We recently read a forum post asking for insight due to their website ranking 2nd and not first, even when they beat their competitor on all the major SEO metrics. It’s very easy nowadays to lose focus on what the overall goal is in SEO – Optimising your Website to increase it’s rank for a search query.
Pagespeed, Backlinks, Domain Authority and Page Authority, whilst they give you a good view of how much authority a website has, they don’t tell the whole story! Don’t get stuck on third-party SEO Metrics – remember the basics of what you’re actually trying to achieve: to answer users queries better than anyone else for search terms relevant to the client..
Here’s a few reasons how a less optimised website may outrank another:
- They answer a users search query much better in their content
- They have high quality content that keeps users hooked on their webs-pages, increasing session time
- They have Engaging videos on their landing page
- They have interactive content in the form of tables, graphics, images & info graphics.
- They provoke user engagement, encouraging comments and shares
- They have enticing Headlines, Titles and Page Descriptions
How to do this?
- Remember to write your Page Titles and Meta Descriptions to match a users search query, rather than what you think Google may like.
- Earn more relevant backlinks, the quantity of your links aren’t as important as the quality.
- Boost your High quality content on Facebook to reach new audiences and build up social proof and engagement.
- Create interactive and engaging content.
- Or just simply look at your competitors page and find the weak parts and improve upon their offering.
- Focus on improving metrics like Pages Per Session and Avg. Session Duration
- Improve your user experience and make it consistent across devices.
Neil Patel created a video that explains the steps to rank highly quite simply:
Here’s some simple SEO advice:
- Define your target audience and research what they search for and create the best content around that subject, including re-purposing the content in the form of info-graphics, videos and then build links to the content.
When it gets to fighting for the top 3 spots on Google it usually goes down to user metrics rather than third-party SEO metrics. Focus on keeping users on the page and try prevent them bouncing off the website.
How does your websites Click Through Rate and engagement compare to your competitors? Does your landing pages answer a users question better than all other pages it’s ranking against?
Bonus example:
East Midlands Water Company recently published a guide to buying Water Softeners to rank highly for informational search terms that are higher up the buying funnel, driving organic traffic at the awareness stage.
