Riddle me this...Onsite SEO and Internal Linking Question.

[Flea Market SEO]

I have a competitor ranking #2 for XYZ keyword. I rank between 9 to 11. I am trying to better understand the reasoning behind this...

His content length is ~2800 words. (my content length is ~3100 words)
External backlinks directly to this page = 0. (I have 8 referring domains going to my page, most naked URL with 1-2 partial match anchor)
I've checked the TD-IDF for the keywords and our pages are very similar, both "pass" in terms of ratio for 99% of the words and phrases mentioned.

The only MAJOR difference - he has 128 INTERNAL backlinks with exact match anchors. (I have 4 with partial match)

**Do internal links make that big of a difference?

***Also, when I check the pages with the internal links (through AHREFs) I don't see any of the links...ie. they aren't content links.

*EDITED: they aren't content links


Thoughts?

 

[cooxer]

Yes, interlinking is a very important part of on-page SEO. SILO may be the answer you are looking for.

 

[Sweely]

What's his/your Domain Authority or DR?

 

[Flea Market SEO]

What's his/your Domain Authority or DR?

DA
His: 22
Mine: 26

DR
His: 4.9
Mine: 15

 

[Sweely]

DA
His: 22
Mine: 26

DR
His: 4.9
Mine: 15

And site ages? How long have you been trying to rank for this keyword?

 

[Mymusic]

Yes internal links play a major role to rank a internal pages but overall it's not only about internal linking. There are so many factors which google consider to rank. Example page speed, domain age, index page backlinks, content word count, images with proper alt attribute and many more...

 

[t2van]

blog or shop? in what are you competing? sales or views?

Just because your content is longer doesn't mean it's better.

 

[Flea Market SEO]

And site ages? How long have you been trying to rank for this keyword?

My site = 2013
His site = 2018

I think we published this article in 2018. It ranked in the top 3 for a while, then slowly moved down to 9-11. I added a helpful chart/table 10 days ago to give it a boost.

IMHO, his post is garbage compared to mine. English is clearly a second language to whoever is writing for him. Grammar is terrible, wrong word choice, etc...

blog or shop? in what are you competing? sales or views?

Just because your content is longer doesn't mean it's better.

Both blogs. Competing for views. His content is TRASH. It's a stretch to even call it English. All of his products are trash too, they're a bunch of Amazon knockoffs. We provide authentic reviews of high quality products.

Yes internal links play a major role to rank a internal pages but overall it's not only about internal linking. There are so many factors which google consider to rank. Example page speed, domain age, index page backlinks, content word count, images with proper alt attribute and many more...

Check, check, check, check, check....

Bottom line, I have a well optimized, well written, quality post that is being outranked by a junk post.

I have over 300 RD from high quality sites. He has 180 from half the quality.

The only difference that stands out is the number of internal links.

 

[cooxer]

Both blogs. Competing for views. His content is TRASH. It's a stretch to even call it English. All of his products are trash too, they're a bunch of Amazon knockoffs. We provide authentic reviews of high quality products.

It's hard to tell without looking at the site itself. Maybe there's something wrong that you didn't notice - maybe try to hire someone to make an audit on your site.

Maybe it's just Google's games, as it tends to rank shitty sites and parasites after the update.

And maybe interlinking is really the reason. From what you told it seems that your competitor has a strong silo structure.

 

[Dark Sky]

Everyone is missing the obvious. Hidden PBN.

 

[Flea Market SEO]

Everyone is missing the obvious. Hidden PBN.

Oh this definitely crossed my mind...nice observation.

 

[Flea Market SEO]

Oh this definitely crossed my mind...nice observation.

I tried to see if I can see any hidden sites, but most of the smaller link checkers I use don't show anything. I may just throw some at my own site and see what happens ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Amphoric]

Everyone is missing the obvious. Hidden PBN.

This is what I would bet money on if your stats/content is similar.

 

[webhostingproviders]

Not sure if your site is on WP - check plugin LinkWhisper - its good for internal linking incase you want to improve it.

 

[Ranting Soup Media]

Internal links play a major role in page relevance nowadays. Google wants to see you offering more value to the visitors beyond just their initial query and that your page correctly points to next steps in the information journey for these visitors.

 

[MisterXYZ]

Compare PA and UR of pages.

He has lots of internal links while you have very few.

There is also possibility of PBN.

 

[Mr Positive]

Yes internal links matter, and he’s using hidden pbns to rank so use some pbns too and you’ll be able to beat him

 

[GrizzlyBeardMan]

The only MAJOR difference - he has 128 INTERNAL backlinks with exact match anchors. (I have 4 with partial match)

That is quite major, he has a lot more content on the topic/niche than you have.

 

[Mymusic]

Yes internal links matter, and he’s using hidden pbns to rank so use some pbns too and you’ll be able to beat him

How to know if someone is using a hidden PBN?

 

[Flea Market SEO]

How to know if someone is using a hidden PBN?

They are outranking quality sites with junk content, yet they don't appear to have any backlinks via AHREFs or SEMRUSH.