Get On The First Place of Google

Get On The First Place of Google… Is That Really Your Only Goal?

Many business owners come to me, extremely concerned about how to get on the first place of Google. It seems like this is all they care about, as if just this factor will solve all their business problems.

However, this is not entirely the case, for two main reasons:

1) I’ve met business owners that have *not* been able to get on the first place of Google, yet their businesses are doing quite well. They have a steady stream of sales, their customers are happy, and everything is great.

At the same time, I’ve met people who have done some sneaky tricks and have managed to get on the first place of Google, yet their business never seems to take off, despite the increased amount of traffic that this undoubtedly brought them.

This proves to me that there is no direct correlation between being on the first place of Google and business success.

2) At the same time, managing to get “on the first place of Google” is such a vague term, that by itself it really means nothing. First place of Google… but for which keyword terms? You may have been able to get on the first place of Google for totally irrelevant keywords… Possibly keywords that express an opposite interest towards doing business with you!

Don’t Spend Yourself Just To Get On The First Place of Google

In my book, Digital BACON, I describe four different criteria for profitable keywords — Relevancy, Volume, Commerciality, and Competition. If a business is able to get on the first place of Google, but does not follow the proper parameters for these four criteria, unfortunately it will mean very little for their business results.

Rather than being concerned about how to get on the first place of Google, businesses should be focused on a much more important Key Performance Indicator: REVENUE.

That’s right, good old revenue.

If one person lands on your online property and doesn’t clearly understand what you do, what actions they should take, and why they’re even there in the first place… What good is it to be on the first place of Google? In other words, how can increasing your traffic help your business, when each new person reaching you does nothing for your business?

Instead of being so concerned about the quickest way to get on the first place of Google, you should look at your digital strategy as a whole. Look at where visitors arrive at your online experience, what they do next, how they can take steps to engage and do business with you.

Now… Does this mean that trying to get on the first place of Google is a terrible thing to strive for? Not at all… and please don’t misunderstand me here. We at YMMY help businesses raise their rankings for profitable keywords (according to the four criteria I listed before).

It’s great that our business be listed under profitable industry keyword terms. Absolutely nothing wrong with that… As long as the rest of your strategy is tight and makes sense to both your customers and actually supports your business.

I’ve seen very profitable industry search terms where a website has managed to get on the first place of Google, and when you click over to visit it, the company’s position is vague and unclear, visitors are left confused on what to click on next, the site is not mobile-friendly (which means they are not suitable for more than 60% of Web visitors today), and the performance is painfully slow.

What good is it to get on the first place of Google, when users will not be able to understand what you offer, nor what they should do to begin doing business with you?

This should be your step 1.

Fix this first, then worry about how to bring traffic later.

Have any questions? Reach out to me via Twitter, or you can also schedule a free consultation with me.

…

I’ve also recorded these same ideas in video form, check it out: