A few years ago, I wrote a post here[1] that caught some attention in the community.
I argued Google appears to be ranking websites heavily based on searcher intent[2] — this is more true now than ever.
In fact, it might be algorithmically impossible to get your website on top of the SERPs.
If you find your website in this position, don't give up on SEO!
The point of "Search Engine Optimization" is to get organic exposure through search engines — it doesn't necessarily have to be your website.
We can leverage the ranking authority of other websites pass organic referral traffic to our sites.
I'm going to give 6 times when you should NOT rank your website.
Prefer to watch / listen? I outlined all these points as a part of a recent keynote: https://youtu.be/mMvIty5W93Y[3]
1. When the keywords are just TOO competitive
We've all been there: trying to rank a website with no authority for highly competitive keywords.
These keywords are competitive because they're valuable so we can't give up on them.
Here's a few workarounds I've used in the past.
Tactic 1: Offer to sponsor the content
Ardent sells a product that "decarboxylates" cannabis for medicinal users.
There's a ton of challenges selling this product, mostly because patients don't know what "decarboxylation" means.
So, naturally, ranking for the keyword "what is decarboxylation" is a critical step in their customer’s path to conversion. Problem is, that keyword is dominated by authoritative, niche relevant sites.
While Ardent should still build and optimize content around the subject, it might take years to rank.
When you’re trying to