0 -
My average visit duration is UP by 110% from 2 minutes to 4 minutes... and my visits (rankings) are down by 6 %.... I would have thought to see more positive ranking affects from that..
Latttteee last night I asked this question Just like the question says, I would have thought that Google would reward a site with more traffic that clearly has a growing level of user engagement. I can't imagine that there are other sites in my niche that are having a longer rate of user engagement... Well, since I can't guarentee that, let's not debate what we don't know.. But shouldn't SOME benefits be seen for a 110% increase? I mean shit, if I could replicate those results with sales, I would really be able to afford higher rankings... Maybe that's how they feel? If I get longer duration, I should get more sales, which means I should be able to afford to pay a professional more to get me to rank higher....? A nice guy Marcus Miller(http://www.seomoz.org/users/profile/78416) answered by saying Hey Tyler Google analytics data is not used in anyway in the search ranking algorithm. It's a great thing that your user engagement is up, but it will not benefit you with a better rank on the back of that. That said, if people are enjoying your site more, it should be easier to generate more links and sharing to get more traffic and hopefully boost your standing in search. This is worth a watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg... Hope this helps. Marcus I was still a little unsure though, so I said Solid answer man, I really appriciate the youtube link too, gotta love when an answer is chizzled in stone. I was thinking though.. Google does track data for bouncing back to search for similar queries, and some types of time on site, etc, right? Do you, or does anyone else know the specifics about the data that Google tracks, in relation to how a user interacts with your site?
Competitive Research | | TylerAbernethy0 -
How hard could it be to outrank a huffington post article with PA:1 ?
or what would be the quick way to find out? Page Authority 1 mozRank 0.00 mozTrust 0.00 Total Links 0 Internal Links 0 External Links 0 Followed Links 0 Nofollowed Links 0 Linking Root Domains 0 On-Page Analysis Grade A Broad Keyword Usage in Title Yes Broad Keyword Usage in Document Yes Keyword Used in URL Yes KW in Domain No KW Exact Match No Exact Anchor Text Links 0 Linking Root Domains w/ Exact Anchor Text 0 Partial Anchor Text Links 0 Partial Anchor Text Root Doms. 0 Domain Authority 100 Domain mozRank 7.6 Domain mozTrust 7.9 DmT/DmR 1.0 External Links to this domain 40443657 Linking Root Domains to this domain 223797 Linking C-Blocks Domains to this domain 40697 Tweets 6 FB Shares 20 Google Plus One Shares 0
Competitive Research | | antoniorigo0 -
Are web directories worth the effort?
I'm looking to see what sites my competitors are linked from via the open site explorer and all I see are web directories and when I visit these sites it seems they want you to part with $20 in exchange for a link. It obviously works as the sites I am researching are on page one for the keyword I am targeting. For example Site 1 Has 18,222 followed links and 1,089 no followed links Has 243 linking root domains and 17 NoFollowed linking root domains Site 2 & 3 are very similar My site is only 2 months old and has 85 followed, 10 NoFollowed and 4 linking root domains and 3 NoFollowed. My domain Authority is 15 my 3 competitors I'm tracking are between 30 and 45. In spite of this huge gulf I still rank half way up page two! I'd be really grateful if someone could explain to me what the followed links, NoFollewed links etc all means and also the opinion on getting links from web directories. Thanks for your time - Jay
Competitive Research | | JasonHegarty0 -
Kicking Ass When You Are Stuck At Position #2
You sell a great selection of books but your site always ranks in the SERPs at Position #2 - right below GoliathPublishers.com. You will probably never rank higher than their PR8 domain. But you can still beat them..... How? With a value proposition that you SHOUT in your title tag. ================================== <title>Mysteries of Atlantis only $(kickass price)</p> <p>You will take all of their sales because they sell everything at MSRP.</p> <p>==================================</p> <p><title>Mysteries of Atlantis | Download or Immediate Shipping</p> <p>Everybody wants fast service</p> <p>==================================</p> <p><title>Mysteries of Atlantis | Free Shipping</p> <p>Everybody loves free shipping</p> <p>==================================</p> <p>The examples above will help you deal with a stodgy retail company. But what if you are stuck at #2 below a site like Wikipedia or WebMD? You don't have price or shipping to use as a weapon. Now you have to get clever at eliciting the click. Here are a few title tag samples for eliciting the click..... </p> <p>Wikipedia has a sleepy title tag that reads <em>"Atlantis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"</em></p> <p>You can beat that! Here are some ideas....</p> <p><title>Atlantis: Why the Mystery is a Pile of Baloney</p> <p><title>Atlantis: The Evidence that Convinced PhD Skeptics</p> <p><title>Secrets of Atlantis Discovered in the Ruins of Pompei</p> <p>==================================</p> <p>Next time you are stuck at #2 decide how you can put up a fight!</p> <p>Think about your value proposition, a catchy question, an easy solution, something seductive or even provocative....</p> <p><title>Brass Widgets | Best Selection on the Web!</p> <p><title>Brass Widgets | Lowest Prices that We Have Seen!</p> <p><title>Brass Widgets ! Every Size and Shape Imaginable!</p> <p><title>Brass Widgets | Free Beer with Every Purchase! :)</p> <p>===================================</p> <p>OK... you probably can't deliver on the Free Beer... but you are probably getting the idea. Those are some of the tricks that I have used.</p> <p>Remember to test and watch your analytics!</p> <p>What ideas do you have? How have you kicked ass from Position #2?</p> <p>Actually, these methods can work from any position in the SERPs... but the #2 probably pulled in your click. ;)</p></title>
Competitive Research | | EGOL4 -
1 domain dominating unbranded search terms?
Anyone have any insight or comments? We’ve been negatively impacted by the last Google algorithm update - not by a penalization of our site but because another site is now grabbing the top 3-4 search results for long tail physician name searches thereby pushing us lower in the rankings. Being that we’ve never seen this happen with unbranded search terms, we’re not sure how to address it. To see an example, click http://www.google.com/search?q=dr.+elizabeth+eads. You’ll notice that the top 4 results are all from 1 site - HealthGrades - with 2-3 of the 4 pages being canned, pre-written templates without any unique content (see malpractice & sanction pages). It seems that they are doing this by paginating their information into separate pages, thus appearing in multiple search results, instead of putting all the information on 1 page, as we do and Google’s best practices suggest. Any advice or comments would really be appreciated.
Competitive Research | | irvingw0