I posted a thread not too long ago about site popularity and how it might increase the ranking of a site. The thread was rank = traffic vs traffic = rank Anyways, I'm almost sure that this is the case. I've found a couple sites that have very little SEO done, and almost no keywords on it's homepage yet they rank #1!!!! How is this possible? Here are the terms (Keep in mind, I'm in Canada using Google.ca) Search: franchise law Search Result: FranchiseLaw.ca, position 1 keywords found on homepage: franchise:1, law:0 metatags and title: lots of instances of franchise and law Search: interbiz Search Result: Interbiz.ca, position 2 keywords found on homepage: 0!!!! metatags and title: no tags, just interbiz once mentioned in title. Now what's interesting is that both these sites pull content from a database, meaning there's hardly any content and hardly any pages! Backlinks Maybe? Not that many. I've seen sites that have thousands of links that don't rank well, but these two sites have less than 300 links, combined. So what makes them rank? "Interbiz" not a popular term, but "franchise law"? I truly believe that since these sites have natural popularity outside of the world wide web, SEs appreciate and deliver what most people are indeed looking for, beating out the well optimized site! Tell me your thoughts my DP friends. Am I just nuts, or is this a possibility?
you can check the backlinks of a site, and neither of these sites have many in that regards. Any other theory guys, and gals?
And how do you know how many backlinks there are to that site? Google doesn't tell you how many they really have. Backlinks is the key.
There are Google tools that do this. you can also go into the Google search bar and type in: link: http://www.mydomain.com link: www.mydomain.com link: mydomain.com Most of the time you'll get different results. This is what I do, at least. Any more ideas?
Best way to find links its not via google using link:urdomain.com its via msn , do links:urdomain.com and you will get better picture, msn has way better coverage than google.
Thanks! Do you know how I can move this thread to the Search Engine Optimization section? I don't know why it moved!
Ok i will press the report button on your post and see if it gets moved to SEO section, cause i think it doesnt belong in reviews section myself. So keep your fingers crossed i go press the button.
The keyword is in the domain name. Any site can be a few days old and be ranked #1 for it's domain name. Doesn't even need backlinks, just being indexed by googlebot and having no other active TLDs with the same name is all it takes.
Yes domain name does play a role also and would like to add to it that for some reason .ca are not give same preference as .com are given, i had a .ca domain before but it was not getting anywhere, so decided to go with .coms from than onwards. And thats the reason why ur site comes at 1 when u type franchise law in search cause i dont think there is any .com site with same name and which has content on it. But interbiz has its rival .com domain there. Cheers
Thanks for all the input and you're right. I do believe this to be true. My assumption to this puzzle is that I know for a fact that both sites receive a lot of traffic, and in combination with their domain names being their main key words, it's what gets them ranke high. This totally changes the marketing industry OUTSIDE of the internet. If I had a new service or new product I wanted to market, I would create a name based on little or no competition online, and of course, the dot-com would also be available. Based on the internet, the OUTSIDE marketing strategy changes. - K Monster
Have you considered the quality of the backlinks? They may not have that many but they may be some quality long term links out there. Just another idea.
I'm getting over 400 back links myself. Many from high quality sources (business.com, encarta). Domain is over 6 years old Have used: marketlinksolutions.com in the past on a continuos basis And i believe that the site is owned by the same firm that own: http://siskinds.com/ These are the reasons that the site ranks so highly. Notting
Interesting. So I guess hundreds or even thousands of links don't matter. What seems to be working in this case is the domain name: "Franchise Law" & "Interbiz", the QUALITY of the links and the age of the site. And let us not forget, the fact that it has natural traffic.
What's giving u the idea that these sites receive tons of traffic? Most of us know that Alexa isn't accurate, but if these two sites really are receiving lots of traffic, their Alexa rank should never be in the millions. Heck, a site of mine that is hovering around 10 measly visitors a day has around 500k Alexa rank.
Good Question. I can't get into details, but I'm indirectly involved with somebody who does their web admin. Anyways, I'm not sure about the numbers on Franchise Law, but I know it's high. As far as Interbiz.ca, it has a network of over 5000 to 7000 subscribers that hit the site on a daily basis, not including the natural visitors this community pulls. I don't use the Alexa ranking much, but from what I understand from you, I shouldn't bother. What do you think ranks these guys super well other than quality backlinks, which they have few of?!