Niche-Specific Ranking Factors
There is a belief that ranking factors are different between niches by observing the top-ranking websites. For instance, research published by certain SEO tool websites measured the different aspects of top-ranked sites across various areas. It helps to determine how ranking factors influence the different categories they examined.
The studies revealed distinct differences in the types of content, various types of link quality, and other aspects of the top-ranked sites.
The study revealed obvious patterns in the specific niches; the top sites are those that have more content or more videos. The conclusion drawn is that Google ranks websites with longer content or more published videos.
But, these patterns and similarities are not a reflection that video or word count is the primary reason Google is putting these websites on the top of its list in their niches. These patterns may be random, or they are due to the demands of users for longer content or more videos.
These kinds of studies can be useful to learn the content and marketing trends followed in various niches. However, the trends don’t necessarily reflect “ranking factors.”
Does Every Niche Treated Differently by Google?
A viewer asked – “Is it real that Google uses a different algorithm to index and ranks different niches? We have two similar websites built with a similar process, and the only difference is that both sites are in different niches. Currently, one is functioning while the other has lost its rankings.”
It’s Not About Niche: It’s About Content-Type
John responded to the question and noted that the website’s niche does not have any influence on how the ranking algorithm works. However, he did confirm that the content is treated differently.
John Mueller answered:
“So I don’t think there is anything particular regarding different niches. Different types of content are distinct of important to the search results we get.
If you look at the Quality Raters Guidelines, we talk about sites such as Your Money Your Life sites. In these sites, we try to include critical algorithms involved in indexing, crawling, and ranking.
It’s not the way that you’d think. A different algorithm runs a bicycle shop compared to an online shoe shop; for instance, they’re both eCommerce stores.”
High and Low-Quality Content
While answering, ‘Does Every Niche Treated Differently by Google?’ Mueller continued to discuss the importance of creating original and valuable content. We’ve seen that some publishers are focused on creating content that is not copied from other sources, using original words to create unique content.
In our opinion, when Mueller states that his content is “unique,” we believe Mueller is using the word to denote the content that is distinct from other pages. Because, for instance, they’re easier to understand, provide important research data, have measures that other websites forget to publish, etc.
John further answered:
“But you’ve mentioned that you’ve websites for content aggregation and created using the same process. Some of them work, while others do not work.
It feels to me like… sort of something like… Although I don’t know what your websites are, it’s similar to low-effort affiliate sites, just using content feeds and publishing them.
It’s the type of thing that our algorithms don’t tend to invest in to ensure that we search and index every bit of the content. It’s the same content we’ve seen previously on these sites.
From this perspective, If you think this could apply to your website, I suggest focusing on fewer websites and making them more efficient.
This means that you’re not simply aggregating content from different websites; you’re providing something unique and important. If you did not properly index your site, people browsing the Internet would be missing the opportunity to provide users with value.
If we did not index your site, people could browse to one of the affiliate aggregator websites; There is no need to invest our time and money in the crawling of and to index your website.
This is a situation in which, again, I don’t have any information about your site, but it’s something I’d be interested in more than “oh, Google doesn’t like bicycle stores; they like shoe stores instead.”
Would People Miss A Site?
It’s helpful to think about the scenario John described in which people could be unable to access a website when Google did not rank it in SERPs.
“…you’re offering something valuable and unique. If you do not properly index your site, the users on the Internet would be missing the opportunity to access a site that is providing them value.”
People miss a website if it publishes different content, which makes it more useful than other sites. This way of looking at content might be beneficial for updating content that has no value anymore or planning the website’s content strategy.
