I have just started to use some SEO tools for the first time to compare my best pages with those of my nearest competitors. I’ve had some initial success on certain pages that were lacking ‘obvious’ elements, but I’m a bit stuck for ideas where things are more ‘opaque.’

For example, I’m in 7th position in Google for a 2-word phrase. Interestingly enough, of the top ten listings, I ‘beat’ all my competitors bar two for PR; am way ahead on ‘repeats’ [as my product is the same name as the phrase (intentional)], so I’ve actually decided to cut back on its usage (less is more?), as none of those ahead of me have a single repeat!; I have a 2.33% density, whilst others have zero; and, bar the page in tenth position, I am the only one with any of the following page elements – %ages are thus for my page:

Title: 2 (80.0%)

Link: 2 (2.8%)

Kw: 2 (14.3%)

Desc: 3 (35.3%)

Bold: 3 (5.0%)

HTags: 1 (50.0%)

I am also ‘competitive’ on the use of each of the words that comprise my phrase taken separately, although I’ve picked up a few things I can tweak!

In other words, I have (unwittingly/instinctively/after learning) optimised my pages, whereas my competitors have not - and yet 6 of them are ahead of me for no apparent reason.

Am I missing something? On what other factors should I be comparing my page with theirs and where do I go from here to climb up the ranking?

Cheers as always,

B.