Railway Sleepers Sydney – A case study in SEO
Railway Sleepers Sydney
What do they have to do with SEO?
I’m a regular participant in the small and micro business forum Flying Solo and often get involved in discussions regarding topics such as online marketing and search engine optimisation. On a recent discussion a topic came up related to the value of content vs links for SEO purposes, with an odd example phrase of railway sleepers Sydney brought up to illustrate a point regarding links not being of importance, as the top search result for this terms is a company who specialises in selling railway sleepers and includes the word Sydney on their page, but has few incoming links. However the lack of competition and SEO efforts by competitors targeting these keywords is why it ranks well, not the fact that links are bad or irrelevant as suggested in the Flying Solo post.
I contend that relevant content is most important for low competition keywords where few competitors have strongly optimised sites. However for industries where there is a lot of competition, good content along with quality / quantity of incoming links is required to succeed, and good content alone will never get the rankings you desire.
For a bit of fun, and to make some interesting SEO points I’ve decided to create this post the topic of railway sleepers for sale in the city of Sydney, with the aim of getting it to the top 5 in google.com.au within 48 hours. I’ll be interested to see if I can succeed, but may have to eat my hat if I can’t!
What are the SEO lessons from this?
The first point is that the first step in SEO is to ensure you page is actually relevant to the search term you are targeting, and actually includes the words and phrases on the page itself, in the title etc.
The second point (although is probably not effectively illustrated by this ultra-simplistic example) is that if there is any significant level of competition quality linkbuilding efforts will be required to rank. The more competitive the keyword and stronger the competition, the more the focus shifts from content to link building.
The third point is how little most Australian small businesses understand about Search Engine Optimisation, and I’m constantly amazed how many pages fail the basics of SEO. Often I see sites I’d just love to “fix”, but of course I can’t unless they ask me! So, if this is you, please don’t hesitate to contact me via my main Marketing Web site.
Finally, just to finish this post off, I’m going to post some content about Railway Sleepers! Feel free to tune out at this stage.
Matt
Railway Sleepers
For those looking to redo their garden or find some solid hardwood for woodworking purposes, used railway sleepers can be an ideal choice.
Railway sleepers originally used in train tracks are often retired from service as track works are completed. Made from hardwood, some may have rotted or deteriorated over the years but many sleepers will still be solid an sturdy; quality wood that is too good for the scrap heap. These type of railway sleepers can become a classic case of the value of reusing a product rather than relying on recycling. Used railway sleepers are available at many garden products suppliers and specialist suppliers in locations Australia wide including Sydney, Melbourne and most capital cities and regional areas.
In addition to genuine used railway sleepers, imitation wood styled in the same way as railway sleepers is also widely available, particularly in locations such as Sydney where the demand for railway sleepers often outweighs the supply of genuine used sleepers. If your are purchasing this product, ensure they are hard wood and not pine, unless that’s what you are after for your railway sleepers of course.
Genuine used railway sleepers are often the cheapest, heaviest, most sturdy and hardest to cut when building an outdoor retaining wall for example, and will provide a sturdy wall with character. However they are not as “pretty” as the brand new imitation ones. In the end the choice can come down to price and availability, and of course your personal preference.
If you are a companies targeting the search phrase railway sleepers Sydney, have come across this post and are concerned that it’s ranking above your site, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I’d love to speak with you regarding how I can help you with improving your search engine rankings, and I’d also be willing to consider putting a link in from this page to your site at no cost to help boost your own site up.
Railway Sleepers Sydney - A case study in SEO
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