hi guys. I am working through my sites with keyword analysis and WA is extremely helpful. One thing I have noticed is that some keywords are recommended not to be added in (for example) bold, only because the average top ten are not doing it.
Im thinking to myself, it would be good to add my keyword in bold (for example) because surely that is better for that keyword. I am not saturating the site with the keyword either.
I am also thinking that the recommendations are from the average of the top ten, and does not show specifically any individual site, so, if the market is not yet highly competitive and thus keyword optimized, maybe I should be ignoring what the average guys are doing and do more.
I also wonder what the top guy is doing too, and whether the learnings from his/her page are diluted because of badly optimized sites below his in the top ten.
So, I'm wondering if there would be a future option to use this tool and save & monitor results for the average top ten, and also save & monitor results with the guy at the top (or even a named domain).
Yes, we are planning to eventually let users edit the competitor list, it is on our to-do list already. We can not give any estimates on when it will appear, though...
Sorry to be so late in adding my comment but I've just joined the forum 5 mins. ago.
I too have successfully used WA and am very happy with it. However, I don't want to be Mr. Average in the top 10. Currently I am.... just. It only took a week to get there from nothing.
Anyway, I am not happy with being number 4 or 3. I can cope with number two. My market is a niche with a small number of competitors some of who obviously have not heard of SEO. So I feel it should be easy to get to the top. However it isn't. There is more to SEO than WA. And it has nothing to do with links either. My top competitor has no links in or out. Has no meta keywords. And has a crap site. But they have been there for a few years.
The point is really, "how do we get to be above our compeitors above us?"
To get above you need to concentrate on building quality backlinks mainly. Onpage optimization is only one aspect of SEO, it is necessary for new sites and it's good to keep you strongly on a decent above-average level - you won't go lower having good onpage optimisation. However to rank above any competitors and to stay strongly on top you need a huge amount of backlinks leading to your site from nice, relevant, high PR location. That is, from onpage optimization you gotta move to offpage optimization and link-building.
The point is really, "how do we get to be above our compeitors above us?"
Any ideas?
You already give an answer yourself: But they have been there for a few years. This is the main aspect for a good ranking, as far as I can see it now for some years. The age of the domain is one of the most important things for a good ranking. Usually you can't do anything than wait and keep the site online. There will come a time you can beat him but until that, try to get as many relevant backlinks as you can and keep the site actual with some postings every week.
I love this exchange. modelenthusiasts hits the upper limit with on site and is advised to get back links. He sees the perfect opportunity to get one and grabs it in his last post. Kudos! I would have done the same.
...but modelenthusiasts wouldn't it be sweet to get a deep link with long tail anchor text? Like this, Wilesco STEAM TRACTION ENGINE
...But they have been there for a few years.
but until that, try to get as many relevant backlinks as you can and keep the site actual with some postings every week.
