My site does not show up #1 in google for domain name

[LauraDC]

Hi folks

Strange thing I noticed when I started posting here on SP. My site no longer shows up #1 in google SERs when i type godaycare.com into the search box. It's been taken over by a page from sitepoint . Does google really think that SP is more relevant for the term then my own ste? Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. In fact, congrats to the staff at SP for doing such an excellent job. Any ideas?

[Dan Schulz]

It's temporary. As your site gets more links pointing back to it, the SitePoint thread will be buried and forgotten - as it should be.

[stymiee]

Might also be a fresh content boost. Wait it out. I doubt this will last especially if you are actively promoting your site.

[detzX]

Been there, as they said give it time.

[webvicious]

Could be temporary, but this can definitely be the case as SP ranks very well.

[LauraDC]

I'm not concerned about it. The question was posted to gain an insight into this issue. Thanks to all who had replied

[Philopoemen]

As long as the thread on SitePoint is not sticky or very very popular, your site should outrank it soon

[LauraDC]

As long as the thread on SitePoint is not sticky or very very popular, your site should outrank it soon

Actually the thread is very popular

http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=522206

[jhnrang]

As stymiee mentioned very wisely, its just a fresh content phenomenon- I would not loose my sleep over it.
With time and more incoming links to your site Google bots will figure out which is more relevant.

[JJMcClure]

What's interesting about this is that all the sites which rank higher than the actual godaycare site for the search 'godaycare.com' use that phrase more often than godaycare does on it's own home page.

Since it's unlikely that the higher ranking sites have backlinks with that as the anchor text, and we know that godaycare is a new site just starting to build links, I can't imagine what other factor other than the number of times the phrase 'godaycare.com' is used is causing them to rank higher than a site that has that phrase as it's actual URL. Most times the first page that gets indexed for a new site is it's home page and it always returns No1 for it's URL because no one else is using it.

Could this mean that keyword density is a factor......

But there's a condition, the sites which use it the most aren't necessarily ranking highest. The highest ranking page is the one that uses the 'godaycare.com' phrase most as anchor text.

[hooperman]

The domain in question is only 2 months old. Pages on sitepoint have all the benefits that an aged and trusted domain bring.

EDIT:

Since it's unlikely that the higher ranking sites have backlinks with that as the anchor text..

Sitepoint has an internal link to that web site review thread with "www.godaycare.com" in the anchor text and that's on a TBPR5 page (for what it's worth).

[JJMcClure]

The domain in question is only 2 months old. Pages on sitepoint have all the benefits that an aged and trusted domain bring.

Specifically........?

Since we know the only relevance they have is the mention of 'godaycare.com', I fail to see what 'age' factors could be helping.

EDIT:
Sitepoint has an internal link to that web site review thread with "www.godaycare.com" in the anchor text and that's on a TBPR5 page (for what it's worth).

Well that explains why the sitepoint thread is top then, what about the other 8 pages that return higher?

I already mentioned the anchor text and the PR is irrelevant, don't know why you mentioned it.

[hooperman]

I already mentioned the anchor text and the PR is irrelevant, don't know why you mentioned it.

I don't think that PR is irrelevant here. I'm sure that the PR of the linking page + the right anchor text helped a great deal for that SP thread. I would guess that its PR (linking page) is quite high.

I think you're right about the phrase occurring in anchor text and other places of significance helped those other pages rank though.

[esds]

The search results fluctuate regularly, to get number 1 position you need to often research keywords and optimize it for better ranking. The search patterns also diverge due to global search, that's the reason on-going SEO is a key factor to sustain with the top position.

[JJMcClure]

I don't think that PR is irrelevant here. I'm sure that the PR of the linking page + the right anchor text helped a great deal for that SP thread. I would guess that its PR (linking page) is quite high.

I think you're right about the phrase occurring in anchor text and other places of significance helped those other pages rank though.

We're talking about that page being relevant for the search phrase 'godaycare.com', how is PR a factor in this?

It's certainly down to the number of times the phrase is mentioned though, there are no other factors of relevance. You didn't answer the question about why the other 8 pages rank higher than her own site.

[hooperman]

We're talking about that page being relevant for the search phrase 'godaycare.com', how is PR a factor in this?

If you have a link from a high PR page with "any phrase you like" as anchor text, that link will help the linked page rank for that phrase, regardless of the page's content. The sitepoint page that ranks #1 has a link with godaycare.com in the anchor text from a page whose toolbar PR = 5 (I've no reason to doubt that the real PR is high).

You didn't answer the question about why the other 8 pages rank higher than her own site.

I think you're right about the phrase occurring in anchor text and other places of significance helped those other pages rank though.

"Other places of significance" being <titles>, <h1>'s etc.

[JJMcClure]

If you have a link from a high PR page with "any phrase you like" as anchor text, that link will help the linked page rank for that phrase, regardless of the page's content. The sitepoint page that ranks #1 has a link with godaycare.com in the anchor text from a page whose toolbar PR = 5 (I've no reason to doubt that the real PR is high).

Sorry what?

You're saying that a link with any old anchor text from an unrelated high PR page helps with relevance for a particular search phrase, making it weigh more than the actual site itself?

I disagree.

"Other places of significance" being <titles>, <h1>'s etc.

I know where they are thanks, I've been arguing that keyword placement is important for a couple of weeks on here in the keyword density threads, perhaps you missed that.

None of the sites that are beating her are using the phrase in any of those places because they're about her site, they're not actually her site. All they're doing is using her URL in the content and linking to her, i.e. they have the phrase in anchor text and they use the phrase more than she does on her own home page.

Their keyword density is higher and the phrase is used in only one of the important real estate locations and they're still beating her in the rankings for her own URL, nuff said.

This is a perfect example for why the number of times you use a keyword phrase and where you put it (keyword density & location) matters.

[hooperman]

Sorry what?

You're saying that a link with any old anchor text from an unrelated high PR page helps with relevance for a particular search phrase, making it weigh more than the actual site itself?

I'm saying that a link from a high PR page with "blah blah" in the anchor text will help another page rank for "blah blah".

I know where they are thanks, I've been arguing that keyword placement is important for a couple of weeks on here in the keyword density threads, perhaps you missed that.

None of the sites that are beating her are using the phrase in any of those places because they're about her site, they're not actually her site. All they're doing is using her URL in the content and linking to her, i.e. they have the phrase in anchor text and they use the phrase more than she does on her own home page.

Their keyword density is higher and the phrase is used in only one of the important real estate locations and they're still beating her in the rankings for her own URL, nuff said.

This is a perfect example for why the number of times you use a keyword phrase and where you put it (keyword density & location) matters.

I think we're agreeing on this but I'm not sure! The phrase in question doesn't appear at all on Laura's page, but it appears in places of emphasis on the other higher ranking pages.

[LauraDC]

Sitepoint has an internal link to that web site review thread with "www.godaycare.com" in the anchor text and that's on a TBPR5 page (for what it's worth).

Really? That's nice to know. I was not able to locate it. Can you point it out to me please? Thank you.

[hooperman]

It's just on the main sub forum list: http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=12

I wouldn't worry though because the link to that thread will eventually be relegated to page 2 (and so on) and so will pass less weight. Also, I doubt that many people will be searching for your site by name

Also, any "new site filter"/"aging delay" that Google employ won't be there forever.

[MrCat]

Just continue on building quality and targeted backlinks and you'll have the top position again - as well as other keywords you optimize for

[stevep421]

That is a great point. Just keep building quality over quantity and you will be fine.

[JJMcClure]

I'm saying that a link from a high PR page with "blah blah" in the anchor text will help another page rank for "blah blah".

But that's not what's happening here. All the links on the sitepoint thread contain her URL and point to Laura's site and yet the thread is still considered more relevant for a search for her URL than her own homepage (which mentions the phrase 3 times actually, once in the URL and twice on page) because the phrase appears in anchor text. The links weigh so little that they don't help Laura as backlinks.

So the combination of keyword density (hers is the lowest in the 10 returned pages) and the keyword placement (anchor text) is beating her site for relevance even though she owns the URL.

A strong argument for keyword density and placement being a factor in the SERPs.

Once she gets some decent backlinks, her site will be considered more relevant again.

I think we're agreeing on this but I'm not sure! The phrase in question doesn't appear at all on Laura's page, but it appears in places of emphasis on the other higher ranking pages.

See above.

[Waraas]

If you put a simple html page up with a description about your site on your domain than you should get #1. That is pretty much the only reason why you are getting outranked. That and you need more backlinks of course.

[hooperman]

All the links on the sitepoint thread contain her URL and point to Laura's site and yet the thread is still considered more relevant for a search for her URL than her own homepage (which mentions the phrase 3 times actually, once in the URL and twice on page) because the phrase appears in anchor text.

All the links in the sitepoint thread are on a low pr page, meaning that they pass less weight for the anchor text to Laura's page.

The link to the sitepoint thread however is on a high pr page (http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=12) , passing more weight for the anchor text.

I'm not saying that this is the only factor, but I think it's a contributing factor.