Sep 25, 2008
Goal - SearchMasters Top Ten on Google.co.nz for "Marketing"
SearchMasters will rank top ten for "Marketing" on Google.co.nz by 31/12/08 [and as at 16/10/08, I am THIRD]. Out of all the marketing and PR companies of New Zealand, out of all the web development and SEO businesses in New Zealand, SearchMasters is top ten (and this article may create more competition for ourselves).
This is not so much a brag, as a case study of how it takes time to rank, and how its possible to rank for competitive phrases. See, there was a problem.
SocialMarketing.co.nz was ranked 10th on Google.co.nz for "Marketing" (SearchMasters not ranked top 1000), but on Google.co.nz (NZ sites only), SocialMarketing was ranked 8th, UNDER SearchMasters 7th position.
"Marketing" on Google.co.nz
"Marketing" on Google.co.nz (NZ sites only)
How could this be possible?
What was I doing wrong to not be in the top 1000, yet doing right to be ranking 7th when selecting NZ sites only?
The only missing ingredient was time!
It takes TIME to rank on Google, not just links
It is interesting, clients want to get to the top, and are sometimes incredibly impatient. I like pointing them to case studies of my clients, and of my own experiences where good things take time.You need specific pages
I tried, but was not able to get well ranked for "Online Marketing", nor "Internet Marketing" with my home page. My home page is based around the words in the phrase "Search Engine Optimisation" and its derivatives, and there happen to be no duplication of words between the phrases. I obtained a number of inbound links for the phrases regarding Internet Marketing, but try as I might, no good rankings. So I tried another tack, and created a specific page for the marketing phrases on 12 July 2008. With a few inbound links, and within days, the page was ranking well for both "internet marketing", and "online marketing" on Google.co.nz. As at September, the page was 3rd for both.Then I checked Google analytics, and noted with great surprise, that someone had clicked through from the search phrase "Marketing". Wow - 7th on Google.co.nz (NZ sites only)!!! It's crazy.
The craziest part is that I wasn't top 1000 on straight Google.co.nz.
Page created 12 July 2008, ranking 3rd for both internet marketing, and online marketing, yet not ranking at all for the single word "marketing".
Why does it take time?
There are some phrases and single words that Google considers are competitive, and that it will not let pages rank for until they are old enough and the inbound links are old enough. This is not just talking about the age of the domain. SearchMasters is ranking well (22nd) for the rather competitive phrase "Search Engine Optimisation" on Google.com as seen from New Zealand. The nearest NZ competitor FirstRate, is miles away at 94th.But despite this good ranking, it is not good enough to get a new page ranked top 1000 for a competitive phrase "Marketing".
For important phrases, Google does not want to just let anyone up there. Your content can't just be a seasonal article on a page that disappears a short time later, inbound links can't just be fly-by-nighters.
There are different parts of the algorithm that come into play for phrases. Google.co.nz (nz sites only) is not as competitive as the straight search, therefore SearchMasters is able to be let in. For the straight search, not enough time has passed, therefore I am not even in the top 1000. But since enough time has passed for Social Marketing, its been allowed in at 10th. Time is the missing link.
Page created 12 July 2008 + 2 1/2 months = 26 September = not enough time to even get in the top 1000.
Have you got enough patience? This internet game is an interesting one!
Update 16 October 2008 - now 3rd on Google.co.nz
As of today, SearchMasters is ranked 3rd on Google.co.nz behind Wikipedia, and the Marketing Association of NZ. WOW!!!!!!!I thought it would take longer.
Rankings on Google.com for "Marketing"
Now all eyes are on the rankings on Google.com as from New Zealand. When looking at Google.com from a New Zealand IP address (ie connected via Vodafone or Xtra etc), there is a bias towards New Zealand websites.
On Google.com, SearchMasters is ranked 18th on Google.com for "search engine optimisation". My nearest competitor is 68th RagePank.com. It took a full year for SearchMasters to appear in even the top 1000 for the phrase on Google.com, then I have been at around the 15-25 mark ever since.
SearchMasters is ranked 106th on Google.com for "Marketing". www.marketing.org.nz is ranked 57th. While I am immediately behind Marketing.org.nz on Google.co.nz, actually the difference between our rankings is quite large. Yet I would have expected Marketing.org.nz to be top 20. So it will be interesting to see what how time and new inbound links effect SearchMasters rankings on Google.com.
Yes, time is definitely a factor in ranking on Google, to the top is not instantaneous!
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Comments
Michael Brandon - Sep 29, 2008
I am glad I wrote this article when I did! SearchMasters is now showing 10th for "Marketing" on Google.co.nz.
I am amazed actually, I did not expect it to rank top ten so quickly. Its great what a powerful website, and a few targeted links can do.
gilmar jim - Nov 11, 2008
Now I get it! So that's why I still don't get ranked, huh? Good article! If only all the newbies come and read on this site first before "panicking" to be ranked, they could have saved a lot of their effort and time. Reading this make me more knowledgeable as a newbie. Though I still got a lot of questions, this article has enriched me with more answers to my questions anyhow. To you author, I salute you for this. Godspeed!
Michael - Dec 4, 2009
I found I sometimes get top ranking after about a month on Google by writing a "pillar" blog post (i.e. a long SEO optimized post with keywords and secondary phrases - "long tails" - that are searched frequently), with a URL and Title that starts with "How to..." (After researching and using relevant 'How to..." search queries in Google's keyword tool). I may also write associated articles and list in popular blog directories from directories to help ramp up the particular blog post in the Google search ranks (or serps).
If it's a competitive post (i.e. numerous other similar url and title descriptions), I make sure to use relevant meta tag description, to attract visitors. This has worked for a popular post of mine that ranks no. 1 to 4 for Google com -for the search term - How to increase visitors to your blog
But I guess their could be rising competition blog/sites in search results, so perhaps pays to analyze potential sites that could displace your top search listings. Thus SEO analysis of potential competitors, and further SEO enhancement (e.g. authoritative back link gathering, article posts on other sites, etc) for a popular post may need to be performed - to remain on Google's search first page.