#1 Google Social Media Marketing Expert

This is pretty cool! When I launched  Version 3.0  of MrWebGuru.com on WordPress 3.0 this past January, I experimented with a few new items. One of the tests I did was to see if I could get into the fold of page 1 at Google for the phrase “social media marketing expert,” and do so without jeopardizing my #1 search positions for “search” phrases, like “search marketing expert” which I’ve held steady at #1 for 6 years now. When I started targeting “social media marketing expert,” I was not in the top 50 (January 15th, 2011). About 3 weeks out I saw that I was at number 17, then a week later  #12, a month later page 1, #8. The other day I was checking rankings and blamo, there I was at #1 !

I thought that was pretty awesome so I captured a screenshot:

I checked back about 8 hours later and was at #3, still not bad and I know now that I can get #1. I wasn’t logged in to Google so it was not personalized search, rather I got there using a blend of traditional SEO practices coupled with light social media stimulus. I modified my title, from which the phrase can be built. Titles are like that; they don’t require “exact matching” of the phrase to help it rank, just get all the target words into the title if you can, I put a couple instances of the new phrase into the homepage and a couple other pages that link to the homepage. And I built a couple of internal reputation links from prominently ranking search pages in my site and got part of the phrase into the H1 tag. Pretty standard stuff eh? Then I turned to social, I tweeted a few times about the effort and I put a post on Facebook, which got liked a few times and shared some more. And I did an email blast  with a link to my #17 listing on page 2 of the results to stimulate my search clicks. This combination seems to work pretty well. I thing I can target any 3 or 4 word phrase that is on topic and get my site to the fold of page one. This is basically the same way I worked at getting to #1 for “search marketing expert” about 6 years ago: Here is another screenshot:

There are many excellent phrases I’ve accomplished this with over the years. I have also done this repeatedly for my clients.

In truth, there is a little more to it than just going through those motions. It is called “reputation.” I have always practiced “white hat” SEO marketing and that is rewarded because I have a great reputation with Google now also.  As well I’ve always tried to insure that my clients receive more than they were promised, or paid for, thus I have a stellar reputation with all those I’ve helped over the years. I think that “reputation” is the secret sauce here. This, I believe is central to succeeding online and what a good SEO should focus on is building up a stellar reputation which helps your optimization work better so you can actually manifest those high search rankings. Hows your reputation online? Do you rank well for your target phrases also. If you have room for improvement you should contact me for a free 15 minute discovery chat.

I do look forward to discussing this case study and your findability needs further.

May the 4th be with you 😉

Robert