How to Show Up on the First Page of Google (Even if You’re a Nobody)

How to Show Up on the First Page of Google (Even if You’re a Nobody)

Sites that have been around for a long time are going to dominate the top page rankings for popular industry keywords. These people are producing stellar content and getting countless backlinks to their content. Start by dominating long-tail keywords There are more long-tail keywords out there than big, popular ones. Long-tail searches also make up the majority of searches on Google. Here’s an example SERP of a long-tail keyword search to help you get an idea of how it’s possible to rank for them. You don’t need to organically rank for a keyword to get traffic for that keyword. If you write more content, you’ve got a better shot at ranking on the first page of Google. Rather than having your official site placed on the top page of Google from AdWords or organic rankings, you can get featured in round-up posts with minimal time and effort. And that traffic can be huge: If you’re featured on all of the comparison posts that already rank on the top page, you’re going to get traffic from each one of those. What strategies have you used to rank on the first page of Google?

Google Leaders Share How to Improve the Mobile Experience
Go Back to the Basics: How to Write Great Headlines
Goodbye Google Keyword Planner, Hello Keyword Research Using PPC
first page

There’s a joke that asks, “Where should you bury something that you don’t want people to find?”

Answer: On the second page of Google.

Sure, it’s corny. But there’s still some truth to that statement.

75% of people will never scroll past the first page on a Google search.

That means you can’t afford to be ranking on the second, third, or fourth page.

You just won’t get the clicks and traffic you need to make SEO worth your time and money.

And you need that organic traffic because 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine.

On top of that, there are over 1 trillion searches every single month!

A good SEO presence has the power to drive inbound traffic that could grow your business for years to come.

But the average-joe website owner doesn’t have the power to rank on the first page of Google for the best keywords.

There are already countless high-profile websites capitalizing on the top industry keywords.

And there are thousands of other bloggers trying to rank for that keyword as well.

That means the deck is stacked. And it’s not in your favor.

You shouldn’t give up, though! There are a few proven methods that I’ve used and found success with to show up on the first page of Google.

And the best part is that you don’t need the authority or links to rank for many of these keywords.

I can teach you how to show up for them anyway.

First, I’ll explain why you’re doomed for now.

And second, I’ll show you how to use this problem to your advantage to rank on the first page of Google despite your shortcomings.

Ready to get started? Let’s do it.

Why you probably can’t rank on the first page of Google anytime soon

I’m going to be straight with you:

You’re pretty much doomed. If you’re trying to get noticed and rank organically on the first page for popular industry keywords like “SEO Guide,” it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

If you’re just starting out, you’ve got no domain authority, a tiny backlink profile, and hardly any traction as a result.

And if you take a look at Google’s first page results for “SEO Guide,” you’ll quickly see what the major problem you’re up against is:

pasted image 0 271

See what I mean? The domain authorities of these top page rankings are going to blow any new website out of the water.

Moz? 93 domain authority. Kissmetrics? 85.

How many backlinks does that #1 spot have? 18,389 to be exact.

pasted image 0 263

That’s more than most of us will get on our entire site. Ever.

Plus, these guides have been up for years!

The Beginner’s Guide to SEO from Moz has been up for five years or so. Their website claims that over three million people have read it.

You get the idea.

Sites that have been around for a long time are going to dominate the top page rankings for popular industry keywords.

These people are producing stellar content and getting countless backlinks to their content.

If you’re just starting out, you need to pursue different strategies.

You can’t afford to wait around for five years to rank on the bottom of the first page for “SEO Guide.” Not with the number of hours and dollars it would take.

But that’s OK!

Just realize that you’re not going to rank organically for it right now.

The good news is that you don’t need to. There’s still hope.

The trick is to readjust your strategy and use different methods to still show up for your target keywords.

Here’s how to do it.

1. Start by dominating long-tail keywords

There are more long-tail keywords out there than big, popular ones.

Here’s a simple comparison to explain the difference:

pasted image 0 254

And my own beautifully simple example:

  • ‘Head’ keyword = “SEO guide”
  • Long-tail = “SEO guide for small businesses 2017”

Each might not send you a ton of traffic. However, long-tail keywords do in total when you add a bunch of them up.

For example, I was able to increase my organic traffic to 173,336 visitors monthly using a long-tail strategy.

Long-tail searches also make up the majority of searches on Google.

pasted image 0 259

You should target these long-tail keywords because they’re easier to rank for. And that means they’ll usually take less time and money.

So you’re not going up against the mammoth, industry-leading companies on these search engine result pages (SERPs).

Still skeptical of the power of long-tail strategies? I was, too, at first!

But then I read about how Amazon makes 57% of their sales from long-tail keywords.

How? Because long-tail searches are looking for very specific information, whereas short-tail keywords are more general.

If you can give the searcher specific information, they’re going to stick around and convert.

Here’s an example SERP of a long-tail keyword search to help you get an idea of how it’s possible to rank for them.

pasted image 0 244

Do you notice that the SERP isn’t overcrowded with industry influencers and top blogs?

Sure, there are still a few in there, but the top-ranking sites are ones that you’ve probably never heard of.

Instead of going up against a website with a 93 domain authority, here’s what the first ranking page for this long-tail search query looks like:

pasted image 0 247

Now I’ve got your attention, right?

So sure, this keyword might have lower search volume than “SEO Guide.”

But remember that these long-tail keyword conversion rates are almost always higher.

And you know what I preach:

Traffic doesn’t mean anything if people don’t convert!

If you’re getting 50,000 visitors a month from a popular keyword, but nobody is converting, it’s not doing you much good.

Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket for “SEO Guide,” create more content and optimize it for long-tail searches to dominate the SERPs!

Now let’s talk about a few ways to rank for the more popular terms that you just can’t seem to resist. And let’s do it without any ‘classic’ SEO.

2. Pay to reach the top of the AdWords search network

AdWords?

Now, you may be thinking, “Neil, my friend, my mentor, you do…

COMMENTS

WORDPRESS: 0
DISQUS: 0