Case Study on SEO

[Neerajberi]

Hi,

I'm an entrepreneur and am new to this SEO Group.

I have a very interesting case study that my team failed to understand. So this is a case study for the experts @hubspot who can dig into the facts and give a conclusive reply.

I'm the co-founder of The Stone Studio and we are ranking on multiple keywords in organic SEO.

Although we have won a lot of SERPs, there are keywords (relevant to our users) in which some of the sites of the same line of business, (who may not be termed as competitors for us) Are ranking ahead of us. An example of one such long tail keyword - "3 feet buddha statue" is given below.

Just check the screenshot below:

The site having the first organic result has the following flaws:

• It has an intense level of keyword stuffing.
• It's not a multiple product page, its just a collection of images.
• No add-to-cart option is available
• No product reviews/ratings option is available
• No proper schema is available
• The site has a DA 24 only

On the other hand, it has some positive also:

• The site speed is quite good
• It has a huge collection of images or you can call its an image dump
• Its a very old domain

With so many flaws the site has beaten Amazon and ranks on the top. So as per my understanding does Google consider page load times as the only ranking factor? Or is it something else I or my team is missing? 

It would be great if an expert in the group or at @hubspot can give some insights and valuable info on the case study.

Looking forward to learning something new.

Thanks,

Neeraj Beri

[danmoyle · Accepted solution]

Hey there @Neerajberi nice to connect. Thanks for the tag @kvlschaefer 😊

One question off the top for you. Have you searched in an incognito window where your search and web history isn't a factor? That may give you more "natural" results. Also, using a tool like Semrush to research results and see which sites they say rank high may give you a different result. 

As for why this site ranks so high, it could be several factors. Google isn't perfect, so things like keyword stuffing sometimes does pay off. Or if the site has been around a long time, it may have factors like inbound links that are helping, or just the history of traffic that helps it beat Amazon. 

I found this article on why sites might rank when their SEO is terrible, and it has a few thoughts I'd agree with. 

In my experience, SEO is the long game. This site ranking so high today could fall tomorrow. Your goal is to last longer than the competition and rank higher more consistently for longer. 😊 

[sathirmuhammed0]

This was helpful I am currently working on my website, and I would appreciate suggestions 

[GMenjivar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Neerajberi,

The loading speed is not a factor that Google uses to determine whether to rank you better or worse in the search engine, but it does help with issues related to the user experience on your website. The better your website is, the lower your bounce rate will be, and the more traffic you will receive, which will indeed help you rank better because Google will categorize you as a page with good content. On the other hand, you need to review the titles, meta descriptions, and tags you use; the more optimized they are, the more visits you will receive for those keywords, and you will rank better. Another point to consider is that if you are competing against a page that has been around much longer than you, it will be better positioned, and it will take time to rank that keyword in the top search results.

I hope I've been able to help you.

[Neerajberi]

Hi thank you for the insights.

Although they are noteworthy but it doesn't help to solve the issue. Earlier our site had been ranking on top of the competitors which were around for longer than us.

I agree to it that older the domain the more authority it should have but in this case it's not that.

So the case at present remains unsolved for me.

[Neerajberi]

You can check our site at https://www.thestonestudio.in/

[danmoyle · Accepted solution]

Hey there @Neerajberi nice to connect. Thanks for the tag @kvlschaefer 😊

One question off the top for you. Have you searched in an incognito window where your search and web history isn't a factor? That may give you more "natural" results. Also, using a tool like Semrush to research results and see which sites they say rank high may give you a different result. 

As for why this site ranks so high, it could be several factors. Google isn't perfect, so things like keyword stuffing sometimes does pay off. Or if the site has been around a long time, it may have factors like inbound links that are helping, or just the history of traffic that helps it beat Amazon. 

I found this article on why sites might rank when their SEO is terrible, and it has a few thoughts I'd agree with. 

In my experience, SEO is the long game. This site ranking so high today could fall tomorrow. Your goal is to last longer than the competition and rank higher more consistently for longer. 😊 

[Neerajberi]

Hi @danmoyle , Yes I search every time in Incognito to check the rankings.

Totally agree with your insights on the search ranking thoughts that Google isn't perfect and SEOwill pay off in the long run,

But as of now although we are doing our best to provide the best user experience we are still missing out on some of the rankings due to these types of issues.

So I thought of sharing this case study in this community to make sure that I'm not missing something that other sites are doing better.

Still looking forward to a solution

[danmoyle]

@Neerajberi fair point. I'll be curious if anyone has a simple solution rather than long-range advice. I don't see a magic wand solution that will just take care of your ranking, as much as a long-term journey. Wish you the best for sure! 

[Neerajberi]

Hi @danmoyle I'm not looking for a magic wand solution, but there must be something that is giving Google systems a ranking signal. 

Although it's an interesting case study, its very difficult to chalk out the right answers.

[kvlschaefer]

Hi @Neerajberi,

Thanks for reaching out and welcome to the SEO Study Group! 

I would like to invite our subject matter experts to this conversation.

Hi @DavidDennison, @Sam62, @danmoyle, @Levi - Do you have any insight for @Neerajberi's case study? 

Thank you! 

Best,

Kristen