how is my competitor ranking so well?

[martman]

Can someone take a look at this? When I type in gambling addiction in the search engines the first thing to come up is a site called gambling watch (i don't want to give any links for the guy)

But then I look at his content and he barely has any at all, just ads. Then take a look at mine http://gamblinganon.blogspot.com and it doesn't even rank for gambling addiction. Shouldn't sites with more relevant content rank higher? I've used SEO quake to look at his keywords and I don't see much differences. Why is this guy ranking so well????

[VladTepes]

The best way to get clue is to study those on the top. Google algo is so complex and a lot of attributes/factors are considered when they rank. Look how those sites build their links, how old are they, etc.

[alvis]

VladTepes is right. there are a lot of factors that is considered to get ranked in search engine. if you have done proper keyword research then you should continue link building to get backlinks from relevent sites.

[grishamist]

Optimization is the key on having your site rank well. Being in the page one of all search engine is important to increase traffic. Even if your spying on your competitor, it doesn't have any sense if you're not promoting your site.

[nadalinv]

You might want to try checking your competitor's backlinks at backlinkwatch.com - see what sites are linking to them and if you can get links from them as well.

[YooHee]

try first to check your competitor's back links...

then you will see why he has a high ranking..

[leahmarie]

I agree with them, check your backlinks if they are still fresh, and check as well your competitors backlinks. Maybe you'll find the answer there, where you are lacking and needs improvement with.

[pauljustice]

Analysis of competitors site is good strategy. you can analyse what keywords your competitor use. you can use keyword analysis tool to find more keywords.