Grumpy SEO Guy (0:00)

This is Grumpy SEO guy, episode 91, a better way to understand SEO competition and ranking. You're listening to Grumpy SEO Guy, the SEO podcast that doesn't waste your time with nonsense that doesn't work. I'm the grumpy SEO Guy, and I'm sharing with you the strategies that have helped me successfully run my SEO agency for the last 14 years. In this podcast, I'll be sharing my knowledge and experience, discussing tips and strategies, and trying to help you cut through the confusion that permeates this industry. If you listen to this podcast, you will know more about SEO than 99% of people on the planet. Ready? Let's get started. I'm the Grumpy SEO Guy. Let me tell you why I'm grumpy today. I'm grumpy today because there is still a lot of confusion about how SEO competition works and what a website's position in the search engine results actually means. And not only do a lot of SEO professionals get confused about this, but people that are just trying to learn SEO are confused too. So in this episode, we're going to look at this in more detail and talk about what exactly all of this stuff means. So there have been a few episodes of Grumpy SEO Guy that kind of explain this. One of them was called SEO as a competition, not a checklist. The most important episode yet, that's episode 87. And one of them was called how to think about SEO if you want to be a in the 1%. And that was episode 34. So in this episode, we're gonna kind of proceed with those topics a little bit, but I'm gonna explain it in a totally different way, and it might help people understand it a little bit better. But before we do that, my lawyer tells me that I have to say this right now. A quick disclaimer before we get started. Everything I say here is based on my experience and opinion from 14 years in the industry. I don't officially know how Google or any other search engines work. Everything I say here is hypothetical. And based on my experience, this podcast does not constitute advice or services. What worked for me may or may not work. Okay, back to the show. So the main principle that you have to understand is what we talked about in episode 87. SEO is a competition, not a checklist. Okay, so I'm gonna say that one more time, and then we're going to talk about, like, what that means, and I'm gonna explain it a different way. SEO is a competition, not a checklist. So people Misunderstand this, because when people are trying to do SEO, they want a checklist to follow. They want somebody to tell them, well, first, make your title tags. Second, make your headers. Third, do your meta tags. Fourth, do this. And fifth, do this. And when you've done all those things, you will rank at the top of the search engines. But obviously it can't work that way because those things are all easy. And if they're easy, all the people with websites are going to do them, and then they won't count for anything. Okay, we might come back to this concept later. So the more important understanding of SEO is that you will rank in accordance with how good your SEO is compared to your competition's SEO. It has nothing to do with a checklist, and it has everything to do with your SEO compared to their SEO. So I want you to think about it like this. I think this will describe the concept in a way that you will comprehend. Okay, picture a race, okay? Imagine you're in a race, okay? And imagine like a race and you're running, okay? And you're in position number one, okay? So that you can think of that as being like, you're in the first search result, okay? So you're in position number one and you're racing. What does that mean? It basically means you're faster than the person in second place and the person in third place and so on. Right? So if you're in the top position in the search results, that means your SEO is better than the person in second place. But you get the point, right? Okay, so if you remember, Also in episode 89 and 90, we talked about what can make your website drop its SEO position, what can make your ranking worse? And some of the things had to do with your competition, okay? Actually, technically, they all had to do with your competition, but a couple of them had to do specifically with your competition. You to think about it like this. Imagine you're racing, you're in a race, you're in first place, okay? And you trip and fall. What's going to happen if you trip and fall? Well, the person who's in second place might get in front of you, and then he's in first place and you're in second place. But if you had a large enough distance from you to him, when you trip and fall, you might still be in first place. Okay? So when you see search engine results, all you're seeing is top website, second website, third website, and so on. You don't know what the difference is between them, okay? You can find it Out. But it's really difficult. It's not a tool. And you push a button and it tells you the answer. It's a very complicated process, but don't worry about that for now. All you see is the results. You see the first website, the second website, the third website, and so on. But that doesn't actually tell you anything other than who's got the best SEO, who's got the second best SEO, and so on. But if you're watching a race, you can look at the race and you can tell who's in first place and how much. Is that person in first place by? Is that person winning by 50ft? Is that person winning by one foot? You can tell. Okay, or maybe think of SEO as a scoreboard in a game. SEO results show who is winning right now. Okay? But here's the thing. This game never ends. It's not like a normal game where at the end of the game, somebody wins. The SEO game never ends. As long as you still have a website, it never ends. Okay? So it's showing you the leaderboard. It's showing you who is winning at that moment when you did the search. So if you remember the second example in episode 90, which is called why your website's SEO position is dropping, part two, if you remember the second example, it had to do with your website losing authority, which is the same as your competition improving their SEO. Okay? So think about it like you're running. If you're running and the second place guy is right behind you, okay, and you have to stop to fix your shoe, what's gonna happen? You're gonna have to stop. That person's gonna pass you. Now they're in first place, and you're now in second place, okay? But if you have a huge lead on that person, if he's like a hundred feet behind you and you have to stop and fix your shoe, he probably is not gonna catch up to you. I mean, I don't know how long it takes you to fix your shoe, but, like, you get the point, right? Like, I hope. I hope you get the point. Depending on, for example, how much authority you have compared to the person behind you in search engine results, you could potentially lose a lot of authority. And it doesn't make a difference. You could lose some great backlinks and still be in the first position, okay? Because you're in a race and you're winning by hundreds of feet, and you have to stop and fix your shoe. But it doesn't matter because you're winning by such a large Distance. Or you could be like one foot in front of the second place guy who's like, right behind you. He's right behind you. And if you lose even one backlink, okay, if you lose even one backlink, you're gonna lose a little bit of authority and they're gonna be beating you, which is like, if they're just a little bit behind you and you have to stop and fix your shoe, guess what? They're gonna be in first place. And now you're in second place. So. And by the way, let's just be very clear about the. So anyway, I, I like, I hope, I hope you, you need to think of SEO like this because it really is about how your website compares to the competition and not about anything else at all. Like, the things that could be handled. When people are trying to learn SEO, they always want, like a step by step guide, but that's not how SEO works. A step by step guide would be like, okay, you're gonna be in a race. Okay, Wear a T shirt. Okay, Next thing you need, buy some shorts. Okay, Next thing you need. I don't know. I don't know anything about running a headband. I feel like runners wear headbands, right? Next thing you need, socks. Next thing you need, shoes. That's your step by step guide. That's what following an SEO step by step guide is like. It's things that you need, but it's not going to make you win. Okay? Like, the thing that matters in SEO is authority, which you know because you've been listening to the Grumpy SEO Guy podcast. And if you're not familiar with the Grumpy SEO Guy podcast, when you're done with this episode, you should go listen to an episode called Everything youg Need to Know about SEO in 38 minutes. And that is episode 21. That will explain authority to you. But you probably know this already. So authority is the main ranking factor. That's like saying how fast you run. Okay, all those other things, yes, they are important. You probably need socks. You probably need shoes. Somebody's gonna be like, I run in barefoot races. We don't wear shoes. But, like, generally speaking, you probably do. Okay, you probably need a T shirt, you probably need shorts. But, like, the color of the shoes that you wear. Like, all the people focus on the smallest little things that don't make a difference in SEO. Like, people will, like, make YouTube videos that go into great detail about a lot of things that are such a small factor when it comes to ranking. That's like making A video about what color shoes you should wear to win a race. Like, it doesn't matter. You need shoes. A certain color shoes doesn't make you faster. Okay, so like, any step by step process that you follow for SEO is basically like what clothes you need to wear to be in a race. Race. But it's not going to make you a faster runner. You need authority to rank. Authority is like having a good nutrition program and a good training program. Right? So you're actually fast because why, in order to win a race, you must be fast. Okay, like, but this brings me to the next point, and this is the most important point of all. You need to be faster than the competition. Okay, One of the. I'm going to keep talking about racing. One of the most common questions I get is, hey, grumpy SEO guy, how fast do I have to be to win a race? I have no idea. How fast is your competition? Like, you understand? Hey, girl SEO guy, what do I have to do? Can you check out my website and tell me what I need to do to rank higher? I actually might make a podcast episode on this question. Okay, because, like, I understand why people ask that question, but that question doesn't have an answer. Like, first of all, okay, like, side note here, preview of that episode. First of all, no, because SEO is not about what you do to your website. SEO is about how your website compares to the other websites that are trying to rank for your keywords. So I cannot look at your website and tell you what you need to do because that doesn't consider what the other websites that are trying to rank for those same keywords are doing. Okay, like, there is no objective measure of SEO quality or, or, or, or SEO, like adequacy, there is only comparative. You cannot look at an individual website and say, oh, this website has good SEO. Oh, this website has bad SEO. Because those don't exist without also looking at the competition. Okay? It's like, now people, people might approximate it based on what they have seen in the past. You know, like, oh, well, I know that on average a website might have blah, blah, blah, and your website has blah, blah, blah. So it's good or it's bad. But like, that's, that doesn't. Ultimately, that's worthless because if you don't know what the competition is doing, it's like saying, how much weight do I have to lift to win a weightlifting competition? How much is your competition lifting? Hi, guys. I can deadlift £500. Is that good? Well, yes, that's actually very good. But Maybe everyone in the competition can deadlift 530 pounds, and then you're gonna lose. So it doesn't. It doesn't mean anything without knowing what the other competitors are doing. People, for some reason cannot understand this concept. That's why they do not understand SEO. The only way that SEO can be evaluated is comparatively, you cannot do it objectively. If you do not understand this, you will not be successful at SEO. So. So, no, and I know, I know that, like, people. People think that, like, SEO professionals, and I mean, like, real SEO professionals, not like the. The charlatans that. That private message you anytime you post a question and, like, promise you number one results for $50. Right? Like, people think that actual SEO professionals have some special software that, like, no one else in the world has. And you just, like, you, like, type in the website and you just, like. And you just, like, tap a button and then it, like, tells you. And, like, immediately, by the way, this program runs, like, quickly, and then it tells you all the things, all the things that you need to change to make the website rank better. They think that, like, that program exists. Like, first of all, that program doesn't exist. Second of all, that's not how you do SEO. That's literally like saying, what color shoes should I wear to win the race? Dude, it literally doesn't matter. Have some shoes. But, like, pick whatever color you like better, because that makes no difference. Okay, so anyway, look, I actually really want to do an episode on that question because I get that all the time, and I think people get annoyed when I can't give them, like, a super. When I don't immediately say yes, right? But, like, when I try to explain why they're asking the wrong question, I feel like they just, like, I know it's online, so they're, like, reading text, but I feel like they would, like, if it was in real life. They're, like, putting their fingers in their ears and they're like, do, do, do, do, do, do. I'm not listening. Because then they just go on to the next guy, hey, can you. Can you make some suggestions? He. I was wondering, can you take a look at my website and, like, maybe give me some suggestions for some things I should do? It's like, I can tell that you have not been listening to the Grumpy SEO guy podcast, but that's okay. Anyway, look, so look, let me give one more example. Okay, let's say you're a powerlifter and you're going to enter a powerlifting competition. If you're unfamiliar with powerlifting, it doesn't matter. Powerlifting is, is basically trying to lift as much weight as possible compared to your competition. Okay, did you catch that last part? Compared to your competition. Now, obviously, exercise is about improving yourself relative to your own previous performance. I understand that, but if you're trying to win a contest, it's about doing more than other people, okay? So let's not combine the, like, self improvement part of weightlifting with the, like, competition part of weightlifting. Okay? So let's say. Let's only. Let's just. You know what? Let's not even talk powerlifting. Let's just talk, like, squat, okay? I think I used this example before. Like, squat is one of the lifts, and powerlifting doesn't matter. Look, so basically what these people are asking is, how much weight do I have to squat to win a powerlifting contest? I don't know. It depends on how much your competition is squatting, doesn't it? I don't think there's no answer to that question. Like, £500. £500 is a really good squat. But if your competition can squat 515 pounds, you're gonna lose. So that's not the answer, is it? Now hold on. 500 pounds, I just said that's a. That's a nice number, right? If your competition can only squat 495 pounds, guess what? You're gonna win. But in both cases, you squatted £500. Do you understand that? It's not about what you do, and it's about how what you do, like, stacks up to what the competition does. That is how SEO works, okay? It's not about what you do to your website, okay? And first of all, because it's not because on page is like 10% anyway. It's not about what you do. How much authority do I need? Or the other question I get all the time, how much DA do I need? The question doesn't even make sense. First of all, DA is an estimate. It doesn't mean anything. Second of all, DA is a domain level metric, which probably doesn't mean anything in the way that you're asking it. Third of all, lower DA websites can outrank higher DA websites. And I have another episode where I give examples of this happening. And by the way, that's episode 52, which is called, is this lower authority website actually outranking this higher authority website? And fourth, even if DA was the determining factor in where a website website ranks, which it's not, okay? But if it were, you wouldn't know how much you need unless you Know how much your competition has. Okay. How much weight do I need to squat to be able to win the competition? I don't know, man. It depends on how much your competition can squat. How fast do I need to be to win the race? I don't know, man. It depends on how fast your competition is. Or like, like drag racing in a car, right? Like a quarter mile race. Let's do one more example. Okay, let's say your car can complete a quarter mile in 11 seconds. I don't know if that's fast, but I'm sure in the grand scheme of things, that's not fast. Right? But whatever. Let's say 11 seconds. That's pretty good, right? That's pretty fast. But if your competition can only do it in 12 seconds, you're gonna win. And if your competition can do it in eight seconds, you're gonna lose. So asking the question, is 11 seconds fast enough to win a race? Possibly. How fast is your competition? SEO is about how your SEO compares to the SEO of the websites that are ranking for your keywords. Okay. There are no guides to follow other than the Grumpy SEO Guy podcast, but there's no, like, step by step list that somebody can, like, you know, well, first I did this, now I did this, and now I'm at the first position that doesn't work. Okay, that's like saying, hey, guys, I'm gonna be at a powerlifting contest. What color shoes should I wear? I don't know, dude. Whatever color shoes you think look cool, it's not gonna affect your weights. So I don't know, like, whatever, I don't know. But so much of the SEO industry is this step by step nonsense that doesn't make any sense and it doesn't help anybody. So let me, let me just say, if you're following, like, processes online, right? And it's like, it's like a thing where you do step one, do step two. First of all, that could only really apply to on page SEO, which is like 10% of the game total. Yes, it's important, but it's also easy. And as you remember from the episode called how to Tell Whether or Not Something is a Ranking Factor, which is episode 81, if it's easy, everybody's gonna do it. And if everybody's doing it, it's not going to have a big impact on anything. Okay? If SEO were as easy as using headers and having a good title tag, which, by the way, title tags are very important, but they're not what gets you to the Top of page one. When you have a lot of competition, okay? Or like fast loading speed or like whatever. Like if it were that easy, everyone would do it. And guess what? Everyone does those things anyway. Obviously, that's not how you get to the top of the search engines, okay? If something is easy, it doesn't have much value because everyone can do it. People complain that they can't get good backlinks and it's too hard to get good back. It's supposed to be hard. That's why they're effective. If it was easy, everybody would rank at the top of the search engines for all the super profitable keywords and everybody would be a billionaire. Guess what? Guess what? Not everybody can be at the top. Only 10 people can even be on the first page. And sometimes it's less than that, depending on how the results are provided. Okay? So I don't wanna tell you guys. It's not about what you do to your website. It's about how your SEO compares to the SEO of the websites that are ranking for your keywords. It's not about how much weight you can lift. It's about how much weight you can lift compared to your competition. It's not about how quickly you can finish the race. It's about how quickly you can finish the race compared to the other people that are in the race. That is how SEO works. Anybody trying to tell you otherwise does not understand SEO. Anybody selling you a guide on five easy steps to rank? Nope, they do not understand SEO. I've been doing this for 15 years. That is how SEO works. So anyway, SEO is not about you. Stop trying to make changes to your website, thinking it's going to make a difference. Stop paying for courses from people who tell you that. They'll just tell you the secret changes to make to your websites to rank. Because that's not how SEO works. And if you insist on spending money. Patreon.com Grumpy SEOguy because you get way more value from this podcast than you will from anything else anywhere related to SEO. Anyway, I hope this episode was helpful. Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe and if you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review. It would really help the show out. I hope this episode was helpful. If you have any questions or want to suggest a subject for a future episode, you can contact me on Reddit. My username is Grumpy SEO Guy. You can visit the Grumpy SEO Guy subreddit or you can email me@hellorumpyseoguy.com if you email me. Please either whitelist my email address or or check your junk folders, because I've been told that my replies are going into the junk folder, and it's probably because we're talking about things like SEO and backlinks, and I think those words will classify an email as spam. And if you want to support the podcast because it's the best source of SEO information on the planet and it's free, you can do so@patreon.com grumpyseoguy and I will talk to you later. You're listening to Grumpy SEO Guy, the SEO podcast that doesn't waste your time with nonsense that doesn't work. Join us next Wednesday when we talk about the reason SEO contracts are almost always a scam.