Creating a single page website to answer a commonly Google’d question?

[alternadiv]

I had this thought last night and I’m wondering if anyone knows how this might work, SEO wise.

My area of expertise is the Toyota Tacoma and vehicle maintenance. A commonly asked question related to the Tacoma (really, any car) is how to reset the maintenance light on the dash, for example.

Even I forget the steps to do it, since every car is slightly different. So, when I need to reset my own light, I usually search “reset Tacoma maintenance light” and find the answer on my own website (lol).

I was wondering if I could easily take the #1 spot on Google for those search terms if I make a new site with the answer to the question.

The domain could be something like ResetTacomaLight .com and it would open a single HTML page with the answer to the question, pictures included. No CSS, no JS; literally a raw HTML page to quickly answer the question.

Would this be something that Google would like? Or is this some type of black hat SEO and an unoriginal idea that is known to not work the way I’m thinking it would?

 

[nocte]

Would this be something that Google would like?

content-wise: maybe yes. But link building is still important to have a good google-ranking, so just building a page and waiting would not be sufficient. I think a really (seo-wise) good sub-page on an established domain with a project, that has the same general topic, is the better / more efficient approach.

 

[alternadiv]

content-wise: maybe yes. But link building is still important to have a good google-ranking, so just building a page and waiting would not be sufficient. I think a really (seo-wise) good sub-page on an established domain with a project, that has the same general topic, is the better / more efficient approach.

So, basically put this page on my existing site/domain. Noted.

Maybe I’ll do both as an experiment.

 

[nocte]

Maybe I’ll do both as an experiment.

Yeah, would be nice if you share your insights!

I only have rudimentary seo knowledge, so my post was just an opinion (based on long-term experiences). Basically my approach is: build good websites for users (with the seo aspect at the back of my mind, of course), establish projects/domains and wait for long term good google rankings.

 

[Miri]

So, when I need to reset my own light, I usually search “reset Tacoma maintenance light” and find the answer on my own website (lol).

Here is which google site shows me as the first result on the first page.

I was wondering if I could easily take the #1 spot on Google for those search terms if I make a new site with the answer to the question.

Google will decide how, when to whom and to which chronology to show the result based on many variables.
I don't want to discourage you, but if the reason is just that, believe me, it would be a big waste of time. Try it but you will see that you have wasted a lot of resources.

 

[Mr Lucky]

Would this be something that Google would like? Or is this some type of black hat SEO

It's not blackout. It's page that has useful content

Maybe I’ll do both as an experiment.

That is a bad idea as they would compete with each other so both be lower down the search results. Duplicate content is not good for AEO.

I very much doubt you're be able to get a site any higher than what is there (plus all the videos which always get priority these days)

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I target the "People Also Ask..." section of Google Search pages by creating pages around that content. I also try to make the header (h1) the actual question. It usually works out well for me. But I have the advantage of being the main competition in my niche which is very local. So that might be a factor.

However, I do compete with a government site and I've noticed that I'd taken those spots from they previous had. Of course, it took them years to updated their website whereas I will make updates to each page a few times a year as new relevant information comes available, which is a good thing for SEO, repurposing existing content.

 

[Wildcat Media]

A commonly asked question related to the Tacoma (really, any car) is how to reset the maintenance light on the dash, for example.

Even I forget the steps to do it, since every car is slightly different.

Off-topic, but after almost six years of owning our current daily drivers, I think I finally figured out how to do it.

 

[RandallC]

These use to be huge a few years back look up what use to be called mini sites. Basically its pages that have good information, but it was mainly for advertisements you would put your 4 google adsense ads related to that topic. but google likes new information like blogs and news websites.

 

[Wildcat Media]

One annoying type of site is one that covers a specific type of product. Say, vacuum cleaners, or tablets. Their "reviews" are basically a rewrite of the features and specs, with no hands-on experience, and of course all of the products lead to an Amazon listing, along with others. I'm not against monetizing, but having those useless sites pop up annoys me, as it's time wasted on my end. I can see Google maybe ranking those lower in the future, as they really don't exist to help consumers since there is no original content beyond paraphrasing the product's spec sheet--they're pure monetization.

 

[Mr Lucky]

I can see Google maybe ranking those lower in the future, as they really don't exist to help consumers since there is no original content beyond paraphrasing the product's spec

Theoretically they already should be ranking those sites lower (if not actually penalising) as duplicate content. Even if paraphrased.

I think people used to assume there was an actual penalty for duplicate content, but I think it’s more just a case of lower priority when viewed in the context of the authentic product page, which would have more authority at the very least due to being there first.

 

[Wildcat Media]

Theoretically they already should be ranking those sites lower (if not actually penalising) as duplicate content. Even if paraphrased.

It looks as though those garbage sites are now being penalized, as I just now performed a search I had tried a few years ago, and those sites don't even rank. If you searched for something like "best vacuum cleaner," a good number of higher-ranking sites returned in the search used to be sites that authored "reviews" which were really a wordy version of the product's features. Even their domains would be something like "bestvacuumcleaners.com," "top10vacuums.com" or "vacuumcleanerreviews.com". Now when I do a similar search for many products, only media outlets appear in the results.

 

[skicomau]

I had this thought last night and I’m wondering if anyone knows how this might work, SEO wise.

My area of expertise is the Toyota Tacoma and vehicle maintenance. A commonly asked question related to the Tacoma (really, any car) is how to reset the maintenance light on the dash, for example.

Even I forget the steps to do it, since every car is slightly different. So, when I need to reset my own light, I usually search “reset Tacoma maintenance light” and find the answer on my own website (lol).

I was wondering if I could easily take the #1 spot on Google for those search terms if I make a new site with the answer to the question.

The domain could be something like ResetTacomaLight .com and it would open a single HTML page with the answer to the question, pictures included. No CSS, no JS; literally a raw HTML page to quickly answer the question.

Would this be something that Google would like? Or is this some type of black hat SEO and an unoriginal idea that is known to not work the way I’m thinking it would?

Why?

If entertaining yourself. Knock yourself out and enjoy the journey.

If expecting it to be an earn, even just pocket money. Find another hobby, this one is bound to disappoint.

Single page content destination sites with mapping domain names were done and dusted 15 years ago as a ‘strategy’. Now tend to be used only for social media injection/boosting where there’s some sort of ‘conversion funnel’ payoff.

Much to learn. To master SEO one must first master SEC. Search Engine Compliance. One must follow Google’s Webmaster guidelines to the letter (a looooong list) before even thinking about tinkering with ‘Optimisation’.

 

[Wildcat Media]

Theoretically they already should be ranking those sites lower (if not actually penalising) as duplicate content. Even if paraphrased.

I think people used to assume there was an actual penalty for duplicate content, but I think it’s more just a case of lower priority when viewed in the context of the authentic product page, which would have more authority at the very least due to being there first.

I found a site this morning that is similar to what I've been trying to explain.

FindThisBest - Top Product Reviews To Help You Make Better Decisions

FindThisBest analyzes millions of products reviews to recommend the best choice of products. We help our users make better shopping decisions.

www.findthisbest.com

Something just feels "off" about it--some of the wording is clumsy, and the product descriptions are basically rewrites of what you can find on Amazon or the product's own web site. There is no actual hands-on experience with the products. It also looks too "corporate generic" if that makes sense. Even the blog section for DIY articles is full of commonly available information and makes a lot of use of stock photos, further adding to the generic feel to the site.