Where's the best place to bury a body? Page 2 of the Google Search Results. Everyone knows page 2 exists, but nobody goes there and clicks the links, so it's the perfect place to bury a body or hide something you don't want to be found! Getting on the first page of Google is a big deal. A HUGE deal. And in this article we're going to share 3 ways to get on that elusive first page....
Why Is The First Page of Google So Important?
Getting on the first page of Google can transform your business. Anywhere else in the search engines feels like you've been abandoned by Dr. Who on a distant planet. You might think that's overly dramatic, but the data doesn't lie...
As you can see, the results on the first page of Google get 95% of all the clicks, and the remaining 99 pages get the piddly 5% of clicks left - shared among them.
Digging a little deeper into the data, you can see that where you show up on the front page also matters!
The top spot gains 34.5% of the clicks for your search term, and the last place (but still on the front page) gets 2.6% of the clicks.
Now, if that phrase being searched gets 100,000 searches a month and you're in last place, it's not horrendous. Consider that the bottom result on the first page in Google still gets 2,600 visitors to their website. Not too shabby. But first place gets 34,500 visitors to their site!
What Difference Would It Make to Your Business If You Were on the First Page of Google?
On the other hand, not every one of those 34,500 visitors are customers. But let's assume that 10% are. That's 3,450 new customers every single month that you are in the top spot. And 260 if you're in last place.
You just don't want to be on page 2...
Someone has to be, but if you're here reading this, you don't want it to be you. And that's a good thing.
So How Do You Get on That Elusive First Page?
Well, you could try buying Google... if you had a few hundred billion in cash to spare and 51% of the stock. But I'm guessing you don't want to waste your billions on buying a search engine. Unless you're Mike Prince or Bobby Axelrod, you know there are better things to do with your cash 😉
Instead, here are 3 ways to get on the first page of Google that are already proven to work:
1 - Buy Ads
The first couple of places at the top of your search results are usually ads. You can invest in ads and gain that first page listing at the top of Google results. It's far cheaper than buying Google itself, and when done well, you can make a great profit. Done not-so-well? That might cost you a small fortune. According to Demand Metric, SEO costs 67% less per conversion than traditional paid advertising. So ads are good but cost more than other methods of getting on the first page. 80% of purchasers gather information about businesses from content available on the internet, not via advertising - according to the Content Marketing Institute. This means although you are advertising, your audience may not click your ads. They may be looking for you in other places.
2 - Google Business Profile
Just click the button below and add your business to Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business). Claim your business profile and wait for the postcard to arrive. When you're verified your address, add in some images, video, and offers. These may show up in a local search. Your customers can leave reviews here, and if you do show up in a local search, then the stars will show underneath your listing.
3 - Organic SEO
This costs you nothing but time. And doing it gently ensures you head in the right direction! For example, we have a blog post here on Core Value Words. Back in January of 2022, a small website called the New York Times linked to the article. NYT is an authority site with the domain authority of 95! So you could say they're very influential. And they sent thousands of visitors over the next couple of weeks. Some of these visitors became subscribers from a Content Upgrade in the post, and some went on to become customers. All from one authority site link that we gained from being on the first page of Google.
To sum up these 3 methods, you can get your top spot on Google if you pay for it with an ad, BUT the moment you turn off your ads you turn off your traffic. You can complete Google Business Profile and cross your fingers, and you can work on your SEO.
I'd recommend you do all 3, but if you're low on cash, then drop the ads and focus on the last 2 options.
And I can help you with the last option...
What's more, with our course kit below, you can not only use the content to teach yourself SEO and get yourself on the first page of the search engines, but you can then teach the materials as a course or seminar and make more than your money back!
Small Business SEO Masterclass
Teach Yourself. Then teach your audience.
When you teach yourself through our course kits you gain valuable experience which you can then pass on to others. It's truly a win-win situation. Plus, it's a lot more cost effective to do it this way than hire an SEO expert and cross your fingers!
