When we get in contact with new customers about Search Engine Optimization, nine out of ten times they want to be at top position in Google and preferably within a month. Is this realistic?
Both 'yes' and 'no' are applicable as answer:
* 'Yes' it is possible if you optimize for weak keywords.
* 'No' it is impossible if you optimize for strong keywords.
Of course you don't want to optimize for weak keywords. It is not difficult to rank high for keywords that are hardly searched and with not much competition. So you have your top position in Google, but it will not bring you many visitors, let a lone customers.
If you want to be found on top positions for strong keywords, this takes time. First of all you have to investigate which keywords are strong. There are several criteria which determine if a keyword is strong:
* Monthly World Searches (can be determined with Google Adwords (free), just create an account and go to the keyword suggestion tool)
* Amount of competition (Google Adwords gives a competition overview, but there are other tools that give more information. We use WebCEO (not free))
* Your competition; investigate who are your closes competitors and investigate if they rank of the keywords that you want to use (it is also clever to look at which keyword they use and if these are interesting for you as well). If they rank for your keywords, how strong is their website (there are several topics that determine if they are a strong competitor)
* Applicable to the content on the page. If you find a strong keyword for beach balls, but you sell hats, it is no use to optimize your page for beach balls. For human visitors this will be odd and Google will not accept it.
Preferably a keyword is often searched for with not much competition, but these will not be easy to find. You will notice that the more aimed a keyword, the less searches and competition. So for each web page, try to find a mix of two general keywords, that can bring you many visitors, and three aimed visitors, that will bring you visitors that are really looking for your product or service.
If it is clear which keywords you want to use, you can start optimizing your web pages, on page and off page.
Google does not only look at the keywords you use and how you optimize for these keywords, but also if your web page is 'important'. This is determined by several criteria, one of them is PageRank, which is determined by the amount of quality links to your web page. 'Quality' is important so don't add your URL on every possible location. Quality is determined by the PageRank, the amount of links to other web pages, the web page topic must be similar to your topic, etc. It takes time to find good link partners.
You have found strong keywords, optimized for these keywords, found excellent link partners. Are you ready? Nope .... With SEO you are never ready, it is a continuous process. Every week check how you rank for your keywords and if you notice a decrease in position, check if other keywords or competitors have become stronger and start optimizing again. Also finding link partners is an ongoing process and don't forget about social media (twitter, facebook, linkedin), posting on forums, etc.
Conclusion: The correct answer is, No you can't rank top position in Google within one month and if you rank top position in Google for strong keywords, it takes effort to keep this position!
Maybe you think, this is too complicated, skip the SEO. Don't, SEO is really helpful! See what you can do yourself and for which actions you need help from a third party. It takes some time to understand the process, but once you do you will see it is an adventure!
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