Even for an SEO agency, it is never easy to interpret why a given page may or may not be successful. In fact, this is something that many people struggle with when asked to simply look at a page.
In many ways, this is because we often get forget some of the wider SEO factors at work. Sure, choosing the right keywords and developing outreach efforts should both improve visibility, but there are many other factors to consider, such as the following.
It’s Not Sharing Naturally
If a page loses it’s position, especially if it’s too a competitor, then it might be a case of natural sharing, such as social media and forums. These organic links can often make a difference. After all, if people are taking the content and sharing it, it means they’re typically sharing it in communities where such a page would be of interest. This can then create more links, and so on.
In other words, the ability for content to be shared naturally is just as important as your own internal and external efforts. If a competitor’s content takes off – while yours doesn’t – this could result in less visibility.
It’s Poor Quality… According To Google
When it comes to Google’s search algorithm, we know that there are many, numerous factors being considered on any given website or page. One of these, for example, is website quality.
However, many people can often forget this fact, in a rush to get content out of the door with plenty of links. Yet, none of this will matter if Google’s internal algorithms determine that the page is scraped from existing content elsewhere, has hidden links, comes across as spammy or even irrelevant keywords.
Google is a smart search engine and it is always learning, so your best option is to stick to high quality, relevant content. Otherwise, you risk getting a search penalty or even just being ignored by Google’s crawling efforts entirely.
The Latest Penguin Update
Similarly, every Google Penguin update often comes with a variety of changes. Websites can often move up and down the results page, as each update tweaks just how important various factors are. This can often cause specific pages to not rank as highly.
In these cases, you need to try and determine what it is about these specific pages that is poor. Since the most recent Google update has changed the search engine to a more dynamic one, with more constant updates, the need to have a wider range of SEO services at your disposal is more relevant than ever.
It’s Not Being Linked/Attributed
Sometimes content can get shared and spread across the web without linking back to you. A prime example of this is an infographic. While the original page (and even pages you have partnered with other platforms to share it on) may involve relevant links, other people may, whether with deliberate intent or not, include this when they share it too.
Often, this is because the content itself is nothing more than an image format – there are no links attached. This means it’s easy for someone to grab that content and forget about attribution. While your name might be on the image, that often isn’t enough to send people your way.
Social Media
Similarly, it might be shared highly on social media, yet this often links to the existing page. In this way, especially when content is getting shared on third party platforms, further supported by social media, you’re not generating extra links back to you. Yet this isn’t always a bad thing. While it might not directly improve visibility, it is still generating traffic back to you – what’s more, if people are interested enough to share it, it’s traffic that matters.