Why do Niche Websites Have an Unfair SEO Advantage?

Author: Brian Carter

Long gone are the days when experts shouted to us from the hilltops not to build portal websites anymore. Everyone knows you can't build a website about everything and expect to get anywhere. Just like in real life, a jack of all trades is master of none. Blogs tend to be this way, too - niche focused.

So most have switched to niche. Further, the question isn't whether you occupy a niche, but how much obscure arcane stuff you know about it, how much of an expert you are about it, how you live and breathe it, and if you have a forum full of co-enthusiasts.

For example, I have been known to spend a fair amount of time the niche website, FullSizeBronco.com (FSB). I bought a 1980 Ford Bronco and I'd like to get it running better so I can go out and 4x4 confidently. FSB is primarily a forum, but that's plenty. There are some real gearheads on there - these people know exactly what part I mean if I'm debating whether to go with an 8.8, 9, or 10.25. Or if I want to swap a 351 for a 302. They know and talk about all things Bronco.

So is it any surprise that when I search Google for 'ford bronco', they come up on the first page?

No. But why? Well, it doesn't hurt that Google has indexed about 90,000 pages on their site. The number of pages in your site is clearly a factor in Google's algorithm. 90,000 isn't on the order of CNN.com's 5.5 million, but it's significant.

The FSB website doesn't use SEO as we might conventionally understand it. Though it uses meta keywords, they are the same throughout the site, as is the {title} tag. Without SEO, FSB has managed a 5/10 pagerank, and that's pretty good. This is 100% genuine pagerank that came from just doing what a good site does.

What does a good site naturally do that we SEO folk should know about?

1. It uses major keywords with natural frequency (no spamming) 2. It uses the keywords commonly related to the main keyword

Another website/forum with the same natural lack of SEO is MathForum.org. MathForum.org has an 8/10 pagerank, contains 2.15 million pages, and has 11,600 backlinks. Clearly, the number of pages in a site and number of backlinks are a factor in the homepage's pagerank.

But pagerank isn't the only thing that determines search result rankings. For example, when you search Google for ""ford bronco"", FSB has the highest PR in the top 10 results, yet it's #10. There are two PR 3 URLs ahead of it. What makes a site come out on top within its niche can be baffling...

What makes it certain that your niche site will beat other random sites that have only a few pages on your topic is the natural usage of major keywords and related keywords site-wide. For example, the URLs of 12 of the top 15 Google results for ""ford bronco"" contain the word 'bronco'. They all have 'bronco' in their {title} tags.

But what about these ancillary, or related keywords- what do I mean by that? SEO professionals have been talking for more than a year about the importance of including words that should show up naturally with whatever topic you write about. You can find these related words by scanning results from the Google keyword tool, Overture search suggestion tool, and Google search results.

For example, some related words and phrases for 'ford bronco' are: parts, for sale, new, transmission, early, xlt, lift, pictures, body, used, soft tops, radius arm, transfer case, and of course, a whole bunch of production years.

Using related keywords has more than an SEO benefit. Not only could this improve your search engine rankings, but you also make your content more comprehensive. And related keywords are points of reference in your readers' minds - they help them triangulate where you're coming from, and where you're going. It'll make your content more readable, understandable, and satisfying.

About the author: Since 1999, San Diego SEO Consultant Brian B. Carter, MS, has reached more than 2 million readers online. His most popular site ranks in the top 1% of all major websites. Brian's second book, ""How I Made $78,024.44 in Six Months Using the Newest Secrets of AdSense and Overlooked Keywords"" will be available in October, 2005. For more, see http://ranking-high-on-search-engines.com/