Google’s John Mueller answered the question of why a site with “good SEO” doesn’t rank, even when there’s low competition. His answer might seem controversial at first but his words are worthy of consideration.
Good SEO But Lackluster Ranking?
There is no one definition of what constitutes good SEO.
It’s a subjective judgment call that changes depending on the experience, knowledge and skill of the person making that call.
There are many who have read “everything” about SEO who think they know it all but are actually at the beginning of their journey.
It’s hard to be aware of what one doesn’t know until failure makes it clear that there is a knowledge gap.
This is one way of looking at the context of the question that John Mueller answered, although he takes a different and entirely legitimate context.
Why Does a Site Rank Poorly Despite Good SEO?
There person asking the question was frustrated because they’re in a situation where the competition is low and they have applied what they feel is “good SEO.”
They asked:
“Why is my site not ranking despite low competition and good SEO? I have a sitemap, indexed pages, updated content, backlinks and on-page optimization.