Size matters!
We are often asked why a client’s small to medium size web site doesn’t do as well in the search engine results as a major competitor.
It helps to explain that when indexing a web site the search engines treat every page individually. So, a large site has the opportunity to have a page dedicated to every relevant topic and to link the pages so that they all have a number of incoming links. The small site covering the same range of topics cannot achieve the same focus with each page nor provide the same number of incoming links.
When the search engines evaluate a page they not only consider what it says but also how focussed it is on that topic. A page covering three topics, one after the other, may be seen as less relevant to a search as a page covering just the topic of the search. Adding more content to a page to try and cover more keywords may be counterproductive if it dilutes the main topic of the page.
The solution is to be very focussed in the content of each page. Keep each page to as narrow a topic as possible, if necessary dividing a page in two rather than trying to cover two topics on one page. Then ensure that each page has a Title, Description and Keywords that summarise the subject of the page and do not stray from the theme of the page.
If your business is by nature very general it can be better to focus the website on the five or six main areas in which you operate and dedicate a page to each and then consolidate all less important areas onto one page. The alternative of five or six general pages is likely to be less productive.