Search engine ranking question

[maddy58]

My site ranks No:2 in the search engines for a particular keyword.
The site that is No:1 for that keyword has a lot less back links than i have and their site pages are very poorly optimised.
other than they have had their site running longer than my site, why is it that they are No:1 and i am No:2
If anyones knows the answer please let me know.


thanks,



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[JerrickYeoh]

they can rank well that you with the reasons below
1) more backlink with the keyword anchor text.
2) Density keywords of the page is high
3) competitor website do have higher PR than you.
4) their content is quality content yet unique.
5) their site do index higher than your site.
6) their domain age is order than you .
7) their domain to come with the keywords.

[Amy.Sarin]

Its not just optimization or site older than yours decide a website ranking. There are several other factors which contribute towards a site ranking (content, backlinks and social media reputation).
Quality stands over quantity and even though they have less backlinks , they might be “quality” ones or it may be this way - Google never shows the exact number of backlinks as it does not want to reveal your backlinking strategy to your competitors.
Here’s Matt Cutts advocating as to why unoptimised sites outrank optimised sites
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STpCM-3K3KY&feature=player_embedded#!

[GardnerBulkeley]

The site which is on number 1 position getting more backlinks than yours, however the keywords position always fluctuates.

[JamesMac3001]

With links, it's not quantity, it's QUALITY of links. You can get 1,000's of links from spam farms, or low spammy link farms, or in a link exchange. OR you could get 1 link from a site like Huffington Post.

So not all links are created equal, focus on good links from good sites, the rest will follow.

[jesicawillss]

Several factors affect the website ranking in search engine like page rank, backlinks, quality of content, website age etc.