Why Does That Site Rank Higher Than Mine?

This is a story of butt hurt; specifically it's a story of two organizations trying to rank for the same keyword phrase, and one outfit feels like the other "stole my keywords!" There's a huge food fight on Facebook with the butt hurt organization asking "why does that site rank higher than mine?"

If you've been in the search engine business for any length of time, you're probably amused at this. I know I am, but as I read through the wailing, crying, gnashing of teeth and general "it's not fair!" I realized - again - that most web site owners just don't know why their site doesn't rank, and they want to know why their competition does.

This particular outfit felt like it should be the rightful owner of the keyword "wildlife rehabilitation center." No particular reason until recently, and that reason is a doozy: the organization kicked off a board member who made them mad, or did something wrong, or something...not sure what, and I really don't care. The kicked out person promptly bought a domain name, started their own wildlife rehabilitation center and apparently now ranks better for the phrase "wildlife rehabilitation center," and the original organization is outraged!

I attempted to give an explanation, but gave up. I basically said, hey, if you could have trademarked or patented the phrase, you would be right in your anger. You don't have a legal leg to stand on (they'd threatened to lawyer up and make the other organization CEASE AND DESIST!!!!!!

But they don't.

So, Why Does That Site Rank Higher?

I didn't dig into this, because nobody paid me and I have a lot of work to do that pays well, but a high level cursory glance made me believe the following, based on Google's Quality Rater Guidelines. Let me explain.

The person who was given the boot is a certified wildlife veterinarian. If you keep up with Google's changes, then you know the search engine considers a little thing called E-A-T.

Expertise-Authoritativeness-Trust.

In other words, if you're a DVM, if you're a certified wildlife DVM, and there's other credible content on the internet that is consistent with your listed credentials, there's a fair chance you're going to be considered more authoritative for the keyword phrase "wildlife rehabilitation center" if you have this expertise and you start your own damn wildlife rehab center. And oh by the way, the organization that air locked you doesn't have a certified wildlife veterinarian on the staff or board anymore, so...

Anyways, the organization that was so proud of getting rid of the problem child board member now has to live with that person getting their best revenge...outranking them for "their" keyword phrase.

Want to learn more about E-A-T, keyword rankings and how Google views expert websites? Want to know how your site can do better in search results? Take a basic or advanced SEO class with Invenio SEO!

Until the next time we meet, keep it safely between the ditches!

All the very best to you,

Nancy McDonald