Why is this site #1?

Kelvin,

Any expert on the internet knows that all search engine optimization starts with relevant keywords and domain names.

AKA []http://www.kelvinbrown.com[/url] ?

Because it's a local area and there aren't any competitors

Did you also notice the amount of content on the page?

There are several other sites with the same keywords, and have been out much longer.

This site has been online less than 2 months.

Take out the SEO and you will not find it. Simply it ranks because of the keyword in the domain name and no competition.

Its like getting ranked for tangerine elephants.

Quentin

Probably it has some backlinks, it is easy to be #1... especially for such keywords

Alex, you are headed in the direction I am thinking.

I think in this case it is more about off-site promotion than keywords in domain name.

Uhhh... pretty obvious why isn't it?

1) Exact match domain
2) Only a couple sites using the exact phrase in their content
3) Backlinks of muskogee seo (inanchor:"muskogee seo")

Damn nothing magical here... we do it all the time... Except we do it for phrases that actually have search volume lol.

SERPs are an iterative process.

Because this domain has an exact keyword match in the domain name, Google thinks it's very likely to have good fresh content related to that keyword before it gets spidered again.

So it predicts that people will want to see this new, highly targeted information soon, and gives it a high ranking.

This position is based on a vast amount of data related to what happens on sites with keyword domains: fresh new related content pops up in a couple days or weeks, and since there is little competition, they're betting this site will do that very well indeed.

But sometimes Google loses that bet.

You can trick Google into betting on you for a while longer, with enough backlinks. And then, you can trick them into betting on you again with a site redesign. You can do this indefinitely, so long as you're willing to keep throwing time or money at the site.

It's just like a dot-com software company courting VCs. If you look busy enough and make all the right noises, they'll keep writing you cheques... but eventually, they'll figure out you're not going to deliver.

Here is what I think, and of course I welcome your thoughts.

first facts:

I put the site online as is, 08-18-2010.

The same day, I entered it into Google places.

It was excepted and showed up the same day. However, it showed up near the bottom, of 40 or so results for SEO companies based in surrounding towns and even ones 130 miles away.

Week 2 after no changes. I updated the Places listing to include picture, hours, no video yet.

Still no change.

4 weeks later still no change, and I was not on the first page of google search.

This would be the 6 week, since submitting to google. I just noticed tonight it is #1 in Google places. Because my search is local when I am logged into google, and because of IP tracking, it is also #1 for the single word, SEO.


Only after becoming #1 in google places did it become #1 in google search.

So, my point in sharing this info was to just show the power, in my opinion, of having verified and added info to google places.

Thanks for your participation in this exercise.

Kelvin

Not that seasoned warriors did not already, know this. I just wanted to point it out, again.

Small note to add:

For me, searching locally, it shows as the only pinned map dot, A. Remember, before, it showed several other listings from surrounding areas. Now, it seems I am the only local person, targeting the phrase. So, if you get other businesses listed, it pushes, or may push all the surrounding listings off the page. Just rambling now.

The other end of that candle is starting to burn.

kelvin

First off, pretty much zero competition for that term and it is an exact match domain.

Domains are extremely important and can have a big impact on terms that are lower competition..

Get some content and interlinking though..and maybe some more competitive terms with higher traffic.\

Good luck

Easy...no competition...there are tons of these floating around the internet.

Hey they have the domain name as description...a good idea

The harder question to answer is "why WOULDN'T it be #1?"

Honestly, it's a term no one is searching for and it's an exact match keyword phrase domain and it's got 100% keyword density and some backlinks.

400 exact matches, get the keyword in the domain name and it will be #1 with no competition.
No backlinking or content required (not a lot anyway)

He probably receive 0 traffic from that keyword too.

Ok, but why are there so many entries in google for muskogee seo?