Hey everyone, I'm completely stoked - either Google must have had some amazing algorythm change or one of my competitors was slapped off the face of the SERPs. Although i've cemented some quality search terms as #1, for the first time today I got a taste of the big fish: 'credit card' and 'credit cards' in Australian Google (google.com.au). To say the least, traffic's skyrocketed already. The site recently which used to rank for 'credit cards' is completely off the face of Google SERPs - while the site itself was fairly good, I noticed they were doing some dodgy methods such as self-built link farms from shoddy blogspots. For anybody curious: The results for my site were mainly achieved via consistent and fresh content. Ever since I began writing good quality articles for daily publishment, it's all been uphill from there. Link building hasn't been a major player as of late, however I still use article directories to cement my current-ranking positions. Although I haven't condensed it into a short and catchy phrase, I follow this idealism when it comes to search engine ranking: Informative and helpful content will obviously never be penalized by Google. There are so many on-page techniques and link building methods you can utilize, but ask yourself: would they have the same beneficial effect they have for your site as they would 3 years from now? If you want a slow and consistent method that works, I believe content is the way to go. The least you'll achieve are long-tail rankings to boost traffic, while essentially you have nothing to lose or risk jeopardizing your SERPs. I'm sorry if it's generic or you've heard it a thousand times before, but it truly is what worked for me. For affiliates: Duplicate content can be an issue for ranking when it comes to copy that you are given for your products. If your network allows, do your best to reword it and make it unique. In instances where you can't - make the copy and image, and write other related unique content further on down the page. While the new rankings are too new to ensure their spots at #1, it's definitely a landmark in progress. I hope that's an interesting insight for some of you. Has anyone else experienced anything of this magnitude recently?
Its good to see a fellow webmaster getting ranked (and you are still there) for a high competition keyword. Thanks for sharing the techniques you used. I know everyone 'says' content is king, but it's good to see some real life examples