Yesterday I published a post called “Hangin’ with My Gnomie, Brian Wilson Gnome, That Is” on my personal blog. Today it ranks #4 on Google search results for the keyword phrase “at&t park lines brian wilson gnome“.
Wow! I got ranked very high! And in less than 24 hours!
How did I do it?
- I put the keywords in my post title, which also end up in my post link.
- The keywords are in the first few sentences of my post. “Brian Wilson’s gnome made a huge splash at Giant Stadium Sunday. 20,000 people got the gnome! And I was one of them! He is out this year but that didn’t keep people away from AT&T park on Sunday. I heard some people stood in line since 8 am to get the Brian Wilson gnome.“
- I used the keywords as tags. “att park” and “brian wilson gnome“.
But….
The Kicker
Nobody is looking for those keywords.
Sure I rank #4 for those particular words. But, really, who is looking for “att park lines brian wilson gnome”? Nobody. Or at least Google tells me nobody is. Ok, at least one person did and they came to my blog. That is how I know about the keywords, blogger tells me the search keywords that brings people to my blog.
Lesson
When you hear about SEO companies or professionals telling you that they can get you ranked on the first page of Google in a very short span of time, beware. (Heck, I can get you ranked high in Google too and I am no professional.) Be sure people are actually looking for those keywords. That is the key: use keywords that people are looking for. Then work to get ranked for those.
Thanks Gnomie
Sure I may get a few more hits from that keyword phrase over at my little blogger blog. But I can guarantee the visitors won’t stick around when they realize they are reading a mom blog! LOL.
If you need help with SEO I wrote some posts about it:
And if you really need an in-depth research tool I use Market Samurai. It hasn’t steered me wrong yet.
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Welcome! I'm Allie. I help WAHMs get their businesses noticed online. Feel free to look around. New here? Check out 
So nice to see you on page 1. But you are right, not so easy for those popular keywords. We can wish anyway, right? Really love your image. Will have to come back later to pin.
Lisa created this awesome post: How Nasty Plug-Ins Can Turn Your Site into Humpty Dumpty
Lisa,
As a blogger you get excited to see your post listed on the first page and then brought down my the idea that all of 2 people are looking for that keyword phrase.
That is an Instagram rendering of my little gnome.
I would love to see him on Pinterest. I always forget to share there. I just like to look at other people’s stuff. LOL.
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: The Second Leg of My Online Journey: Starting to Feel That Sense of Accomplishment
Funny, I was thinking of doing a web search for Gnomes the other day – would you rank highly just for Gnome? I don’t know who Brian Wilson is.
I am now considering Gnomes as my new niche.
Look what you’ve done to me…
Alan | Life’s Too Good created this awesome post: Efficiency Hack #3: Resources Master
Alan,
Brian is a pro baseball player for San Fran Giants, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson_%28baseball%29. He grew this big black beard and 1000′s of fans (I assume men) grew theirs too and used “fear the beard” as a slogan. It was fun. he’s injured this year.
Would your gnome blog have biting gnomes? (look what you have done to me.)
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: Ranked on Google First Page: Thanks Gnomie
I am finding that it can be easy to get ranked high but if it isn’t for a good keyword it is not that great.
Julie created this awesome post: Why a Facebook page is good for a blog
hey Julie,
I learned that lesson early on. I am still fighting for top positions. I think we may be fighting for the same ones, lol. But that is a good sign, means they are worth fighting for.
I visited your blog, looking forward to reading more.
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: Yes, You Landed on Ramblings of a WAHM Blog
such a good point Allie. It really annoys me when people say they can rank poor unsuspecting newbies for useless keywords..
are you trying to rank high for “work at home mom”?
Annie Andre created this awesome post: What is A Career Break And Why Should You Care?
Annie,
I feel bad for those that don’t know SEO and get suckered into thinking they will get more business from a faulty company like that. SEO is not easy to learn and implement so the ordinary mom and pop shop would just trust people to do this work fro them.
“Work at home mom” is a hard phrase to rank for. I plan in getting there some day with it. It is funny you ask, I just did an analysis of my keywords with Market Samurai. I will be changing my some of my keywords and tactics a bit from now on.
~Allie
There is a lot of advantages when a website get top rank on the Google. For sure the website gain traffic because of the visitors that will visit in that website. Top rank is very important to various websites.
Kathy Meyer created this awesome post: Maxiderm Patch Review
Good insights to consider. It is really hard to aim first page on Google, however, increasing traffic to your blog using some strategies will do.
Mika Castro created this awesome post: חינוך
Thanks Mika.
Allie created this awesome post: Ranked on Google First Page: Thanks Gnomie
You make a very interesting point about SEO companies. Also when they make a video and they type in a keyword, its number one but the search results are saved by the browsers. So a lesson to be learnt.
Shalu Sharma created this awesome post: How to make money on Fiverr
Shalu, sorry for replying your comment, I just wanted to agree on you. Video making its a large cost of SEO strategy.
Mika Castro created this awesome post: Glock Sights
That’s just brilliant news Allie.
It’s definatley got a lot easier for us (ethical) bloggers since the Penguin update.
I SEO a lot of my posts and I’m lucky enough to rank for a lot of keywords now. It’s still a buzz though when you get a quick result.
I had a similar experience that I wrote and posted a video about last week. It’s even getting easy to rank for terms that would have taken months. I still can’t believe it’s real. Let’s just hope it stays that way:)
Steve Hippel created this awesome post: SEO Is Important No Matter How Much Traffic You Have
Steve,
I am starting to think Google did good with that Penguin update. They are really trying to reward quality.
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: Creative Ways to Earn Some Extra Money over the Weekend
Pretty cool, huh?
Bill Dorman created this awesome post: Excuse me, I’m talking here…part Deux…
Bill,
What did you do to end up in my spam box?
~Allie
Hey Allie,
That’s awesome…
It is funny that people make such a big deal about being ranked on the first page of Google, but you do need to know a bit more about what you are being ranked for.
That was a great tip for anyone who gets pitched that they can get you ranked in Google and tries to charge you for it… It pays to do your research to make sure that if you are going to pay someone to help you with your SEO that you don’t get screwed.
Take care,
~Jeremy
Jeremy Ruggles created this awesome post: Free Internet Marketing and Affiliate Marketing Training with Wealthy Affiliate
Jeremy,
Yep. I rank #1 for “AllieRambles” lol. But only people that know my name and forget my blog’s name know to look that one up. I would say 2 a month, lol. I guess I can say I rank #1 on Google.
Yes, always get referrals or do your homework when it comes to working with an SEO company or consultant.
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: Business Plan: Getting the Boring Stuff Out of the Way
I agree with you Allie having a valuable keyword is main key to our success. great to see you on page one. thanks for this inspiring post.
There is no substitute to good old ethical SEO techniques. Be it article submissions, directory submissions or link exchanges. The best SEO you can do is, do it yourself. I think you have done a good job Allie.
Shalu Sharma created this awesome post: Interview with Allie Rambles – work at home mum
Thanks Shalu,
I did this by accident but I did learn from it and that is what matters.
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: Business Plan: Getting the Boring Stuff Out of the Way
Thanks Allie, I think you make a good point it is not easy to rank for the good keywords!
I know there is a guy out there who does that on a video, he is then trying to ‘sell’ his method of ranking.
I’m glad that you pointed out that this is an easy thing to do. Also, it will be interesting to see if you still rank there in a month.
Thanks for the info
david created this awesome post: Quality Blog Comments With Examples
David,
Well, I just checked that keyword phrase and RWAHM (this blog) has taken the 2nd and 3rd positions and my other blog is in 5th. How weird. I find it amusing. It’s no big deal, nobody is looking for those keywords anyway. I have gotten all of 40 views for that post in the last week. But at the most basic level I know how to rank. LOL.
Also, I looked up “brian wilson gnome” and my personal blog ranks 11th for that shorter phrase. How funny. Giants fans will be disappointed if they land on a mom blog and not baseball.
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: Ranked on Google First Page: Thanks Gnomie
I agree with you. You should place yourself in the shoes of the people. By knowing how they search for information on the search engines, we can use the right keywords.
Robyn created this awesome post: how to play guitar dvds
You cannot be more right, Allie! I have seen SEO companies advertise that they can get you to rank number one but the catch is you have to look for keywords that are not that competitive. Whether a lot of competition is using the keywords or not, the important thing is that people are using them when they do a search.
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Reese,
Completely right. I just checked my stats over at my other blog and I have only received 40 views on that post. And some are from other blogs. So just because I have ranked high it doesn’t mean I’ll get traffic. Those are not good keywords.
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: Creative Ways to Earn Some Extra Money over the Weekend
Congrats, Allie
It is always nice to have new visitors from SEO (But, I still hate them on my blog – because most of the traffic are just junk traffic; they were just here for the image). I don’t pay much attention to SEO, especially these days (I don’t optimize any of my posts either). I prefer referral traffic from social media sites, guest posts and comments over search engine traffic. Sure, SEO is important, but it can be ignored and you can certainly have success without it
Jeevan
Jeevanjacobjohn created this awesome post: Why and When You Should Quit Trying?
Jeevan,
That route works also. And it is so much more fun.
I find that I put about 25% of my efforts into SEO and 75% into social media in terms of getting traffic.
~Allie
Allie created this awesome post: Ranked on Google First Page: Thanks Gnomie
My site organically comes up in the top 5 on google for some keyword searches, and on the first page for others. I’m very happy about this and dont want to screw it up, however, my site seems outdated and needs an overhaul.
That’s huge! I’m so glad for you, though I know it wasn’t all by chance with your superb SEO’ing and keyword placement
TerriAnn @ Cookies and Clogs created this awesome post: New “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” Clip!
Allie, you are right on how to do it, but the trick is to stay on top. I figured out because Google can show personal searches someone else may see another result, but that is the way it is done.
Michael Belk @workplace issues created this awesome post: If you caught the “lunch bandit” in action, would you report him or her?
There is a competitive keyword but the domain hasn’t been taken. Will I be ranked on the first page of google if the keyword is my actual domain? Or does it not work like that?Thanks in advance..
That’s good news! As I go along with my writing and blogging, I learned a lot about SEO and the importance of keywords to be able to land on the first page. But I guess in your case, your avid visitors and readers also gave you the traffic you need.
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Hey Allie,
I think you are absolutely correct and it’s not just with SEO professionals and companies. I think you need to be aware of this when dealing with SEO products too, such as those you might find on the Warrior Forum. Many of these programs talk about how they ranked their keyword on the first page in a short time span, but then when you find out what the keyword actually is it’s really not that impressive. Unfortunately many newbies don’t understand this so it’s easy to prey on people who think getting ranked on the first page for some obscure keyword is a major accomplishment.
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