John:
>>>You didn't post a clear, consistent statement.
I posted many clear and consistent statements in my opinion.
Here is one.
<<<...in general the level of competitive keywords you can rank on the first page of the SERP, with out getting inbound links to that page shows the level of authority your site has.
>>>You said that domains with authority should rank for keywords in their titles.
I didn't say that. You may want to cut and paste what I say in quote form. Numerous times now you have posted statements that I have said so and so. Really what you are doing it posting what you think I have said. I suggest you use quotes that way you won't be misquoting me.
>>>When I showed you that DMOZ doesn't rank for keywords in its page titles, you said that those keywords were "competitive", even though the some of the 500+ pages that outrank DMOZ have PR0 and very little in the way of linkage.
No, what I did was show you a number of titles that were completive that DMOZ ranked very well for.
You did how ever show me a key phrase that was in a DMOZ title that was highly competitive that DMOZ didn't rank well for.
>>>In other words, your criteria is entirely useless at this point.
I think if you go looking for examples that don't line up with what I am saying you will be able to find them. But I would suggest that you count the ones that do as you are searching for the ones that done. I check 5 titles on DMOZ and came up with 3 that DMOZ ranked well for.
>>>Either it gets applied and works, or it gets applied and doesn't work.
I disagree. Finding one or even 100 examples that don't seem to match with what you say I am saying doesn't prove anything other than there are examples that don't match what you think I am saying.
>>>You insult the intelligence of SEO experts when you suggest that they do not have the math skills to figure out that only so many web pages can rank in the top X number of pages for a search term, and there is no limit to the number of pages that can have authority.
I didn't suggest that, that is your straw horse suggestion not mine. Try finding a quote where I suggested that and posting it for us.
From the above you appear to be deducting that my position would mean that as only X websites can rank for one term in the top X positions and there for there can only be X sites that have site authority.
Is that correct? State your object a bit clearer for me and I will be happy to address it.
If in fact that is what you are trying to say that is very simple to answer.
A sites authority adds to the ability of a site to rank a page that has been on-page optimized. The site authority is not the main component that ranks the page. The on-page optimization is if off-page SEO is not involved. With out the proper on-page optimization the page will not rank no matter how much site authority you have.
While CNN.com has huge site authority it doesn't rank any where for "blog titles" as it doesn't have a page that is optimized well enough to rank for that phrase.
http://www.google.com/search?q=site:cnn.com+blog+titles
This is why 37 SEO experts in Rands survey rated the title tag 4.9 out of 5.0 when it comes to ranking weight that search engines give in components. On-page optimization especially where coupled with high site authority is very strong.
The fact that only 100 site (let your X equal 100 for example) can rank in the top 100 for a keyword doesn't mean that only those 100 sites have authority as on-page optimization is the primary component that gives ranking when no off-page SEO is used.
Even if we produced 10,000 pages optimized for one phrase with equal on-page optimization and with out duplicate content, the fact that not all sites are in the top 100 doesn't mean that they don't have high authority.
Back to my position least we miss the forest because of all the trees.
I hold that how well you can rank for a competitive term with out off-page SEO is a clear reflection of your site authority.
I then go a step further and say by putting up a page that is fully on-page optimized for a competitive term and uses no off-page optimization, that by how well it ranks you can determine to some degree your site authority.
So far John your objects have been for the most part pulling down straw men misquotes. I would suggest that you take a quote of my position, post it and then logically show me your objection to it. I will do my best to answer the objects.
But really with all due respect we are dealing with a elementary SEO principle here. Perhaps there are others that could state the position better but this is a widely accepted position as far as I know and understand.
-- I'll have to learn SEO too.
