Low Domain Authority - Rank Well For Competitive Keywords

[TheSEODR]

I have been following a competitor's link profile on OSE for over 8 months. Their linkbacks have remained the same (3 follow, 9 nofollow links), all from low-quality directory sites. However, my competitor continues to improve in rankings  and is now #1 for competitive keyword searches.

How is this possible? Is there a way to hide your link profile or links from OSE?

Any tips are appreciated - Thanks!

[ak1lz]

You must remember that rankings don't only rely on back links. there are many factors like content, social signals & on page optimization to name the bigger players.

[TheeDigital]

The first thing that comes to mind, is how are you looking at the SERPS.  You're not logged in are you?  Clicking on a link while you're into your Google account will change the placing of it, as Google is always trying to recommend/localize your results.  The best way to view the SERPs is in Incognito mode though that often doesn't always work.

If you are viewing the Competitor in Incognito and have seem him climb up, I would wonder if the links that he has passed have been affected by Panda or Penguin.

Yeah, I would also agree with AK, and take a look at the on-page optimization of the competitor.  Has their on page optimization or content changed any?

[HiveDigitalInc]

Why don't you run SEOMoz's keyword competitiveness tools to get an idea of what makes them better. Also, take a look at some competitor data sets like Majestic and AHrefs - I always start with SEOMoz, but there is no reason to limit yourself to 1 data set. Chances are they have a bunch more spammy links that you aren't yet seeing, and those are giving them the lift.

[TheSEODR]

I dedicate one of my browsers for checking rankings and I never sign in, so it should be a pretty accurate SERP.

The content has remained the same since I have been tracking them. The only difference with their content and other competing sites is they have the exact-match keyword listed multiple times throughout the site. However, it looks and reads very unnatural.

[TheSEODR]

I tried some other site explorers. There were a couple links that were shown on Majestic but not on OSE. None of the linkbacks seemed to be of any quality.

[TheSEODR]

I didn't think on-page optimization would put you above a site with decent on-page optimization and a better link profile - but maybe it does.

They don't have any social profiles so social signals can't be a contributor to their high ranking.

[bradkrussell]

Don't be afraid to post the URL of your site and their site - it would help us to better understand the situation.

[Klarke]

Some blackhats/greyhats make it a point to block Mozbot, Majestic and other crawlers from their private networks.   That prevents links from appearing in competitive reports.

So try using Bing's Link Explorer given that they usually allow Bingbot and Googlebot to crawl.

[TheSEODR]

I thought there might be a way to block some link explorer bots but wasn't sure. Thank you for verifying that.

I was able to find a few more links on Bing's Link Explorer but still no substantial links.

[TheSEODR]

my URL is ________________________

Competitor site is __________________

[Klarke]

Well bing doesn't crawl and index as much as google ...maybe they're even blocking Bingbot.  It's not unheard of.

[bradkrussell]

Hi Derek,

I have had a look at the backlink profiles of both sites. While yours is certainly much better than theirs in terms of number and quality of links - keep building links. 400 or so inbound links isn't a huge number. I suggest getting some high quality links from places like BBB.org (paid) or http://www.aboutus.org/DoFollow (free).

Now - looking at your on site analysis, you do pretty well for trophy terms like 'Bee Removal' - however I'm going to look at another term it seems you want to rank well for - 'San Diego Bee Removal'.

You're getting an F for this according to SEOmoz's on page reports. That term is not used anywhere on the page, in the title, in alt image tags, in a H1 tag or in bold/strong. Yes, you are trying to rank for it on this page - http://www.propacificbee.com/bee-removal-san-diego-bee-control.php - but if this is indeed one of your trophy terms (as I guess it would be by looking at your site) - why not try and rank for your homepage?

All those sub pages you have for different areas (Allied Gardens, Alpine, Bonita etc) should have more unique content too - there are way too many pages with VERY similar content. Google is going to frown upon this.

Hope this helps,

Brad