How did my bet pop up on Google's home page? I smell a challenge.. ;)

723Media · 09-22-2009, 01:28 PM

Hey Warriors,

Im going to cut this long story short so here are the basics. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a marketing 'genius' (he says) because he's the VP of Marketing at his company.

He and I were talking and online marketing came up. I told him that I did a bit of SEO back in the days before Google started to ban people for everything. To sum up the rest of the conversation, he bet me I couldn't even get on Google's 2ND page for a topic of his choice.

His topic ended up being the cost of wedding flowers. He's dealing with wedding plans.

I didn't do anything innovative and this isn't bringing returns, yet. If I push this project though, I think it could.

Anyway, I did the same old techniques that alot of people do, took about an hour and then basically forgot about it.

I found a couple of days ago that I was on the 1st page of results.

So, here's the breakdown of what I did. Again, easy. You can do it today:

1. I went to Google Adwords Suggestion tool
2. I typed in "wedding flowers cost"
3. I saw that there were roughly 5,000 searches for this term.
4. I checked to see if that exact domain name was available. This is key as the domain name gets some weight added to it. Lucky for me, it was, since its kind of a useless product or company name.
5. I have an existing hosting account with GoDaddy, so I registered the domain name and added it as a hosted domain under my main account.
6. Since GoDaddy has a good wizard to install WordPress, I set up WordPress for the domain.
7. I downloaded a free theme that looked somewhat decent.
8. I grabbed a free stock photo with no usage restrictions and designed a quick header for the theme.
9. I headed over to EzineArticles and looked for some good articles.
This is the part where creativity can really help. I thought that most people who were looking for the cost of wedding flowers might be looking for a deal (nothing genius there), so I looked for articles in that vein and grabbed about 5-6.
10. It's important to try to find an article with your keyword in the TITLE or get as close to it as you can.
11. Post them to your WordPress blog. If you know how, you can stagger the dates so its more natural.
12. Add Google Analytics to your blog, log in to your GA account and start tracking. Google will run out and grab data.

That's it. It took about an hour and in maybe 2 days I am now in the number 8 spot on the home page of Google.

The other day, I went in to my WordPress setup and added another technique that I am testing to see what happens. That may come in another post.

I can continue to build this site up, re-design it to look more professional and start marketing some services or affiliate programs, or I could flip it. I wasn't really thinking that far ahead on this one.

Either way, I won the bet!

I'll post an update when I figure out how to leverage this site and start to see some returns.

Anyway, thought that might be useful.

723Media · 09-22-2009, 01:30 PM

Sorry to post first on my own thread. I mean first page, not home page.

George Wright · 09-22-2009, 01:41 PM

Hi,

Thanks for sharing. I wondered about this because the same thing happened to me and I was wondering if it was a fluke. Two more tests of the method did not pan out for me.

I bought 3 URLs. Did exactly as you said above. The first one jumped to position 1, 2, or 3 on Google and the other two did nothing on Google but show up sometimes on Bing.

I'm glad to know it works for others.

Thanks again,
George Wright

723Media · 09-22-2009, 01:50 PM

George,

I'll keep playing with this one but right now I have a lot of client work (trying to get my business off the ground).

If it's still there in a week, Im going to start really pushing this site. Going through some keyword research and a bit of common sense, "weddings" is a huge niche with lots of little sub niches that could tie together into a massive content site.

We'll see and I'll post everything I do.

edmltw · 09-22-2009, 01:56 PM

I guess the SEO prowess of the a domain name is really almost 50% of it huh..

Ahh well.. Oh 723media, go ping your wordpress posts at pingoat.com & pingomatic.com,
Somehow or some rather its going to help increase the backlinks I think? lol.

Have fun~!

Edmund

723Media · 09-22-2009, 02:17 PM

That is a good tip edmltw. I don't actually know what to post to that blog at this point. I have to learn something about the wedding flower niche. Once I figure out a plan, I will attack this site.

CliveG · 09-23-2009, 10:59 AM

The real test is to see if you can stay there. Many new websites seem to jump to the the first page when they are first promoted but then seem to fall back, perhaps once Google has reviewed them "properly".

In any case, well done in winning the bet on quite demanding keywords.

09-22-2009, 01:28 PM	#1
723Media HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 107 Thanks: 3 Thanked 18 Times in 11 Posts	How did my bet pop up on Google's home page? I smell a challenge.. ;) Hey Warriors, Im going to cut this long story short so here are the basics. I was talking to a friend of mine who is a marketing 'genius' (he says) because he's the VP of Marketing at his company. He and I were talking and online marketing came up. I told him that I did a bit of SEO back in the days before Google started to ban people for everything. To sum up the rest of the conversation, he bet me I couldn't even get on Google's 2ND page for a topic of his choice. His topic ended up being the cost of wedding flowers. He's dealing with wedding plans. I didn't do anything innovative and this isn't bringing returns, yet. If I push this project though, I think it could. Anyway, I did the same old techniques that alot of people do, took about an hour and then basically forgot about it. I found a couple of days ago that I was on the 1st page of results. So, here's the breakdown of what I did. Again, easy. You can do it today: 1. I went to Google Adwords Suggestion tool 2. I typed in "wedding flowers cost" 3. I saw that there were roughly 5,000 searches for this term. 4. I checked to see if that exact domain name was available. This is key as the domain name gets some weight added to it. Lucky for me, it was, since its kind of a useless product or company name. 5. I have an existing hosting account with GoDaddy, so I registered the domain name and added it as a hosted domain under my main account. 6. Since GoDaddy has a good wizard to install WordPress, I set up WordPress for the domain. 7. I downloaded a free theme that looked somewhat decent. 8. I grabbed a free stock photo with no usage restrictions and designed a quick header for the theme. 9. I headed over to EzineArticles and looked for some good articles. This is the part where creativity can really help. I thought that most people who were looking for the cost of wedding flowers might be looking for a deal (nothing genius there), so I looked for articles in that vein and grabbed about 5-6. 10. It's important to try to find an article with your keyword in the TITLE or get as close to it as you can. 11. Post them to your WordPress blog. If you know how, you can stagger the dates so its more natural. 12. Add Google Analytics to your blog, log in to your GA account and start tracking. Google will run out and grab data. That's it. It took about an hour and in maybe 2 days I am now in the number 8 spot on the home page of Google. The other day, I went in to my WordPress setup and added another technique that I am testing to see what happens. That may come in another post. I can continue to build this site up, re-design it to look more professional and start marketing some services or affiliate programs, or I could flip it. I wasn't really thinking that far ahead on this one. Either way, I won the bet! I'll post an update when I figure out how to leverage this site and start to see some returns. Anyway, thought that might be useful.
	http://socialeers.com http://graphicriver.net/user/723media/portfolio

09-22-2009, 01:30 PM	#2
723Media HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 107 Thanks: 3 Thanked 18 Times in 11 Posts	Re: How did my bet pop up on Google's home page? I smell a challenge.. ;) Sorry to post first on my own thread. I mean first page, not home page.
	http://socialeers.com http://graphicriver.net/user/723media/portfolio

09-22-2009, 01:41 PM	#3
George Wright You R GREAT if you are A War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Shakey/Sunny CA, USA. Posts: 6,759 Blog Entries: 31 Thanks: 2,919 Thanked 1,835 Times in 737 Posts	Re: How did my bet pop up on Google's home page? I smell a challenge.. ;) Hi, Thanks for sharing. I wondered about this because the same thing happened to me and I was wondering if it was a fluke. Two more tests of the method did not pan out for me. I bought 3 URLs. Did exactly as you said above. The first one jumped to position 1, 2, or 3 on Google and the other two did nothing on Google but show up sometimes on Bing. I'm glad to know it works for others. Thanks again, George Wright
	Coming Soon. *InformationMotherload* STAY TUNED When This Link Goes Live You Will... To Be Continued Line 6 Because I'm a WarRoom Member

09-22-2009, 01:50 PM	#4
723Media HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 107 Thanks: 3 Thanked 18 Times in 11 Posts	Re: How did my bet pop up on Google's home page? I smell a challenge.. ;) George, I'll keep playing with this one but right now I have a lot of client work (trying to get my business off the ground). If it's still there in a week, Im going to start really pushing this site. Going through some keyword research and a bit of common sense, "weddings" is a huge niche with lots of little sub niches that could tie together into a massive content site. We'll see and I'll post everything I do.
	http://socialeers.com http://graphicriver.net/user/723media/portfolio

09-22-2009, 01:56 PM	#5
edmltw Edmund Lee War Room Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Singapore Posts: 624 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 124 Thanked 90 Times in 57 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: How did my bet pop up on Google's home page? I smell a challenge.. ;) I guess the SEO prowess of the a domain name is really almost 50% of it huh.. Ahh well.. Oh 723media, go ping your wordpress posts at pingoat.com & pingomatic.com, Somehow or some rather its going to help increase the backlinks I think? lol. Have fun~! Edmund
	Click Here to Own an Awesome iPhone-Styled Logo For Less Than a Meal Now!

09-22-2009, 02:17 PM	#6
723Media HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 107 Thanks: 3 Thanked 18 Times in 11 Posts	Re: How did my bet pop up on Google's home page? I smell a challenge.. ;) That is a good tip edmltw. I don't actually know what to post to that blog at this point. I have to learn something about the wedding flower niche. Once I figure out a plan, I will attack this site.
	http://socialeers.com http://graphicriver.net/user/723media/portfolio

09-23-2009, 10:59 AM	#7
CliveG Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Cornwall, United Kingdom Posts: 656 Thanks: 14 Thanked 47 Times in 46 Posts	Re: How did my bet pop up on Google's home page? I smell a challenge.. ;) The real test is to see if you can stay there. Many new websites seem to jump to the the first page when they are first promoted but then seem to fall back, perhaps once Google has reviewed them "properly". In any case, well done in winning the bet on quite demanding keywords.