It’s the content developers age old question – “How long until I’m ranked #1 on Google?”
For me, there are two pretty easy answers, each with a catch.
#1 – Anyone can be #1 on Google in a matter of days for a very obscure search term that hardly anyone will type in
#2 – A lasting result to reach #1 on Google can take months, if at all, and greatly depends on who and what you’re working with
Sure, I can have a customer end up #1 on Google by next Friday, but the keywords and terms I’d be using would have to be so super niched that practically nobody would ever type them in. But, as I said, the customer would be #1 for those results…at least for a little while.
Even with search engines taking current physical location of the searcher into account, the competition for SERP Rankings is pretty intense. Reaching a top ranking and keeping a top ranking are still two vastly different things. Understanding the “long game” is what is most important – for everyone involved.
#1 Listings Are A Possibility
I’ve had great success with SERP Results over the years. For a while I was managing a SEO/SEM Small Cap Stock Press Release site. On that project I had #1 SERP Results within minutes of publishing an article – yes, minutes. Even though the term was niched it was something that investors would (and do) type into Google for more information about the stock. The best part is that for those keywords from that project, articles I wrote years ago are still occupying multiple top spots on Google (#1, #2, #3).
A recent customer has been slowly (and steadily) climbing up through the results. Even with ads in the SERPs, the customer is (as of this writing) on page 2. It won’t be long until they’re on the first page of Google, and just as I’ve already mentioned, they’ll be there for the long term.
The expertise and creativity employed while writing an article is what is needed for long term results.
What Are The Catches?
I mentioned that my answers each have catches to them – and I mean it.
If a customer just wants to be #1 on Google to say they’re #1? Easy to do, but nobody will ever find them that way. (Hint: I would never do this for anyone)
But for my second answer, the catch is “time and patience”. It’s not going to happen over night. I’ll get the customer to the first page of Google, but I’ll hardly ever claim I’ll get them to #1 on Google. It just takes properly crafted content mixed in with the right amount of exposure and a good amount of time. The results are definitely worth waiting for.