Difficulty ranking for a keyword.

[amichael]

Well, in the interest of not giving too much away, my niche site is about a television series. The domain name is (television series) 411.com and I've the blog has been officially done since February 4th. Over the course of a week, my ranking for the keyword (television series) 411 went from #30 to #1... However, my target keyword is (television series) without the 411, and for some reason I haven't been able to rank for that AT ALL. Not top 100, nor top 300 for that matter... What's curious to me is that some of the sites that I rank #1 over in the other keyword rank above me for my targeted keyword (television series) ...

I've been getting roughly 5 backlinks a day, and today I've started my first endeavor in article marketing as well. It seems to have worked so far for that other keyword, but not primary targeted one although they both have, essentially, the same words in them.

Let's say for the example that it's madmen411.com

#1 in keyword: mad men 411
??? not ranked in keyword: mad men

 

[djbaxter]

The difference is in the amount of competition for the search term. Most people looking for information about the television series will search for the name, not for the name followed by 411. They might possibloy search for the name of the show with the word "information" tacked on but even that isn't very likely.

It sounds like you've been trying to optimize for your domain name, which isn't going to help much. You need to be optimizing for the name of the TV show instead. In other words, optimize for search terms people will actually use rather than a low competition term that very few people will ever use.

 

[amichael]

I've actually been optimizing for the name of the show AND the domain as well. The domain name IS the name of the show + 411. Every blog post I have is keyword dense, hence it mentions the name of that show in particular quite often, but it seems like I can't rank for it... that's the frustrating thing.

 

[djbaxter]

1. How many pages shpw up for the name of the show?

2. What anchor texts used are in the links to your pages?

 

[amichael]

Well, with a normal keyword search it's around 28.9 million results. With allintitle it's roughly 500,000.

My anchor texts ALWAYS have the name of the show + 411 in it.

 

[djbaxter]

My anchor texts ALWAYS have the name of the show + 411 in it.

There's your problem. The anchor text should be the name of the show, not your domain name (i.e., omit the 411 part), and you should try to vary the specific anchor text so they're not all the same (e.g., "name of show information", "name of show fans", "name of show news", etc.).

 

[amichael]

Interesting. So, how come the 411 is more detrimental when combined with the show's name than if I combine "Name of the Show" Information in the anchor text?

 

[Laura61]

You need to look at it from the searcher's perspective, not your own. They don't know your site exists when they go to search for information about the TV show. So they're not going to use "411" at all. As Minstrel said, your anchor text should consist of various phrases people WILL use to search.

If other sites link to you of their own accord, they may use the 411 since often they will link to your domain name rather than specifying anchor text, but when you're getting links, you don't need to use it.

 

[BlogDiva]

Interesting. So, how come the 411 is more detrimental when combined with the show's name than if I combine "Name of the Show" Information in the anchor text?

exactly what the previous poster said, no one is searching for "411"

Find out what people are searching for in terms of your show, and try to use key-phrases which are less competitive.

 

[StackCash]

I think the confusion here is in the definition of a keyword. A single keyword can be multiple words. So, the keyword your focusing in on is "Show Name 411" when it really should be "Show Name." The fact that "Show Name" is included in "Show Name 411" is irrelevant because pages for "Show Name 411" will only show up when people are searching for "Show Name 411", which they aren't doing. People are, however, searching for "Show Name" on a pretty consistent basis. That means, that should be your primary keyword. When getting backlinks, you should always use "Show Name" in your anchor texts, as well as "Show Name" + other words that you think people would add on to the name. For example, "Show Name Fans", "Show Name Cast", "Show Name Episode Guide". Doing this for a while should get you ranked pretty quickly. So, in essence, you're not doing anything wrong - you're just using the wrong keyword.

---------- Post added at 01:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:08 PM ----------

Also, if you want a list of keywords that is working for your primary niche, grab the domain for the #1 ranked site for "Show Name" and see what keywords they are using. You can find them by using the Google Keyword Tool.

 

[kpfingaz]

Have you done any research on your audience? What do people want to know about {show name}?

Instead of trying to rank for "show name", focus on giving your audience what they want. Without ranking #1 for "show name" people can still find you especially for keywords that relate to the show that aren't as competitive.

Look for forums dedicated to the show and see what others are talking about. Join the show's facebook page, twitter etc and see what the conversation is about.

Let's say the show is Mad Men.

What do people want to know about Mad Men?

Maybe the season 2 DVD set just got released. Try ranking for "Mad Men Season 2 DVD Set". Do a review of it, tell people where to get it or give away a coupon.

Type in your show's name in Google and see what suggestions come up.
Set up a Google alert for you show.

If you focus on giving people what they want instead of trying to give yourself what YOU want, you'll be happier.

And guess what?

Because Google doesn't just rank you for your keyword just because its on your site but rather looks at the theme of your site, they're going to be happy to rank you site a little higher. And your site visitors will also be much happier.

Last but not least, your site has been up since February 4th. Do the things I suggest and give it time.