I am getting constantly frustrated with bad SEO not necessarily pure black hat, but bad linking and bad habits. It also seems like it’s not just me. I would not be getting frustrated if it did not get you results but it does, lets prove that and see which search engines are the worst for it.
So I have devised a test, using SEOmoz tools and Blind Search to compare the first place results of Yahoo, Bing and Google and to see what methods these websites used to rank to the top for a select keyword phrase. To add more complexity I am going to be searching for SEO companies and also reviewing their work on client’s websites.
I will not be revealing the identity of these companies, the keyword phrase I will use is “SEO Company *Random Location*” the location is the same for each result and is a large city. 53% is the keyword difficulty score SEOmoz gives the keyword I have selected.
I will be using my own analysis methods with my eyes and using MozBar (PRO), Open Site Explorer (PRO) and Search Engine Operator tags when needed.
These are the settings I am using for OSE:
Then I will use MozBar to count up total links and links from root domains.
Let’s get started:
Site 1 / Result 1 / Search Engine 1
Quick Analysis
Title tags have slight cannibalization issues and the domain is a relevant keyword domain with an .org.uk domain. On the bright side, they seem to do a bit of original blogging (nothing interesting though) I think this company’s problem is they think they know good SEO when they truly don’t.
Inbound Link Analysis
Most the links are from comment spamming and bad directory submissions, generally using custom anchors but some are using the owner’s name. And the comments are something like “oh I really like your post I will bookmark this”.
Client Analysis
Using pretty much exactly the same method, as they use for their own website.
Method Employed for 1st Rank
- Comment Spamming
- Bad Directories
- Keyword Domain
Total Root Domain Links from different root domains: 55
Total Links: 9,576
SPAMNESS: 7/10
Site 2 / Result 1 / Search Engine 2
Quick Analysis
Title tag has extreme keyword stuffing with extreme keyword cannibalization throughout, company also lies about companies it’s worked with listing some of the largest companies in the world. Nice bit of footer keyword stuffing as well. Not to worry though as they say “GUARENTEED FIRST PLACE RESULTS” I would love them to teach me how.
Inbound Link Analysis
They are getting links from their client’s websites, plus a few bad directories. Doesn’t sound so bad does it?
Client Analysis
The client’s websites are pretty much riddled with the same bad SEO practices that the company has on their website the only difference is within the footer. They place their “LINK EXCHANGE PROGRAM” on the footer and the company links to itself about 5 times or more with different anchor text then links to its others client’s websites as well in a big free for all.
Method Employed for 1st Rank
- Keyword Stuffing
- Keyword .com Domain
- Footer anchors from clients websites
- Few Directories
Total Root Domain Links from different root domains: 22
Total Links: 247
SPAMNESS: 10/10
Site 3 / Result 1 / Search Engine 3
Quick Analysis
Keyword stuffing throughout the website in all available places, the footer is STUFFTASTIC they have loads of services pages most of them are the same service but are targeting different keywords the BOLD tag is definitely one of their favourites. For some reason they link to the local government website I guess this makes them official?
Inbound Link Analysis
Due to having so few links, I combined OSE with Yahoo, Bing and Yahoo operator tags to see if any of this made any sense? Ranking top spot for a relatively good keyword with 8 root links is pretty amazing. The links that linked to this company where just random links from, keyword stuffed pages and some bad directories.
Client Analysis
Unfortunately, I cannot find any of their clients as they do not list them on the website or get inbound links from them.
Method Employed for 1st Rank
- Keyword Stuffing
- Dodgy Websites Links
- Bad Directories
Total Root Domain Links from different root domains: 8
Total Links: 1,350
SPAMNESS: 9/10
Results (In order of SPAMNESS):
Site 2 = Yahoo!
Site 3 = Bing
Site 1 = Google
I guess results are pretty much as expected but even so it is worrying that all the top 3 websites are dodgy companies employing dodgy practices.
So where did the reputable companies appear?
Yahoo! = 6th
Bing = 7th
Google = 5th
(All different companies)
My Thoughts
Things obviously need to be changed, “good” SEO tactics are ranking lower than spam tactics this is especially true in less competitive keyword phrases such as the one I have used in this test.
If you want to perform these tests yourself feel free to do so and message me the results and we can compile them all together. Obviously this test can be done on any type of website I just choose SEO companies as it would be relevant.
