Poker educational niche - Help needed!

[VeselkaP]

Hey Bartek,

The site looks professional and authentic. It shows your genuine interest and looks like the fruit of years of research and devotion. It can be a nice source of recreation traffic for poker rooms. I have sent you a DM about a potential partnership, too

[pokeraussie]

Hey Bartek,

The site looks professional and authentic. It shows your genuine interest and looks like the fruit of years of research and devotion. It can be a nice source of recreation traffic for poker rooms. I have sent you a DM about a potential partnership, too

Do you have plans to enter the USA/UK markets?

[Bartek]

Wow, well done.

You are exactly the type of person I was hoping to hire to review books and do strategy for us. I suppose the good guys always go into business for themselves!

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!

I agree; it's tough to find a good poker content writer.

PS. If I ever need a job will contact you

[Bartek]

It's this one G has picked.....

https://www.bookonpoker.com/blog/7-b...probabilities/

Around 30 for me from Australia, low 40s UK and US.

With the competition above you, it's not surprising the home page wasn't selected (although worth checking both to see if home is structured well enough and it's not a cannibalization 'issue'). I'd say it would likely take a significant authority increase to leap some of the pages above you.

But that page is high ranked for its own target term, implying it has some weight (and by inference, that suggests the site is starting to build some weight). You've got some heavy, heavy hitters below you. Worth checking if some links are doing the donkey work or if you're there 'on merit'.

thanks!

I couldn't find any current cannibalization issues. In the past I had some pages competing with each other, and did a re-direct to the correct/best content.

What do you mean by: "Worth checking if some links are doing the donkey work or if you're there 'on merit'."?

[Bartek]

In that case I can suggest Mike Matusow: Check-Raising the Devil.

Yes, a cool book! I started reading it and still have to finish . I even added his quote to a poker quiz

"At the first break, a friend and I went up to his hotel room in Binion's to do a line. I talked about how the meth was giving me such great focus and how it was the wonder drug of all wonder drugs and how I hoped nobody else would discover it. Speed makes you talk a lot, which wasn't exactly an area where I needed any help."

[Bartek]

Hey Bartek,

The site looks professional and authentic. It shows your genuine interest and looks like the fruit of years of research and devotion. It can be a nice source of recreation traffic for poker rooms. I have sent you a DM about a potential partnership, too

Thanks, I sent you a DM

[chaumi]

What do you mean by: "Worth checking if some links are doing the donkey work or if you're there 'on merit'."?

I meant check to see what backlinks you have to that page (and also, for that matter, what internal links you have pointing to it).

That'll give you some understanding of why it's ranking (if it's not just ranking based solely on the content and any juice inherent in the site).

It may also give you a clue why it's ranking for a top-level term that, in theory, you could expect it not to rank for and you might be hoping for another page (in this case, home) to be there instead.


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The task is to understand why it ranks, which then (sometimes) gives you additional clues as to what you might need to do on other pages (or indeed, understand why they're not ranking if they aren't).


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'On merit' means there are no (or few) backlinks influencing it, and you think it's there based on the content quality alone. You can't always assume that though....because there could be hidden backlinks of various types, mentions, citations, etc. Having said that, you'll know yourself what quality level the page is at and can usually make a reasonable judgment call based on that, in tandem with analysing the quality of competing pages.

[pokeraussie]

I meant check to see what backlinks you have to that page

If you don't mind me asking, what link checker do you use to check backlinks to internal pages?

[chaumi]

what link checker do you use to check backlinks to internal pages?

I don't do a lot of backlink checking myself, but I'd start with Ahrefs and GSC (mainly because they're what I have access to). There are many tools to do it and to get the most accurate results there's probably a need to check across multiple (since they all appear to have limitations on what they see and/or some perform it better than others).

That's for external links.

Internal, there are also tools. I've never used any and rely on knowledge of what I've done and where. You miss stuff that way naturally and - if starting from scratch or with a controllable number of pages - I'd say keeping a spreadsheet or some other way of logging your own data wouldn't be a bad idea. That would also let you see pretty easily what anchor text you're distributing around pages and avoid potential problems at some stage.

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Tools cost (except GSC and Ubersuggest I think still gives a few free daily runs, probably some others but not sure and if either of those two doesn't cut it then other free options most likely wouldn't either). So, for anyone that wants a single page checked on the odd occasion, I'd be pretty confident that if they posted it on the forum and asked, someone would go and run it.

[gm2891]

Pokeraussie

You can use Screaming Frog for internal link check, but keep in mind that it is not a perfect tool, it misses things out. Seo PowerSuite is brilliant, you can simply use their visualization tool for easy understanding on what is what, in case other options seem complicated.

[Bartek]

I meant check to see what backlinks you have to that page (and also, for that matter, what internal links you have pointing to it).

That'll give you some understanding of why it's ranking (if it's not just ranking based solely on the content and any juice inherent in the site).

It may also give you a clue why it's ranking for a top-level term that, in theory, you could expect it not to rank for and you might be hoping for another page (in this case, home) to be there instead.


*********

The task is to understand why it ranks, which then (sometimes) gives you additional clues as to what you might need to do on other pages (or indeed, understand why they're not ranking if they aren't).


*********

'On merit' means there are no (or few) backlinks influencing it, and you think it's there based on the content quality alone. You can't always assume that though....because there could be hidden backlinks of various types, mentions, citations, etc. Having said that, you'll know yourself what quality level the page is at and can usually make a reasonable judgment call based on that, in tandem with analysing the quality of competing pages.

Thanks, very helpful!

I checked it and it seems there are not many Backlinks or internal links. So, it's probably the content, although not sure why it ranks for this particular keyword and why this page as there are other that have the same quality content. I would expect the homepage to be much higher.
Actually, the homepage is one of the least visited pages and the engagement time is very low, maybe it's not well structured. Will have to research this.

[chaumi]

When I search 'best poker books' a different page comes up in the results - 9-best-poker-books-for-beginners/ (and much higher for 'poker books for beginners' Good news!!)

So, I think (part of) what's happening here is that you don't have any 'real' content on the home page - it's like a blog post page that collectively shows all your pages and posts dedicated to the individual topics. There's no (or limited) original content because what's there is published on other pages.

Hence, G (ie the algorithm) is unable to make the association that places the home page as the best resource (from the site) for the top-level search terms, and (probably because of the strength of the content on those pages/posts), it's showing them instead.

If that's true, it's encouraging enough for the site overall. Because the algo clearly is giving the topic/subject pages some authoritative weight.

You could try to get the home page ranked for higher level terms by restructuring and adding some stuff, but:

1. I'm not sure you'd be able to leapfrog those above you anyway (without some reasonably powerful links, but you never know)
2. Changing the home page too much could affect the other pages that are ranking (although it's highly doubtful that the reason they are is because of the homepage structure, and anyway just making sure they're still linked to from home would likely be enough).

There could be some sitewide benefits to getting home recognized as an authority on the top-level terms, though. But these would be hard to quantify and/or be sure of.


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I'd be thinking here...

OK, so some of my inner pages are doing well/OK. Home currently gets next to zero, so I can afford to play with it a bit, add some higher-level content, maybe pick up one or two links with higher-level anchor text, and see what happens.

But I'm not going to sweat it too much, because there's a good chance that if I focus on improving the inner pages where possible, enhancing my overall structure where possible, adding new content, and interlinking internally as effectively as possible, then it seems I already have some authority and there's a good chance that'll grow.

Eventually, if more and more internal pages are ranking, that authority level might spill to the home page and it may rank in its own right for the higher terms (but I'd be fairly sure that to do that it would need at least some additional content that would give some better clues to the algorithm).


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Summary : It's like the algorithm is wanting to show you for higher terms, but can't do so using home because you're not quite telling it how good you are.


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Disclaimer ; this is all just interpretation, of course. And could be flawed. And we could be missing something. But it's a reasonable interpretation ( I think) based on what obvious evidence is available.

[Bartek]

When I search 'best poker books' a different page comes up in the results - 9-best-poker-books-for-beginners/ (and much higher for 'poker books for beginners' Good news!!)

So, I think (part of) what's happening here is that you don't have any 'real' content on the home page - it's like a blog post page that collectively shows all your pages and posts dedicated to the individual topics. There's no (or limited) original content because what's there is published on other pages.

Hence, G (ie the algorithm) is unable to make the association that places the home page as the best resource (from the site) for the top-level search terms, and (probably because of the strength of the content on those pages/posts), it's showing them instead.

If that's true, it's encouraging enough for the site overall. Because the algo clearly is giving the topic/subject pages some authoritative weight.

You could try to get the home page ranked for higher level terms by restructuring and adding some stuff, but:

1. I'm not sure you'd be able to leapfrog those above you anyway (without some reasonably powerful links, but you never know)
2. Changing the home page too much could affect the other pages that are ranking (although it's highly doubtful that the reason they are is because of the homepage structure, and anyway just making sure they're still linked to from home would likely be enough).

There could be some sitewide benefits to getting home recognized as an authority on the top-level terms, though. But these would be hard to quantify and/or be sure of.


*********

I'd be thinking here...

OK, so some of my inner pages are doing well/OK. Home currently gets next to zero, so I can afford to play with it a bit, add some higher-level content, maybe pick up one or two links with higher-level anchor text, and see what happens.

But I'm not going to sweat it too much, because there's a good chance that if I focus on improving the inner pages where possible, enhancing my overall structure where possible, adding new content, and interlinking internally as effectively as possible, then it seems I already have some authority and there's a good chance that'll grow.

Eventually, if more and more internal pages are ranking, that authority level might spill to the home page and it may rank in its own right for the higher terms (but I'd be fairly sure that to do that it would need at least some additional content that would give some better clues to the algorithm).


************

Summary : It's like the algorithm is wanting to show you for higher terms, but can't do so using home because you're not quite telling it how good you are.


************

Disclaimer ; this is all just interpretation, of course. And could be flawed. And we could be missing something. But it's a reasonable interpretation ( I think) based on what obvious evidence is available.

I agree. Very good analysis. In this case the best option is to leave the homepage as it is, work on new quality content, build authority and observe.

Thanks again!

[CiaranMc]

your menu item, "Quizes"... is typo'd/incorrect.

[Vigiswiss]

In my opinion, the site looks simple enough. But it's not bad. I noted the following points that you can improve:

- add an article author to each page (your site should be live. Users should see who writes articles)

- Stretched article descriptions look awkward, they are very hard to read.

- Add extra navigation to the home page. It is not clear what topics the articles refer to.

- Add information about you on the main page. Who you are and why we can trust you.

I wish you the best of luck with your site!

[PROFRBcom]

I get almost zero traffic from the single book reviews. Most of it comes from the write-ups.

But maybe the reason for it is that the content quality of the writ-ups is much higher than the content of single reviews.

Why is the quality of the book reviews sub-par in your opinion?

Did you write all the book reviews yourself? What about the other content?

If you did write it all yourself, why skimp on the book reviews themselves, which is where your actual sales come from as opposed to your traffic (the best of, xyz type books, etc pages)?

You have 2 different things you're fighting for here. The first is traffic, which looks good for bragging rights. The second, and more important however, is making money to pay the bills.

There are some affiliates out there who get huge traffic, but don't monetize much of it at all. And then there are other, more quiet affiliates, out there raking it in day after day because their content converts!

[Bartek]

your menu item, "Quizes"... is typo'd/incorrect.

thanks a lot! Corrected

[Bartek]

In my opinion, the site looks simple enough. But it's not bad. I noted the following points that you can improve:

- add an article author to each page (your site should be live. Users should see who writes articles)

- Stretched article descriptions look awkward, they are very hard to read.

- Add extra navigation to the home page. It is not clear what topics the articles refer to.

- Add information about you on the main page. Who you are and why we can trust you.

I wish you the best of luck with your site!

Excellent tips, thanks!

I have already corrected some of the points and working on the rest. One question: " Stretched article descriptions look awkward. They are very hard to read." - do you mean the description of the books on the home page? I have removed them, but not sure if this is what you meant...

[Bartek]

Why is the quality of the book reviews sub-par in your opinion?

Did you write all the book reviews yourself? What about the other content?

If you did write it all yourself, why skimp on the book reviews themselves, which is where your actual sales come from as opposed to your traffic (the best of, xyz type books, etc pages)?

You have 2 different things you're fighting for here. The first is traffic, which looks good for bragging rights. The second, and more important however, is making money to pay the bills.

There are some affiliates out there who get huge traffic, but don't monetize much of it at all. And then there are other, more quiet affiliates, out there raking it in day after day because their content converts!

It's not that the quality of the book reviews is bad. But I think there is more quality information in the write-ups (there are reviews of a few books on each write-up), and it takes much longer to create this kind of article than a book review.

I write most of the content.

I tried to buy some content, but it is challenging to get high quality unless you pay a lot.

I believe that the traffic I am fighting for will be more valuable for me (from the money perspective) than the book reviews.