Getting the Rank Your Website Deserves

The apples shown here are divided into the #1 rankings ones and the #2 ranking ones. "Not as pretty, " those #2 apples, "but just as tasty."

It's a reminder that we don't all get #1 rankings in the search engine results pages for everything. Sometimes we don't deserve that #1 ranking. I, for example, am not the biggest SEO and copywriting firm in the world. If I type in "SEO" at Google, or "copywriting," I'm not going to be #1. This is fine with me. (I'm #1 for "quality copywriting," though. Just saying.)

But I'm talking right now with a new client who doesn't have the #1 rating his company deserves. He makes a product with which I'm very familiar -- I sold hundreds of his things when I was in retail. He is, in my expert opinion, the big dog in his field. He's been in business for 20 years. His website is 12 years old.

When he asked me to have a look at his website, I typed in the name of his company at Google, and of course his site popped right up. The rest of the page was filled with retailers who sell his product. All good so far.

Next, I typed in the generic name of his flagship product, and there he.... wasn't. I tried a few more variations. Nope. Smaller companies were eating his lunch on the SERPs.

This company deserves those #1 spots. I will of course get them for him. He won't get them by magic. He needs both on-site and off-site optimization. But he'll certainly get them, because he deserves them. When someone is searching for his products, they actually want what he has to offer.

Don't ask yourself what keywords you want to rank for. Ask yourself what keywords you deserve to rank for.

Labels: keywords, SEO