At the Small Biz Expert, we get a ton of enquiries that generally start with that exact line – “I want to get the first page on Google”. Well, our first question when posed with this challenge is “For what search term” And this is where a lot of business owners go wrong.

Firstly, no-one, not even a Google employee can guarantee you the first page on Google for a specific search term, and realistically if you are going for a super competitive search term, this is not going to be an easy or for that matter cheap ride.

Let’s take a look at some of the issues with the generic “Get to number one on Google” enquiries and see why you should consider your marketing strategy as a whole.

So these are the answers that we often get when we ask our number one question.

“I want my website to show up as number one when someone searches my brand”

This is an extremely common request, and of course, not an unreasonable one (assuming you aren’t called McDonalds). However, being number one for your brand is all well and good, but have you considered whether people know about your business already, and if this is the only search term you are looking to rank for, well, how will someone searching for your services find you?

Let’s take an example. Say you are a property solicitors firm called “Howe and Partners” (totally made up – sorry if this actually you!) If your only goal is to be at number one for the search term Howe and Partners, and say “Howe and partners Solicitors”, how is anyone new going to find you?

Keyword research is key to getting your business found online, and we would suggest that our friends at Howe and Partners focus on keywords relating the their services, such as conveyancing near me, or property solicitor etc.

Getting a true understanding of what your potential clients are searching for online is absolutely key to making a success of your website.

“I want to rank number one for Payday Loan UK”

Ok.. So, in theory it’s possible that with a lot of work, a good amount of time, and a very healthy budget you can rank for these types of keywords, but you do need to be realistic. High volume, valuable keywords are not easy to rank at number one for, and it will take a lot of work. It’s not something that will happen quickly or without a healthy budget.

If you are entering a super competitive market, it is worth looking to gain traction with long tail search terms first making sure that you think about user intent.

“I don’t know what keywords to try and rank for”

We love this answer – it’s what we are here for! At The Small Biz Expert we use premium tools including SEMrush to analyse what keywords will work for your business. We work with you to identify keywords that will help you to find new customers looking for your exact product or service.

As experts in small business SEO, we have a wealth of experience in understanding the nuances that make small business marketing different.

I want to Rank Number one on Google in a week!

We will bow to the superior infographic from Crazy Egg (another in our toolkit!)