How does Google rank a domain with hyphens for SEO-related keywords despite its irrelevance to SEO?

People often complain about issues with Google’s search results, but the situation with queries containing the acronym “SEO” is in a league of its own and needs to be witnessed to be fully grasped.

Peculiarities in Search Results: An Unusual Case of Misalignment

An anomaly refers to a deviation from the expected norm. Often, discrepancies arise in search engine results pages (SERPs), and they can be attributed to specific factors. For instance, queries that blend geographic details with longer, more specific phrases can yield unconventional outcomes. Similarly, insufficient data on particular word combinations occasionally leads to inappropriate or offensive search results. However, the current issue surrounding keywords related to “SEO” does not fit into these familiar categories—it represents a genuine anomaly.

The keywords in question that Google is seemingly misranking include:

• SEO program
• What is an SEO program?
• SEO New York (City)
• SEO NYC
• SEO Conference
• SEO Events
• SEO Education
• SEO Awards
• SEO-USA.Org

Remarkably, the site ranking prominently for all these SEO-related queries is SEO-USA.org. Despite its name, SEO, in this context, stands for Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a longstanding nonprofit established in 1963. The organization aims to mentor underrepresented young individuals, guiding them toward higher education opportunities. The website has existed for over two decades, with archives dating back to 2003 on the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine).

“SEO Scholars,” an initiative launched by SEO, offers an intensive eight-year academic program to support talented students throughout high school and college. Their mission emphasizes creating a fairer society by narrowing the educational opportunity gap through robust academic standards, mentorship, community engagement, peer support, and a resilient lifelong network.

This peculiar case underscores a significant discrepancy in Google’s SERPs, highlighting search engine algorithms’ complexity and occasional unpredictability when interpreting and ranking content.

SEO-USA.org: A Misfit in SEO-Related Search Results

The acronym “SEO” typically pertains to search engine optimization, a crucial aspect of online marketing. When searching for “SEO” on Google, the suggested results align with this marketing context.

Interestingly, Google Trends reveals that phrases like “SEO Scholars” and “SEO Scholars Application” have limited search volume in the United States, with most searches concentrated in New York. Despite this, SEO-USA.org ranks prominently for various SEO-related keywords across regions outside New York.

Could Backlinks Explain SEO-USA.org’s Rankings?

One potential explanation for SEO-USA.org’s ranking for multiple SEO-related phrases could be its backlink profile. Specifically, a search limited to .edu domains reveals nearly seventy backlinks pointing to SEO-USA.org.

Why Links Aren’t Likely the Reason for SEO-USA.org’s Rankings

If backlinks were solely responsible for SEO-USA.org’s rankings, we would expect many .edu and .org websites to dominate search results for all SEO-related keyword phrases. However, this is different.

Having worked in SEO for over 25 years, I recall when PageRank was paramount, and .edu links held significant sway in rankings. Over time, Google’s algorithms evolved to prioritize the context of links over their sheer quantity. The words in the title tag and surrounding text became crucial factors influencing link relevance—a principle I’ve observed through experience.

Another pivotal change in Google’s algorithms was diminishing the impact of link quantity. Previously, a flood of links could propel a site’s ranking above more authoritative ones, but this approach has evolved. For instance, numerous links from a single domain now count less collectively, often as just one link. Furthermore, the placement of a link within a page gained importance, reflecting broader adjustments that have tempered the influence of links for superficial reasons.

Uncovering the Mystery: Why SEO-USA.org Ranks Unusually

There is a missing relevance factor that should prevent the arguably irrelevant site SEO-USA.org from ranking for specific keywords.

This observation hints at a crucial clue behind the site’s unexpected rankings. There’s an element lacking in the usual criteria that would typically exclude it.

Speculatively, it could be related to the site’s perceived trustworthiness. However, this remains conjecture. What are your thoughts on this anomaly?

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