Question

Topic: SEO/SEM

Estimating Time To Ranking On First Page In Google

Posted by Anonymous on 3/4/2011 at 11:49 AM ET 250 Points
My team has been tasked with the following project and I will greatly appreciate any help:

The marketing department was given 20 keyword terms that the company wants to rank for and we are tasked with providing an estimate of how long it will take us to rank on the first page of Google for each of those terms. We currently do not rank in the top 100 for any of them. We are expected to provide an estimate for the 6 month mark as well as for each month up until the 6 month mark. We can use both PPC and organic methods to achieve this goal.

Given that there are so many factors going into the ranking and so many moving parts, what would be a good approach for addressing this?

I'll greatly appreciate any help. Thank you.
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by kathy on 3/4/2011 at 12:09 PM Member
    The key to your issue is optimizing the site for the search engines (or Search Engine Optimization). It is worth the investment to hire a company to do this for you unless you have someone on staff that has PROVEN expertise.

    Two years ago Google didn't know we existed. We hired a great firm and we are (and have consistently remained) on page one for a majority of our terms (we have over 450 that we track). It can happen very quickly. Contact info removed.

    And no... I don't work for them I'm a VERY satisfied customer.

    Kathy Miranda
    kathy@instockinc.com
  • Posted by mgoodman on 3/4/2011 at 1:55 PM Accepted
    There are so many variables and considerations that the assignment is absurd. There is no formula that will predict your page rank, and every situation is unique.

    Sure, you'll do better if you have an SEO expert working on the case, but NOBODY can predict success in this area. And the short-term result is probably going to depend heavily on how much you're willing to invest. At some point, the cost will outweigh the value of the first-page ranking.

    My suggestion: Let your management know that there's no good way to predict position/time. If they insist on a number, tell them it will take 2 years to get to the first two pages and it will cost $100,000 per keyword. When they say, "That's ridiculous!" ask them what response would not be ridiculous. Then use that.

    A better question would be, "How can we make more money with search marketing?" That can be tested and measured and tweaked, and the result will be money in your bank account.

    I'm not trying to be difficult, but I can't imagine that there's a good way to respond to the assignment in a meaningful and serious way. Clearly someone doesn't understand how this works.

    That's my suggestion for a response to a question with no answer.
  • Posted by excellira on 3/4/2011 at 2:04 PM Member
    I agree with mgoodman. There are so many variables involved that it would be impossible to predict. Many that can predict this utilize tactics that might not be ideal for a brand with long-term vision.

    Aside from several hundred signals that Google utilizes, there are questions about resources. Can the client implement your recommendations and support you in a manner that will accomplish the task. Do they have the budget to achieve this. How competitive are the terms, etc. etc.

    You would be wise to set the project expectations realistically at the start otherwise you will fail even if you are delivering more profits (I also agree that this is the better metric for success).

    Explain that this is "leading a horse to water" scenario and that the horse (search engines in this case) have a mind of their own that cannot be predicted so exactly. Use PPC to help bridge the gap and make adjustments and improve promotion on terms that are lagging.

    Establishing realistic expectations would be the key to this engagement. They should be focusing on increasing revenue and reducing cost-per-acquisition.

    If they aren't realistic, refer the client to a competitor that you don't like. I hope its not me. :-)
  • Posted on 3/4/2011 at 2:40 PM Accepted
    For PPC the time estimate is "immediately". You can have your ads show up right away with the right keywords and bids. Use PPC to fill the time void while you work on your organic SEO/SEM strategy over a 6-month period.

    For your organic, although this does depend on your industry, number of competitors, are you going local or global, etc…you should be able to achieve some keyword son page in 6 months. I've had some of my websites show up on page 1 within 45-60 days. It takes work but is doable. Use SEO/SEM tools such as Spyfu, Google Insights, Google Trends, Google Website Optimizer, etc. (no, I don't work for Google, I just use their tools successfully) Ensure you SEO your pages based on the keywords, have quality content, get quality backlinks, and other SEO tactics. Measure with Google analytics, try some A/B testing to optimize the site, and make adjustments, to see what gives good outcomes. Doing all this, you should be able to get on page 1 with some of the keywords within 3-6 months. If you don't have the expertise and time, buy the help. Any good SEO/SEM company should be able to achieve organize p1 rankings within 2-3 months.

    Lastly, ask your people how they chose the keywords. Did they do research to determine these are indeed the keywords many people use to find similar product and services, etc, or are they random words they “like and feel are good”? Google offers tools to help on this.
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(SEO/SEM)