mystery of #1

[longjump]

I am competing with others for certain keywords. I was almost non existant then I optimized my site and for various keywords I am one page one or two.

I look at those at the top of the search results, their keyword density, links, external links (inbound), and given all I read about how-to's on these websites for SEO I can't see why these sites ar at the top of the results.

So I figure there must be something I am missing when examining these sites. Is there an seo expert or seo enthusiast to help me understand what's going on, and maybe even help me get to number one.

The sites I see at top 3 or 4 places are always there. They seem to be immoveable.

[whitehat]

I am competing with others for certain keywords. I was almost non existant then I optimized my site and for various keywords I am one page one or two.

I look at those at the top of the search results, their keyword density, links, external links (inbound), and given all I read about how-to's on these websites for SEO I can't see why these sites ar at the top of the results.

So I figure there must be something I am missing when examining these sites. Is there an seo expert or seo enthusiast to help me understand what's going on, and maybe even help me get to number one.

The sites I see at top 3 or 4 places are always there. They seem to be immoveable.


They probably have a higher Page Rank than you (and more, high quality relevant backlinks)
that is crucial I have found to ranking well(ish)

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

1) you might be looking mostly at quantity of links whereas their quality of links is better

2) their sites are probably multiple years old and yours sounds as if it was sorta new(?). Age is another extremely important factor in Google other than links. Age of the website AND age of the links that is

3) Dont look at pagerank

[whitehat]

1)
3) Dont look at pagerank

2/ good point

3/ ??

Please outline your reasoning and the facts behind this statement

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

pagerank is known to have become a distorted picture of real link authority. Some SEOs say it's because Google doesn't really want to show us the complete truth.

[whitehat]

pagerank is known to have become a distorted picture of real link authority. Some SEOs say it's because Google doesn't really want to show us the complete truth.

Agreed. High Quality relevant links is in the best ingredient.
But having a high PR helps you to get these from other 'well respected sites' :)

Any PR below 3 is a big disadvantage in my experience..Above that it becomes blurred for sure

[Ryan L]

google is trying to make pagerank go the way of the yeti.