The Best Credit Card Offers

I am compiling this list to analyze and critique the highest ranking sites on the google SERPs for “credit card” and “credit cards”.

As of 10/31/08, the first page organic ranking pages for “credit card” are as follows:

1. Wikipedia - Credit Card, Page Rank 6/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 435 external links to the page.

2. Creditcards.com, Page Rank 5/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 11,037 external links to the site. META description: Compare Credit Cards & Credit Card Offers at CreditCards.com. Search credit cards and reviews about the best low interest, 0% balance transfer, reward, cash back, prepaid, student, airline, business and instant approval credit cards. Apply for Credit Cards Online. META keywords: credit cards, credit card, credit, creditcards, visa, offers, search, compare, apply, mastercard, low interest, student, instant approval, balance transfer, reward, business, student, cash back.

3. Credit-land.com, Page Rank 4/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 58,822 external links to the site. META description: Browse through the best credit card applications and learn the latest credit cards news at our site. Apply online for a credit card for your credit history! META keywords: credit card applications, apply for credit card, credit cards, visa, mastercard, discover, american express, instant approval, low interest, balance transfers, credit card application, credit card rewards, good credit, bad credit, no credit.

4. Citicards.com, Page Rank 0/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 558 external links to the site. META description: Find your perfect Citi credit card. From business to student cards, travel rewards, cash back and great online services, you’ll find what you’re looking for. META keywords: credit cards, business, student, travel reward credit card, online services.

5. Federalreserve.gov, Page Rank 6/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 567 external links to the site.

6. Creditcardmenu.com, Page Rank 5/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 397 external links to the site. META description: Credit Card Menu is a resource for consumers looking to apply for a credit card online. It allows visitors to choose the card that best matches their requirements by providing a search tool, an interactive financial calculator and answers to the most frequently asked questions about credit cards. The site helps people researching credit cards file credit card applications. META keywords: credit card, credit, credit cards, visa, mastercard, american express, credit card application, apply for credit card online, online credit card applications, balance transfer, annual percentage rate, APR, low rate cards, low APR, instant approval, instant decision, grace period, creditcards.

7. Mastercard.com, Page Rank 8/10, Alexa Rank 2, AND GET THIS 1,612,807 external links to this site.

8. Creditnet.com, Page Rank 5/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 835 external links to this site. META description: The premier credit card resource site: information and services for credit repair, exclusive card offers from selected providers, company reviews, forums and more. Creditnet provides a selection of credit card-related services including free credit report, credit repair and credit card applications for American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Chase, Capital One, MBNA, Citibank and Bank One credit cards. META keywords: credit card, credit cards, credit repair, credit card offers, bad credit repair, credit card offer, repair credit, repair bad credit, visa credit card, chase credit card, discover credit card, capital one credit card, mbna credit card, bank credit card, citibank credit card, bank one credit card.

9. Unionplus.org, Page Rank 5/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 110 external links to the site.

10. Bankrate.com, Page Rank 6/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 1,282 external links to the site. META description: Bankrate.com offers credit card offers and applications for the best low APR secured and unsecured travel reward credit cards. META keywords: credit cards best card offers bad apply application offer consolidation report score low APR best deal secured travel rewards.

The results for “credit cards:?

1. Creditcards.com (see above)

2. Credit.com, Page Rank 5/10, Alexa Rank 2, and WOW 1,059,730 external links to the site.  META description: Search and apply for credit cards including rewards cards, business credit cards, student credit cards, prepaid cards, bad credit credit cards, secured credit cards, gas cards and more at Credit.com.  META keywords: credit cards, apply for credit card, credit card offers, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Citi, Advanta, Aspire, BuyRight, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Citibank, Discover, Eufora, First Premier, GM card, Orchard Bank, New Millenium, Household Bank, credit card, no credit check, low APR, bad credit, reward cards, student cards, secured cards, prepaid cards, gas cards, business cards, credit card application.

3. Wikipedia.com (see above).

4. Newhorizon.com, Page Rank 4/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 2,811 external links to the site.

5. Credit-land.com (see above).

6. Creditorweb.com, Page Rank 5/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 4,712 external links to the site. META description: Browse and compare credit card offers from dozens of issuers to make sure you get the best deal on your next credit card. META keywords: credit cards,compare credit cards,credit card offers.

7. Bankrate.com (see above).

8. Cardratings.com, Page Rank 6/10, Alexa Rank 2, and 18,937 external links to the site. META description: Credit card ratings and online credit card applications help consumers choose the best credit card. Compare credit card offers and apply for credit cards online among the best low interest, 0% balance transfer, reward, cash back, student and business credit cards. META keywords: credit cards, credit card, credit, creditcards, balance transfer, online application, instant approval, apply for credit cards, introductory rate card, offers, search, compare, apply, visa, mastercard, low interest, student, reward, business, cash back.

9. Federalreserve.gov (see above).

10. The PBS Frontline special on credit cards.

Interpretation and Outstanding Questions

It is interesting to me to see how the number of external links varies so greatly, and that the google page rank is not a direct indication of search results order.  Obviously, there is more to SEO/SEM than page rank and link building.  Is it possible that on page SEO makes the difference.

Why does bankrate.com rank so low now?  I view them as the authority site for mortgage information and interest rates.  Yet they do not appear unless you scroll down the SERPs.

Why does the federal reserve have so few external links?

What does the keyword pattern tell you about the different strategies that got these sites to the front page of SERPs?

Enough.  It is now time for me to crunch data. . .

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I just learned that American Express was originally an express delivery service during the Westward expansion in the 1850s and 1860s.  The biggest thing they would carry was the size of a letter envelope.  And their biggest clients were banks and financial concerns.

Seeing the success and profitability of these banks and trusts, they quickly began marketing their own financial products.

That was clever.

Later on, they innovated the traveler’s check.  From the first check in 1891, it only took 10 years to to reach $6 million annually.  In 1905, the US Customs and Immigration exclusively contracted with American Express to provide money exchange services.

Amex began offering travel services in WWI, and really became a logistics company providing travel services, freight forwarding, delivery of goods–basically, concierge to Americans overseas.

The Take Away

American Express has had the ability to transform itself through out its history. They seized opportunity originally when the US Mail could not serve the newly settled areas of the West, again by becoming a financial services company, and again by offering travelers services when no other company could.

What are they doing today to innovate?

More on that later. . .

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I want to highlight, for the second time, two cards from Pulaski Bank. They are the same two I highlighted last week.  But they remain the best deal out there for a variety of reasons.  Both cards have very low, fixed interest rates that apply to balance transfers, purchases and cash advances. The low rates are permanent–they are FIXED rates of 6.50% on the Regular Visa and 8.00% on the Gold Card from Pulaski Bank respectively.

The 6.50% APR is the lowest fixed rate available on the market right now to the best of my knowledge!  These cards also sport a 6 month introductory 0.00% APR on balance transfers.

I can’t stress enough that these cards have low, fixed rates.  This means that your rate will not fluctuate with the LIBOR rate or other rates that will likely increase in the future.  Your rate will remain low and extremely reasonable–making these cards extremely attractive for the long term.  I mean my mortgage is at 6.50%.  Whoever heard of a credit card with a rate that is the same OR LOWER than mortgages rates.

The Pulaski Bank Visa Card sports a 6.50% APR and has a 0% introductory APR on balance transfers. In today’s market, this rate just cannot be beat. Apply here.  If you want to avoid the $35.00 annual fee, you can instead opt for the Pulaski Bank Gold Visa Card, but you will have an 8.00% rate instead of 6.50%.

The Pulaski Bank Gold Visa Card has a low APR of 8.00%, 0% on balance transfers, has no annual fee, and has all of the advantages of a Gold card. Apply for the Gold Card now.

Both of these cards are an exceptional value and have the potential to save you hundreds or thousands of dollars. Compared to other cards that have with variable rates currently at 19% or 24% APR, these cards are an absolute steal.

	Card Category: All Business Charge Foreign Poor Credit Pre-Paid Regular Reward - Airline Reward - Auto Reward - Cash Reward - Finance Reward - Gas Reward - Hotel Reward - Retail Reward - Sports Reward - Travel Reward - Other All Reward Cards Secured Student Intro APR: All 0.0% 1.9% or Less 2.9% or Less 3.9% or Less 4.9% or Less 5.9% or Less 6.9% or Less 7.9% or Less 8.9% or Less 9.9% or Less Time Period: All 3 Months or More 4 Months or More 5 Months of More 6 Months or More 7 Months or More 8 Months or More 9 Months or More APR (Purch.): All Less Than 6% Less Than 7% Less Than 8% Less Than 9% Less Than 10% Less Than 11% Less Than 12% Less Than 13% Less Than 14% Less Than 15% Less Than 16% Less Than 17% Less Than 18% Less Than 19% Less Than 20% Less Than 21% Less Than 22% Less Than 23% Less Than 24% Less Than 25% Annual Fee: All $0 $10 or Less $20 or Less $30 or Less $40 or Less $50 or Less $60 or Less $70 or Less $80 or Less $90 or Less $100 or Less $110 or Less $120 or Less $130 or Less $140 or Less $150 or Less

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