Sorry for the click-bait headline. Sorry for the dirty trick I am going to play on you. The headline is true; I can tell you how to get on Google’s first page all the time. However, you are going to be mad. But, please, hear me out.
Can digital marketers promise you a spot on Google’s first page?
This blog post is more of a rant. I was on Facebook the other day, and I saw an ad from a digital marketing company telling me to download an ebook to learn how to get on Google’s first page. Maybe it’s just semantics, but no one can tell you “how” to get on the first search page. Rather, they can tell you “how to position” your company’s website to rank higher, possibly reaching the first page.
There are definitely strategies you can follow that will help your business rank higher. Thousands of people like myself have built profitable careers and side hustles helping company website’s rank higher and driving more traffic to those sites. We call this search engine optimization. This is analyzing your site, looking for places where it needs help to provide a better user experience, and making changes to become more search-friendly.
I am not sure why the ad struck me the wrong way, but it did. The businesses I have enjoyed working with over the years tend to do two things:
- Under-promise; and
- Over-deliver.
There was an auto dealer in a town where I used to work. Whenever I needed my cars worked on, I took them there. Every time I dropped a vehicle off, I was told when I could expect it to be done, and how much I could anticipate the work costing. Every single time, without exception, the automotive repairs were done earlier than stated and cheaper than quoted. The service department always under-promised and over-delivered. I always felt happy and satisfied that the work was done quicker than expected — and at a better price.
Spoiler alert: The answer is ‘no,’ mostly
So, if I tell my clients: Do A, B and C, and you will get on Google’s first page, then I am doing them a disservice. I cannot possibly know where a page on a website will rank in a search. Part of that is because I do not know, without doing research, what keywords people are using to find the kinds of products or services my client is selling.
Then why did I say you can get on Google’s first page?
Well, because you can if you search in a particular way. Here are the 3 things you can do to get on Google’s first page:
- Go to Google;
- Enter into the search box the name of your company and the city where you are; and
- Hit “return”
If you did those three steps, then your company should be on Google’s first page. Not impressed, are you? I don’t blame you. I told you it was a dirty trick. I warned you I had a click-bait headline.
You can get there, but it takes work
Regarding how to position your company to rank higher and closer to Google’s first page, I can tell my clients this: If you optimize your website based on the recommendations from an SEO audit; if you do keyword research; if you develop a content strategy based on what people are searching for and what words they are using; if you implement the plan; and if you give it time to work, then you will likely rank higher and get closer to, if not on, Google’s first page.
Just about any company will land on Google’s first page when a branded search is done (this is when you search for terms that are part of your brand, which would be “Wooster Media Group” for me). But, you are not looking to attract people who are searching for your branded terms. What you want are people who are looking to purchase goods or services and using a search engine in the process.
It can be done, but as I noted earlier, it will require: Keyword research, a content strategy, an optimized website, and a commitment to give the plan time to work.
If you need any assistance in how to go about this, then contact me. I’m here to help.