Why Does Site X Have Better Rankings?
As most SEO professionals will tell you, a common question asked by clients is “Why does Site X have better rankings than mine?” Restated, the question is really “What is SEO and how can it work?” Explored using lawyer websites as examples, let’s hit the high spots:
First, is the firm looking for keywords or keyphrases that actually appear or pertain to their site? Meaning, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to firms who wonder why they don’t rank for, say, Los Angeles palimony when, in fact, they have no content about either Los Angeles or palimony. This is a very simple example to emphasize one point: develop content about your target keyword topics. Many times, the law firm website with better rankings simply has better content about the subject.
What else can give one site better rankings than another? Well, in general, there are two elements involved in getting good rankings: on page factors and off page factors.
On page factors include good content and targeted TITLE and META tags to start.
Off page factors include who is linking to the firm’s website, how long the site has been online and other things.
Alternately phrased:
Content + Authority = Rankings
This highlights the fact that content development isn’t the only thing involved in getting rankings… particularly in highly-competitive markets like New York injury law or Florida workers comp. With content development assessed, we turn our attention to the idea of the law firm website’s authority.
The primary determination of authority is the quality of incoming links to a given website. Does Law Firm A have incoming links from topical sites where Law Firm B does not? To check, go to Google and type this in to the search box:
and compare the results to
Many times, the site with the better rankings will show more, quality links within this result set. It is the quality of the linking site that is important, not simply quantity.
In short, that’s how you answer the question, “Why does one site rank better than another?” Yes, it is far too simplistic a presentation, but it will get the non-technical user oriented quickly as to what things they can do to improve their visibility within high-density searches.
