Pages Competing With One Another

[Tom3_15]

Hello,

We are ranking for an acronym, which I understand can lead to fickle rankings. However, we have two pages ranking page one - two for the same keyword, but they do so in spite of each other.

By this I mean, one page will rank, while the other is nowhere to be found. It seems that the one page (a blog post) is more likely to rank on the weekends while the product page is more likely to rank on the weekdays.

I would like the product page to rank all the time, and to target another keyword with the blog post. Would removing the keyword from the blog post allow the product page to rank all the time - or would it lead to no pages ranking during times when the blog post would otherwise be ranking?

I should note the blog post has more external links and is not exactly optimized for the keyword, while the product page has more internal links and is optimized for the keyword.

[NickW816]

In theory, it should result in your product page ranking more consistently. One way to help solidify your product pages rankings for your target keyword would be to add an anchor text link with your target keyword pointing to the product page within the blog post (which has more external links). This would help "transfer some authority" that the blog post has to the product page.

To be safe when making these changes to de-optimize the blog post, keep track of every change you make just in case you need to revert back to the way it was, and also keep track of the rankings for both the product page and blog post separately.

Hope this helps and best of success!

[Tom3_15]

Thanks for the response, I do have the keyword as the anchor text linking from my blog post to my product page. I don't know why it is when one ranks, the other does not, rather than alongside each other.

Would de-optimizing my blog post allow for my product page to rank all the time - or will it cause a lack of coverage when the blog post would otherwise rank?

[NickW816]

Impossible to say for sure Tom, I would give it a go personally, especially if there is another keyword you want to target with the blog post. If Google is currently only allowing one page of your website to rank at one time for your keyword, de-optimizing one of the competing pages for that keyword should lead to more consistent ranking for the other page with all else being equal.

[Tom3_15]

Thanks for the input, Nicholas. This is what I was thinking, however, it seems that the blog post is now ranking for the last four days, and my solutions page isn't ranking at all for the keyword. Usually, the blog post would rank 1-2 days a week while the product page would rank the rest.

Would you still suggest de-optimizing the blog? Ranking for the keyword has been a months-long initiative, and I don't want to ruin my efforts.

Or should I wait and see if the product page begins ranking instead of the post again before de-optimizing the post?

[NickW816]

Personally, I would still de-optimize the blog, just keep a notes document of before/after changes that you make during de-optimization, that way if the worst case scenario happens and neither page is ranking for your keyword, you can undo the de-optimization and look for another solution.

Also, after you de-optimize the post it may be worth it to utilize Google Search Console's Fetch & Render tool to request Google to re-index and crawl all of the direct links on the product page and blog page. This can sometimes work like a "refresh" to get Google to properly index both pages quicker. I would still wait like a week or so after you de-optimize the post page to see what happens.

[LureCreative]

Agree with Nicholas, keep track of what you do and then go for it. You won't know unless you test and if the product page has ranked highly before there is a good chance it will rank highly again if you de-optimize it's competing blog post page.

[Tom3_15]

Sounds good, Ill give it a shot. Thank you guys!

[Tom3_15]

Thanks for the help, Nicholas!