Help with a Sticky Site

[markhope]

Hey Everyone -

I work for a company that is just getting into SEO.  We have had some successes, but one project lately has got us stumped.  We have been working hard, but have been unable to make an impact in Google rankings with the following site:

http://stoneycreekinn.com/locations/index.cfm/DesMoines

We are trying to optimize for the keyword phrase, "des moines hotel"

This hotel is a branch location of a hotel chain in the Midwest.

*Note we've already moved up some other branch locations for this hotel chain successfully.

We've used several tools including the SEOmoz tool and seem to have higher marks than those sites that rank above us in Google surprisingly.

Any idea what we're missing?

Thanks!

[dignan99]

While Des Moines may not be a metropolis, I'd imagine that the keyword "hotel" and city modifier is competitive in any/every market.  It may not be New York or Las Vegas, but well established sites who have spent a bit of time optimizing their sites would have a leg up.  In addition, the larger chains with their 1000's of backlinks and power PR's would also be tough to get ahead of.

The listing/description is lacking, as there is not much information on the page you are trying to optimize for.  This could be greatly improved with better copy speaking about Des Moines, the attractions, location, and that specific hotel.

Backlnks are a must, and my analysis would revolve around that, including where the higher ranking competition is listed.  You need to be there too.  In the meantime start building them in reputable directories.

Make SURE that your name, address, and phone number are EXACTLY the same everywhere in all of your listings.  Not having this together can create serious problems.

Make sure you are registered properly in the local search engine areas: Google Place, Bing Local, Yahoo Local.

Familiarize yourself with the new edition of:

Local Search Ranking Factors Vol. 4 by David Mihm

Best of luck.

[AlanBleiweiss]

This is only a cursory look so it's only going to touch on some of the most obvious, important factors.

1. Just because we can get rankings for some pages does not automatically mean we'll get them for others.  Each phrase set needs to be evaluated as a unique topical focus, in it's own competitive landscape.

2. While your site architecture might work for the locations you've got ranking for, it's upside down site architecture.

You have

http://stoneycreekinn.com/locations/index.cfm/DesMoines

http://stoneycreekinn.com/locations/rooms/index.cfm/DesMoines

http://stoneycreekinn.com/locations/amenities/index.cfm/DesMoines

http://stoneycreekinn.com/locations/gallery/index.cfm/DesMoines

etc.

Ideal site architecture would be something like:

http://stoneycreekinn.com/locations/DesMoines/

http://stoneycreekinn.com/locations/DesMoines/rooms/

http://stoneycreekinn.com/locations/DesMoines/amenities/

etc.

This method helps search engines understand content relationships much more clearly.

3. When drilling down into Packages and Specials, clicking on an individual special goes to

http://stoneycreekinn.com/locations/specials/view.cfm?locationid=6&specialid=4

This page has no Des Moines topical emphasis (page Title, URL, content, etc.)  So this entire section is lacking in its ability to be recognized as relevant, and in turn, can not properly support the larger Des Moines focus.

4. OpenSiteExplorer.org only shows 20 links pointing to the top level Des Moines page.  From 2 domains.  That's hardly any indication that this is an authoritative set of content for an inner section of a site

5.  The photo gallery has no descriptive paragraph based text, and no Des Moines specific seeding (title, URL, content area, etc...

Any of these will help, however you may need all of them, to get significant rankings.

[markhope]

Thanks for the suggestions!  Like I said we are just getting our feet wet with SEO so anything is helpful at this point.  One point of frustration for us is the fact that this hotel's actual physical location is in a suburb of Des Moines.  So I know there are links out there that list the address as Johnston, IA (the suburb and actual location) and those that list the address as Des Moines, IA.  We have tried to convert everything to Des Moines address knowing that consistency is key in search engine ranking, but some directories are smart and can tell the actual location is not Des Moines.  Any suggestions here?  Should we just list the address as Johnston and optimize the content to include Des Moines as a keyword?

[dignan99]

It all really depends I guess.  Is Johnston a city or suburban community?  If I sent something to your address and put Des Moines on it, would it arrive?

How many people search for hotels in Johnston versus Des Moines?

Either one you choose, you'll have to get everything to match.