Top ranking with no SEO
-
I ran an SEOMoz keyword difficulty report for the term "interim CFO services" and found that all of the websites that ranked really well for that term have good page authority and domain authority scores and plenty of incoming links.....except 1.
result #5 has a page and domain authority of 1 and no incoming links, however it's ranked #5 in google SERP for this highly competitive term.
see screenshots:
Is this ranking based solely on the domain name being 100% relevant?
Did they just get lucky and hit the google rankings jackpot?
If this is the case, by the same logic I am trying achieve high rankings for the keyword "outsourced accounting firm" and purchased the domain name outsourcedaccountingfirm.com and am not even ranked in the top 50 with google for that keyword. (it's very new though) any feedback on either questions above would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
-
One more example related to exact match domains.
no seo for a 3 years,(about 1000 monthly visitors) added google analytics yesterday to catch 404 , and submited sitemap.
Competitors are way too good for this kind of site, but still. For most competitive keywoards the site is on first SERP.
I think stable number of visitors for a years does the job, supporting such an unfriendly to google robot website.
-
Good answer Syed..I wonder when Google will actually make good on their intention to devalue exact match domains. We have seen this happen in mid-to weak keyword sets.
-
In addition to their exact match domain, their on-page SEO has been almost perfectly optimized for the search term. They get an A on SEOmoz's keyword score card, hitting 4/4 critical, 6/7 high importance, 9/9 medium importance, and 9/11 low importance factors.
Buying and optimizing exact match domains isn't really a good long term strategy as Syed mentions. However if you already have some, I would optimize them as landing pages for the term, with the call to action being to visit your actual website. On the other hand, that effort is probably better spent optimizing a page on your main domain for the term.
-
Fortunately or unfortunately Google still gives pretty good weight to exact match domains and for the search query you pointed you I think its definitely possible that the domain is what got it the high positions.
The #5 ranking site is:
interimcfoservices.net - registered 2 years, not many links and not much authority.However, Google is reducing the authority of exact match domains so I wouldn't go out my way and invest in such domains as it is unlikely to benefit in SEO in the long run.
What many do not consider or cannot calculate is the number of visitrs/ potential clients lost due to to having such a keywordy" domains that not only appear unprofessional but are very difficult to remember.
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
-
Ranking Keyword
Hi! I am Amelia My site rank 5 keyword in united states show that Ahref's and I check in Moz but that shows 1 rank key word and Ahref's shows the 59 backlinks and Moz shows 5 to 6 backlink why that shows low keyword and backlinks that's my site problem or Moz issues. Check My website and tell me issues.
Moz Pro | | Oiebyut0 -
Is there a date range filter for ranking graph?
I've been a subscriber a little over a year now and my ranking graphs keep growing in size and they are getting hard to use. Is there a date range filter? Another year and it's going to be a big mess. ranking_mess.png
Moz Pro | | CaliB0 -
Mixed up Rankings
I was checking my ranking reports and double checking them on Google to see if it match. My rankings was updated today on seomoz and almost none of the rankings match the real thing. For example I have a rank that in seomoz says 9th place and i am checking it at google and it says 6th. Is there a possible explanation? I am in a need of an answer as soon as possible. Thanks in Advance
Moz Pro | | Angelos_Savvaidis0 -
Rank Tracker Showing Confused me in Position ?
I recently checked one keyword ranking and it was showing my keyword is in 10th position of google.com but the same when i check directly on google.com i seen my keyword position is 16th so i again refresh the ranking and again it is still showing 10th position.. i am totally confused here which one is right.. please help here is the screenshot of that keyword so you can guys check from your side..
Moz Pro | | xplodeguru0 -
Freaked out over domain authority ranking drop.
Should I be freaked out that website's domain authority dropped 4 points? Is it normal for websites to fluctuate a couple of points or have I really screwed something up?
Moz Pro | | bewoldt0 -
Looking to Hire an SEO Expert for Travel Site
Hello Everyone, I hope this is OK to post here. I run a travel website and we operate tours abroad. We are slowly expanding after nearly 10 years in the field. I started the company from scratch and currently do my own website design and SEO work. However, over the last couple of years I've lost the SEO connection due to being so darn busy. I started account here with SEO Moz in order to get the ball rolling again. We continually rank high for keywords, publish superb content by great writers, and overall are doing fine. I would just like to ensure this keeps happening and that we have an expert on board to help us in sustainable organic SEO practices. What I'd like to do is hire an SEO expert to help with our site. It might be part time (10 or so hours per week, perhaps?) Anyhow, I would like if this person used SeoMoz and really had their fingers on the pulse of the SEO world. I want all white-hat SEO, help with page optimization, internal link structure, and help getting quality external links. I know that over optimization is something that is now on the forefront of SEO work, so of course keeping this in mind helps. I would like to be kept up to date (perhaps weekly overviews of data and how we are doing) and am willing to make changes as quickly as needed on the site. I would like to see how we rank with competitors and what we need to do to stay on top - for the long term (no short sighted decisions). I want to learn as we progress, not because I want to do the SEO work myself, I just enjoy knowing what is going on. I will not micromanage. I am too busy for that : ) I am not sure what amount SEO experts are paid, but I have a slightly flexible budget. I really want someone will communicate when needed and is thorough in their responses. Attention to detail is a must. I would prefer an SEO expert located in the US but who also knows how to access / think about markets abroad (Canada/UK/Australia). I suppose we can discuss pay once I have a shortlisted group. I am looking to hire and work with someone starting pretty much immediately (even in May). For starters, I suppose our budget might be $500 to $1500 per month. For the first month or so, we might offer payment on a stipend basis just so we can ensure whoever is hired is the perfect fit. It would be great if this person had worked on travel sites before or has at least traveled abroad a few times. But, no worries either way. Thanks so much! Thomas at jbt@journeybeyondtravel.com
Moz Pro | | journeybeyondtravel0 -
Is it possible to see rankings on a graph?
Would it be possible to display Ranking data on a graph to show progress over a period of time? It would be great to be able to show a client how a certain keyword has improved over a time period.
Moz Pro | | barnst0 -
Are the Ranking Changes on SEOmoz ranking reports weekly or life of the keyword?
I am referring to the area where it says ranking changes and where it has a green and a red arrow for improved and declined.
Moz Pro | | JGar-2203710