How to Get a #5 Ranking in Google in 14 Days Starting From Scratch
July 18, 2008
Yes, it's true. I landed a brand new blog in the #5 spot in Google for a two-keyword phrase in 14 days. How'd I do it? It's simple: I chose the right domain name.
Did you know that Google gives special ranking bonuses to certain kinds of domain names? It does, and a significant bonus at that. Choosing a domain name that exactly matches the keywords you want to rank for will give your site a great head-start in the rankings. It's not a requirement for ranking well, but it does help a good bit.
In the case of the blog that I ranked #5, I purchased the domain name DietersBlog.net. I then posted 10 unique articles to the blog that I hired a ghostwriter to create for me. I didn't get any links, or do any promotion of the site at all (I'll be honest–I got distracted with some other work I was doing).
Two weeks later I checked the stats for the blog. I was happy to see that I was already getting traffic from Google, specifically for the phrase "dieter's blog." I ran the query through Google and, sure enough, my blog was ranked #5. This was in spite of the fact that there are 2.4 million competing web pages in Google's index for the phrase, and despite the fact that the other pages ranking in the top 10 had a few links into them (You do know that Google favors links above all else, right?).
I checked again today, and it's now at #7, but I also found that the blog ranks #3 for "dieters blog" (without the apostrophe). That emphasizes a side point: Google differentiates between keywords with apostrophes (possessive terms) and those just ending in s (plural terms).
So the next time you sit down to create a new site, be careful to do your keyword research before you purchase your domain name. Also, keep in mind that the "Exact Match Bonus" applies more to .com, .net and .org domain names. Avoid .info and the other less known top-level domains.
An exact-match domain name is only the first step, though. Once you have that domain name in place, you have to back it up with links to your site. "Dieter's Blog", while certainly a phrase worth ranking for, is not highly competitive, so I was able to get the ranking just on the strength of the domain name and the site's content. However, for keywords that bring a lot of traffic, you need a lot of links.
My 3WayLinks.net system automatically builds links to your site in the way that Google likes to see, helping you to rank in Google very quickly. The system has achieved thousands of top 10 rankings in Google for hundreds of webmasters, and can do the same for you. For rock-solid proof of its effectiveness, visit 3WayLinks.net now.
Please leave your thoughts and questions in a comment below.
Comments
119 Responses to “How to Get a #5 Ranking in Google in 14 Days Starting From Scratch”
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Jonathan Leger has been earning his living online full-time since the fall of 2004. He regularly posts advice about search engine optimization (his current passion), AdSense and Internet Marketing. He is the creator of a suite of popular software tools, including: Jonathan L Leger 
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hi jon
but one of my blog is sitting at #7 spot on google with little efforts
on link building
proof:
http://www.google.com/search?q=affiliate+weapons&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
affiliateWeapons.info
Hey Jon, this is really interesting, as usual. But most of the keywords that anyone would want to rank for, the exact domain names are already taken. How much merit do you think google puts on a domain name that includes the exact keywords, but adds an additional word, or is somehow a little different, (e.g. going for keywords "cheap laptops" but having to settle for a domain name like getcheaplaptops.com)?
I try to do that all the time if I can. I remember sometime back reading that same thing that you are discussing about the domain name. It does seem to have a great effect. Thanks and keep it up.
Steve
are you sure the ranking isn't because the site is new?
i've seen a new site show up high and then just drop of slowly.
Wow, I didn't realize that a domain name had such an impact on search engine results, although I did know that it was the most influential, on-site SEO factor. I also did not know you had so many e-products, such as 3WayLinks.net. I'll look in to that sometime.
Another great way is with this new NowPublic.com site. You have to carefully craft your articles and anchor text as to not be too "spammish". I had a nowpublic post at #4 within 30 minutes of posting! I made sure the title of the article refelected the content
Hi, thank you for your great idea, what do you think if i am going to rank for "dieter's blog" and i choose a domain name that is www.dietersblog123.com do you think it gives the same strength by google as well?
We all know that links are good and necessary, however what is the risk of getting google slapped by adding wholesale links to a new site all at once?
Wouldn't some sort of 'drip' or gradual type of link building to a new site be the best way to go?
gourmet coffee snob
always drink better coffee
Hi Jon,
I always appreciate your straightforward and honest commentary.
With that said, I was wondering if you are going to review John Reese's new product Traffic Secrets 2.0. I consider you an expert on getting traffic and would value your opinion on whether or not I should purchase the product.
I've been inundated with e-mails from "gurus" singing its praises.But, of course, they all contain their affiliate links with their bonus package. However, for an honest review I would be happy to purchase through your affiliate link if I decide to purchase the product.
Thank you.
Lou Vozza
P.S. I don't need or want a slew of bonuses either
How well do you think that a subdomain with an exact keyword match do? Or would it lead to getting band by Google?
I would have thought that dieters-blog would be better than dietersblog. Search engines recognise hyphens as spaces don't they?
I am working the links to my site now. I am getting conflicting information about links though. Some people say reciprocal links to non-related sites are worthless. While others say they do have value. What is your opinion?
I did not know about the domain name affecting your rank. What if you purchase domain names for all the keywords you would like to rank for one site and have all of them point to the same site?
Anyway, thanks for the information. I will add this to my file of web traffic tips.
Very interesting that you should test this, I can confirm that this technique does indeed help. I just started a new site based on the same premise. I had a old site that I was ranking well for (and getting traffic) for the term "buy bullion" (as in gold and silver coins). So a created a new blog, used those terms in the URL and posted a couple quick articles. Now my site has been up for about 90 days and I get all kinds great Google rankings. Now it is nothing to brag too much about but I put very little "other work" into it.
Interesting Jon. I had been attaching less and less importance to keyword based domains but maybe I'll try it again. I'm gearing up to buy some more domains so I can build a mini net to push one of my sites just that little way further to the #1 spot.
Your 3WayLinks has done wonders for that site and come to think of it the keyphrase I'm ranking for is mirrored exactly in the domain … who'd have thunk it!
I'd imagine you are ranking rather well in MSN as well as they love domain name matching more than Google… Although if it's 14 days old, chances are MSN won't show it yet.
I am curious to see what it will do in a few months. In my experience Google has given an initial ranking boost to new sites, and after time (a couple of weeks usually) it drops.
Although, I do agree that the domain name is a big help in ranking, as I have had similar results with some of my sites!
Keep up the good work! I enjoy your blog very much!
Matt
Hi Jon,
I've heard it kicked around by a lot of webmasters and SEOs that there is value in having your domain closely match your keywords but I've not seen it demonstrated like you've done here.
Thanks for the great info and keep up the good work!
Jeff
I have notice the same thing before, but I did not know (and still do not 100%) if it was the domain, the original content, or the fact that there is little competition. Most likely a combination of the three. How would you test to prove it is only the domain name doing it it unless you had the exact same everything except the domain, but then they would be duplicates.
Truth! My new blog is No1.. for word 'lead conversion online' (search460.000). It bust traffic to my site.
Hello Jon,
Do you think that .info domains are useless? Can they not rank at all?
To be honest, I just purchased a bunch of domains to use with your three way links.
Interesting post Jon. Here is something more, I checked and did a search for your search term, and found your site on number 7. Here is what I noticed:
- all the other pages got pagerank and have some links pointing to the ranking page, while yours does not, neither do you have any links
- you rank higher than 3 other sites who have incoming links, one of them has 1,010 incoming links to that page, which belongs to a site with 5,120 pages indexed on Google.. that's a real huge site there….
- your blog only has 15 pages cached
So there must be something else that's working to your advantage, and it's right on the SERP, the keyword/search term is right on your page title, and is not on the other site.. so I guess other than the exact match bonus, what's working to your advantage is the keyword in page title.
John, I agree that a keyword-rich domain name is very important and for my niche sites I always try and get one - and it does work , to an extent. My personal experience is just that I had a case like this (domain name matching the keyword phrase exactly) and for 3-4 months it enjoyed a first page position for that domain without much effort from my side (although it is in the 3waylinks networ!)- then on the 4th of July Google did an update of its algothirm and this site disappeared from the rankings. No, it wasn't banned, the home page is just not showing up any more on the first page for that search term. It has been relegated to position 600 or so in the rankings. Sigh. But yes, it IS important and I can tell you now why in the long term, not just for the short term spikes. When you build links back to your site, if other sites link to you just through your domain name, the link already contains your main anchor text naturally, without you having to do anything.
And more importantly, here is a hot tip if you do article marketing. Always include the plain url of your website in the resource box, together with at least one other link which contains your keyword phrase in the anchor text.
Why? Because there are more places than you realise that will just scrape your article from the aricle directories paying the minimum amount of attention to the 'retain resource box info' rules. Sure, they will take your resource box, but they will copy it without the HTML tags, and you will lose all links information back to your site.
But if you had your plain url in the resource box (e.g. http://www.somesite.com ) then you still stand a change that either the browser or the software that they are using to build their sites will convert this into a live link.
And, of course, if your domain name contains your main keyword phrase, then … ta-daaa… you have a link back to your site with your main keyword phrase as your anchor text - naturally.
Excellent information - keyword loading of urls and domains is always a good idea - seeing it demonstrated like that is always nice though. Nice job!
I've had very similar results with many websites. One site has been on the front page of Google for a year and it gets free traffic every single day.
That's awesome to hear, and pretty valuable, wow.
Is there any way to add a domain to an old site, with a re-direct or something, or is that a worthless idea (will it tick off Google?) Or what "Concerning Aging" asked? Hmmm…
Thanks Jon - to all our Success!
Interesting post as usual Jon. Could I enquire if your 3 way link building system costs $47 per domain or can you have multiple domains?
Interesting information.
However, I think I missed something. You mention that Google ranks certain domain names better than others, but never told us any "how-to" details.
Perhaps I missed something?
Thanks for another good post man.
I purchased a domain with my exact keywords a few months ago, and did a little article marketing, and now appear at #1 in MSN.
However, I dont think Google appreciates the amount of links that I acquired to the single page all with the same anchor text from my articles…oops. I hope it's not too late to get some decent links from other sources with some different anchor texts and rank in Google. How can I tell if Google has penalized my page / site?
Regards,
Shaun
To answer some questions:
How much merit do you think google puts on a domain name that includes the exact keywords, but adds an additional word, or is somehow a little different, (e.g. going for keywords "cheap laptops" but having to settle for a domain name like getcheaplaptops.com)?
Google has an exact match bonus, so the domain name has to exactly match the keyword phrase I'm afraid.
are you sure the ranking isn't because the site is new?
No, because the site is a month old, and the "new site" bonus tends to go away after a few days to a week.
what is the risk of getting google slapped by adding wholesale links to a new site all at once?
Big risk. Google will ignore links you add to fast unless you can maintain the same pace of link growth for a long time. 3WayLinks.net grows your links slowly for this reason.
I was wondering if you are going to review John Reese's new product Traffic Secrets 2.0.
I haven't seen it or used it or read it (I don't even know if it's a report or software or what), so don't look for a review from me any time soon. I'm so swamped I don't have time I'm afraid!
How well do you think that a subdomain with an exact keyword match do?
A little I'm sure, but Google's "exact match" bonus is only for top-level domains.
I would have thought that dieters-blog would be better than dietersblog. Search engines recognise hyphens as spaces don't they?
No, because Google favors domains without dashes. Their algorithm has the ability to break domain names into their keywords without the need for the hyphen.
Some people say reciprocal links to non-related sites are worthless. While others say they do have value. What is your opinion?
Reciprocal links make sense if the two sites linking to each other are sharing traffic, but don't expect much (if any) traction in the search results from them.
Do you think that .info domains are useless? Can they not rank at all?
Not at all! I've seen .info domains rank for many terms (one person posted an example in a comment). But Google favors .com, .net and .org, so if you're looking for an "exact match" bonus and can get a top-level domain with one of those three, do it. Nothing wrong with .info though, just doesn't have as much favor in the "exact match" department.
Is there any way to add a domain to an old site, with a re-direct or something, or is that a worthless idea (will it tick off Google?)
That doesn't work I'm afraid. If you redirect an exact match domain name, it will just count as a link to the site you redirect to, it won't pass that exact match bonus to the linked-to site.
Could I enquire if your 3 way link building system costs $47 per domain or can you have multiple domains?
It's $47 a month to have 50 domains in the network.
As always Jonathan valuable information!
I have a few blogs that very quick and easily came in first page of Google results. Now I checked and found that it must be for the same reason as you mentioned in this post.
Thanks for the awesome SEO tips!
Olov
I've seen similar results as well. With no links, my site stayed at #1 for about 2 months, so it had to be because of the domain name.
Thanks for sharing. I always like your research and read your blog.
Hello thanks for the info… It is really good but i don't have to buy the product just to land in the first page of google search engine… I even place first in specific keywords…
Nice product your selling though….
This post is spot on….I've noticed very quickly that my domain name will show up as a high search result. The big trick is finding a keyword that you want to rank for that hasn't been taken.
So will you now be using your 3WayLinks.net system to build links to DietersBlog.net? And then will you write another post on its progress?
Joni Solis:
I'm using DietersBlog.net for a different case study (3LRcontent.com), so it won't be in the 3WayLinks network for a couple of months. Ultimately I plan on adding it though.
Suppose I have 10 articles all on the same keyword same as you did…
Which is better as far as SEO?
Post 1 keyword article to my blog, and post 9 copies of the same article to 9 content sites or….and then repeat that for the other 9 articles. Which would add up to 10 copies of 10 articles spread out to 10 content sites. Which raises the duplication issue…
or…
Post the 1 of the 10 articles to my blog, and the other 9 original articles to 9 different content sites. Which is what Latent Semantic people are preaching now.
or…
posting all articles on to one blog or site? and then getting it indexed by linking to it from one site like Squidoo, Hubpages, etc. in order to get the blog or site indexed?
I can sum this up by asking.
If I have 10 articles on a keyword and I want one site to rank well for it, and I have the time to do whatever I want to do with them…
what is the best way to distribute these to get one site ranked well for that keyword?
Thanks for the information on choosing the right domain name to get better ranking on Google. This is very useful!
Hi Jon, Good info.
I have a question… How do you know when the keywords will get any hits? The site can show up high in the search engines but if nobody is searching using those keywords, it doesn't matter.
I have nichebot and the term 'dieters blog' doesn't show up.
Do you have a 'secret' way of determining when a keyword will get hits even though the keywords don't register in any keyword tools?
Thanks,
Tony
I found you at #3 when searching dieters blog with a total of 387,000 results. Nice work.
Hi Jon,
Excellent information as usual. We have all come to expect this kind of stuff from you
Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work.
Roy
Hi Jonathan,
I just checked on google, for the exact phrase "dieter's blog" and your blog - DietersBlog.net is on the second page position 12, out of 869 results.
Common Jonathan any noob could rank on google's first page in one afternoon with such little competition.
Besides here is what wordtracker had to say about your keyword phrase "No results found for 'dieter's blog'"
I don't suppose you will publish my comment, but at least you know.
R:
1) You're either spelling it wrong, or are putting the phrase in quotes — average users don't use quotes.
2) WordTracker is worthless, full of spam'd meta tag keywords and other nonsense. Use Google's AdWords tool. I've been getting a steady trickle of traffic for the phrase since I landed on the first page.
3) I'm always open to publishing comments as long as they are not slanderous or hateful.
Do you for see the possible potential for any google penalties with 3way links? I like the system but i am just a gun shy about the big G slapping a penalty for it down the road.
Another very interesting post though!
Hi Jonathan,
I have used Google’s keyword tool and I see what you mean about wordtracker. Here are the results from Google:
dieter's blog - 12 searches
dieter blog - 260 searches
dieters blog - 91 searches
I did use quotes around the key-phrase, because it gives you an approximate number of sites optimizing for the key-phrase.
I admire your honesty and openness.
Jon,
I have been reading your posts for a while and was compelled to write. You consistently show people how the little things that we take for granted can have a major impact on our sites.
My tests have confirmed much of what you say. Keep up the good work and hopefully more people would get back to basics and steer clear of the hype.
Shawn
Hi Jonathan,
Thanks for sharing. I looked up the following terms using Google's keyword tool (the only one that I use now).
dieter's blog –> average search volume = 12
dieters blog –> average search volume = 91
dieter blog –> average search volume = 260
I then searched on Google using broad match.
dieter's blog –> dietersblog.net = position 7 (2,160,000 results)
dieters blog –> position 3 (394,000 results)
dieter blog –> position 21 on the 3rd page of results (2,110,000 results)
That's impressive.
Now I wonder if the number of average searches plays a part in Google's algorithm. For example, suppose you had a domain name like hoodiadietpill.com. It has 27,100 average search volume. There are 1,400,000 search results for broad match.
Would you still be able to rank so well? Or does Google save those spots for more authoritative domains?
Thanks for the info on domain names- I think it's been one of the key elements of the success of one of my sites too. 77 million competing pages and I'm in there on page 2 pretty regularly. That it's got over 500 pages of unique content also helps! = )
Anyhow- many thanks Jon
and R- really dude…know what you're talking about before hitting the submit button.
Jon,
Another great post.
Do you have any information on how long a keyword phrase this technique works for?
Obviously with many people preaching the benefits of going after long-tail keywords, coupled with the increasing difficulty of finding short domain names (for the popular TLDs, at least), three or four word keyword phrases (or longer) may be easier to buy, but will they still get Google's exact match bonus?
John-
Good points, although it would be interesting to see this case study carried out further to see how you monetize it. My thought is that getting to page 1 is great by using keyword rich domain names, but unless the people searching for those terms are qualified to take action which puts money in your pocket, why bother? I've had a couple cases (via trial an error) where some terms get page 1 rank , but just do not convert for adsense, ebooks, textlink ads, etc.
Of course that part of it would fall into niche research, but whether or not there's money to be made in the term "dieters blog" remains to be seen.
Rob
Hello Jon
Great news, shows that it doesn't take lots and lots of hard work.
Cheers
Mally
Hi Jon,
This is not at all uncommon particularly for a phrase such as "dieters blog" which has very low competition. It is also not at all uncommon to find that it will stay in the top ten for a couple of weeks and then disappear out of the listings altogether for several weeks or even months before returning again.
Don
I have tried the exact same technique and it was very effective!
Thanks for the post. I am an avid believer of the same method. Many of my friends has tried this and have succeeded. They wanted it to be a secret though!
Not sure how you achieve results with 3waylinks?!?!?
Checked my back links a couple of minutes ago.
- MSN ; ZERO
- Google ; 3
- Yahoo ; 243
Got me wondering!
Is there a way of getting in the good books with Google? That I or probably most people don't know of.
3Waylinks would most probably give me back links and traffic from
websites that have got nothing to do with the subject of my site. How would that be any good for my ranking?
Having back links on over 150 directories(employment Category), getting ignored by Google and MSN and only listed on Yahoo got me confused, wondering, not believing in glorious success.
Google is getting complicated with PPC as well.
Trying to advertise for an "account sales manager" with the qualification of an electronics graduate turned into senseless suggestions by Google. Graduate keywords were panelized for not
being relevant to the destination URL.
BOLLOCKS
Great article as always. Do you recommend adding the articles one at a time over time? I have heard this is usefull for getting ranked in Google, as it shows you are frequently updating your site.
Brad
(You do know that Google favors links above all else, right?).
No…It doesn't, and you just proved it.
Linking counts for 40%, onpage factors, 40% and the URL 20%. Those numbers change for each keyword market, but they hover around those numbers. Clearly the URL factors are easy as pie to assess, the on-page factors next, and the reputation and age of each link is the slowest. Closer to 3 months to figure the value of all links. This creates the 3 month updates we usually see. And the factors apply across all the top level domains equally. It's the HUMAN factors that support .com's the best. The engines are blind to which domain is tagged on the end. But people like to link to .com's the most. So they tend to rank higher.
thanks for your articles, it's very helping seo article.
Jonathon,
I've read alot of your posts information and have bought some products. This post was "right on".
I recently conducted a seminar with "brick and mortar" business owners who were looking at going online.
They had no concept of researching the correct keywords/key phrases to tie to their business.
In my experience, working with many other business owners (both internet savvy and novices) I am amazed at how little knowledge there is in keyword research.
In the retail internet business I work in, keywords are KING!
Good Post!
Mike
Morning one n all … some excellent posts in your blog yet again Jonathan … Ive noticed myself Google rewards some sites with a top ranking even with plain to normal key word phrases yet other keyword phrases simply do not get a showing in the first 10 pages with or without the appropriate domain name or not! …. yet others as you have said show up almost immediately … link love from Google has to be the key factor your right on the money as usual … but hey thats why we all hang around for your advice lets hope every one takes the appropriate actions … then its a win win bloggers situation … I also have noticed Google loves You Tube its very easy to get a top rankings with video content to and it usually stays around in the first page strange or what!.
All my best to you and your actions
Phillip Skinner
My blog 1 moth age now rank #1
But not yet has Google Page Rank.
Does Google update soon?
I can second that, Jon. I always use keyword rich domain names and have always success with it.
Gunter
There are weird and wonderful things go on in the world of google.
One thing I have constantly seen is that new sites get a search engine boost that they have not earned .. I would like to see the position after a couple of months.
I can't explain googles algorithm for ranking my Gift Store at #7 on the search term "Affilistore Tutorial". Sure, I am using that site as a demo to teach Affilistore through my blog , but selectionbox isn't in any anchor text at all with the Affilistore key words.
It is like kudos by association rather than by linking????? Maybe like the fabled "click here" search returning Adobe. I don't get it.
Good stuff Jon. I'm about to launch a new blog on a .com and I'll be comparing notes right off the bat
Would you know if the various international Google domains *all* favour the .com, .net, .org tlds or do they make any allowance for their locale?
My domains are mainly .co.uk or .eu.
@Chas: I think Jon was being ironic
Hello Jon,
Does it matter that you build your site on the Wordpress platform or would any seo friendly webpage template have gotten the same result?
Strange you mention this, moments before looking at this post I Googled 'Gloucester Taxi' for a local taxi to take my friend to the airport. The #1 site on google only has two words in its domain name - yes, the same two words I entered into Google!
It must make scene for any local business to try and get a domain name with its service and location rather than the company name…
Hi Jon,
Thanks for the great info. Your tips are always useful.
No offence Jon but this technique is pretty saturated now. There might be 2 million websites with the same keywords, but the reason you got the domain name to begin with is that there is no traffic for this keyword phrase. So it's kind of pointless isn't it?
Nice one Jon.
I am a 'newbie' And my site has only five pages, A friend advised :
1/ keyword URL.
2/ Host in UK for Uk traffic.
Well the keyword URL worked, I have over 12 listings in page 1 Google and another 10 or so on page 2.
But the UK host for a .co.uk URL, Did nothing at all,! Most of the traffic is from USA.
I had the site built for me, But not too happy with what i got, So have been studying how to put up new pages.
Also the Meta Tags are bad for the headers etc,etc.
When someone finds the site and the description is wrong they click above or below me,! I now have learned a lot more about 'On Page' and 'Off Page' SEO.
Thanks for all your Tips, And help, Much Appreciated.
Hi Jon,
I agree with your post, just some more things, apart from just domain names (and they are basics, i know all know this)
1) keywords must be in title tag and description.
2) content should be related.
3) when Google given you rankings for some day, how much time they spent on your site and response you get from your visitors….stays you more time in top results….
back links starts right after this…..
thanks
–
Shah Shahid
Now that make things add up a bit better. I have a site that just sells Laptop Insurance
If you search 'uk laptop insurance', it will be listed number one in Google (uk), yet I have never placed any backlinks with uk laptop insurance anywhere.
Whilst if you searched just 'laptop insurance' or 'laptop insurance uk' it is at the bottom of page 1 - Guess I need to do some more SEO!
Another Great post Jon, thanks very much!
Yes Jon, you're right about domain names, but this is a small bonus among many others in Google's algorithms.
Hey Jon, great article. I'm always keen to find a relevant domain name but didnt realise Google likes some more than others.
Great advise.
Do you have any information on how long a keyword phrase this technique works for?
Google's exact match bonus applies for the life of the site. It does not have a limited time period (like freshness, etc.).
Three or four word keyword phrases (or longer) may be easier to buy, but will they still get Google's exact match bonus?
Yes, for that 3 or 4 phrase query it will. There may be a limit to how many search terms Google applies the exact match bonus for, but I don't know.
Do you recommend adding the articles one at a time over time?
Adding content over time can be helpful, yes, but I've seen sites with the same content years old keep top rankings due to the volume of links they have.
(You do know that Google favors links above all else, right?).
No…It doesn't, and you just proved it.
Linking counts for 40%, onpage factors, 40% and the URL 20%.
Yes, it does. An exact match domain name does help, but will not overpower a large number of links. With Google, links rule — period. I'm not sure where you're getting your percentages from. If I had to guess, with Google links count for 90%, onpage factors 10%. I consider the domain name and url an "on-page" factor.
Does it matter that you build your site on the Wordpress platform or would any seo friendly webpage template have gotten the same result?
Google loves Wordpress blogs, especially if you use a great plugin like "All In One SEO." Getting links through pinging blog caching sites for each post helps get you crawled and indexed fast, too.
No offence Jon but this technique is pretty saturated now. There might be 2 million websites with the same keywords, but the reason you got the domain name to begin with is that there is no traffic for this keyword phrase. So it's kind of pointless isn't it?
I must disagree. Only 3 domains (.com, .net and .org) can receive the exact match bonus for any given query, and number of possibly queries is unreal. I'm often amazed at what domain names are still available. Sure, a lot of domain names are already taken, but using your imagination and Google's AdWords keyword tool, you can find a lot of 2 and 3 keyword domains that are still available.
Regarding the phrase "dieter's blog" receiving "no traffic" — I'm actually getting quite a bit more traffic for the phrase than Google estimates. Also, using an exact phrase domain name in conjunction with a link building system will give you the edge over your competition for much more competitive phrases.
Great article, just recently signed up for your blog. In reading the comments I saw you were asked to review the new John Reese program and said 'you weren't aware of it' ? I have 57 emails from people promoting the program, should I forward one or two or twenty. Many have their own special incentives to purchase, I could send by 'best value' ranking, I think one has $3,572.00 in 'bonus material'. Cheers
Rich:
I'm aware of it, having seen it talked about on forums and in email lists I'm on, etc., I just haven't bothered to do any research into it.
What I've read from SEO's I have high respect for is that it's a sizzle and no steak, so I haven't looked any further.
Nice post.
Another reason why you should put good kws in your domain names is that Google will bold them in the search results when the words are search for, making your listeing stand out, also it will be more oviously to people that your site is highly velevant to there search phase and so will be a lot more likely to click on your listing.
To any one who things it hard to get these domains, i can tell you it really isn't, you just have to be a little bit creative in your thinking.
All my domains are .com's and contain relevant good kws and i like to think a lot of the time pretty easy to remember too
Use a free program like "Domain name analyzer" to search for your domains, it will make it much easier to find great domains.
Jayen
Seems theres a bigger need for your to bring SEO Myths back out Jon as most are following those that follow those that follow those,SEO guys that are wrong.
I would have never believe this about a keyword domain until I experienced it myself.
It works
Jonathan,
So you just set up wordpress/blogger blog with no plug-ins or rss feeds and you got too #5 in google?
Or will you help us and let us know what plug-in/rss feeds you use in another report?
Which i'm learning is the "Meat and Potatoes" for blogging
Jon,
I've noticed that Google does loves domain names that include keywords.
However, what happens if you have an existing site that has evolved into something with different keywords and has been indexed by Google. Now if you want to change the domain name to match the "new" keywords, what do you do if you don't want to lose the google indexing? Do you need to doctor the .htaccess file?
I'm confused! Which is better?
http://www.PaydayLoanIndustryBlog.com
OR
http://www.Payday-Loan-Industry-Blog.com
Love your Work!!
Jer
Hi, Jon-
You're absolutely right about the exact match bonus. I bought 4 geographically-lengthened urls the last week of January 08, westmichiganseo.com, hastingsseo.com, grandrapidsseo.com, and kalamazooseo.com.
Where I'd like to add a few points to is how G underlines the "1-10 results for____". In this case, West Michigan is the big box that SEO seems to get thrown into as an afterthought.
westmichiganseo has ranked consistantly #1 in G and Y for over 4 months due mainly to its CSS structure, I believe. The URL/search phrase is on line 6 and is also the title, the stylesheet title, and div id names. Note the lack of relevant content, btw. Structure counts.
The inner page was a happy accident of having "west michigan" in its text, as G points out. West Michigan realtors outrank seo firms beginning on page 2, and published addresses on West Michigan street start showing up around page 4 or 5.
Grandrapidsseo holds steady at #3, and was #1 for a few days last month. This is with no maintainence or link building. Maybe alt image text would bring it up a spot or two.
Kalamazoo is the control- no links, still un-indexed.
These are all in the West Michigan region, within a 45 minute drive of Hastings. Lengthening the tail this way also sets up monetization by calling anybody else on that SERP and asking if he'd like a guaranteed overnight #1 ranking by buying the domain and support services.
Keep up the great work, Jon. You make the scientific aspects look effortless. Have you considered doing a post on your record-keeping methods?
Matt
Hi Jonathan,
Very good post, as always. I'm starting to setup some niche blogs under a single domain with 2-4 kewwords subdomains. At first I get dissapointed after reading your comment saying that Google's "exact match" bonus is only for top-level domains, but later you said that this bonus counts only as a part of the 10% content-related weight, so I think I won't do bad doing it the way I planned.
For Wordpress users I'd like to suggest using headspace2 from Urbangirafe (http://urbangiraffe.com/plugins/headspace2/). I used to use All in One SEO plugin, but now I'm using headspace2 and I've found it's much better than AIO-SEO.
Keep the good work.
Anthony
Nice work Jon!
But how can we grab keyword rich Domains in high competitive niches? The most of them have gone a long time ago. This is the difficult part i guess,
Cheers!
Solid advice as always Jon! I always include my main keyword in the domain name it's the easiest seo you can do.
Mike
Off course, domain name is most important while you are registered.
It should be relating to your main keywords. Blog posting and Article submission is absolute way to get good rank in Google search engine. But i am really surprised how can we got # 5 site position in Google in 14 days.
Please let me know with some detail and exemples.
Bye
Safdar
Hi Jon
Thanks for the confirmation. Does the same apply if there is hypens in the domain name. For example aloe-vera-health-benefits.com
Would be useful to know…
Simon
If I get a blog to rank well with Google, what is the best way to drive this traffic to my website?
Hi Jon
Your post made my day - I had a really good laugh when I visited the site. You know I am from Germany and Dieter is a very common name there - so when I read your post I was always thinking, why did he choose a german personal blog??? Until I visited your site…
I have to disagree on one point though - you state that the exact keyword match applies to .com, .net, .org only…that is not true. at least for .de (which is by the way the second biggest tld worldwide) it works very well, too. I once read that this was introduced to give companies an advantage when their company name was searched. Which makes sense if you consider that google search is about relevancy. It now works for any keyword - wonderful!
Thanks for bringing this to attention again, I had almost forgotten about it…
Mike
nice knowledge, but i don't think it will remained long at that ranking due to no link.
sound great but choose domain with target keyword is not easy since domain was not available.Anyway we need to do link building.
Jon, Very interesting, but you say…
>there are 2.4 million competing web pages in Google's index for the phrase
Hang on! Isn't that misleading? I did searches in Google for the phrase "dieter's blog" and "dieters blog" (with quotes) and Google found 840 and 741 pages. I put quotes around each phrase because I wanted to search for the phrase, not just find pages that included those words somewhere on the page.
The way I see it, the vast majority of those 2.4 pages aren't really competing because that don't contain the phrase.
However, this doesn't change anything. What you've done is still impressive.
The real test will be how long you hold your ranking. Google seems to like new stuff.
thanks for sharing useful information
Hi Jon..good post
@ Allen Gardyne
Hi Allen.
I think I understand your confusion here:
If you search for dieter's blog (with no quotes); this is the way that 1000s of people search for stuff in SEs it returns 2.9 million web pages (that have the words dieter's and blog anywhere on them)
Putting them in quotes gives 886 pages for "dieter's blog" as you said
As for competition; if you keep in mind that most of the people searching online for "dieter's blog" are going to type that in without quotes then Jonathon's comment makes sense.
Remember..us SEO-savvy dudes/dudettes know the value of exact match/broad match.. the vast number out there don't.
Hope that makes sense
Kindest
D
hi john….i want to know whether we can have same results with blogspot blogger?also do i have to add content on a consistent basis to keep it in search engine rankings(The blog is still not indexed by google)
The nice thing about checking mail not to often is I get to check what happened a week later
I see your still ranking for the terms & doing even better than you where initialy, nice catch with the apostrophe, for the doubters you are ranking just fine without the quotes two word domains can be found by the trillions if your looking to just make a few bucks residual income each month example whilst researching
Dieters Blog "not the bests of domain names" dieterstea.com looked like a decent catch still available except the com "which is not been used as the com is not working a net will do just fine
"So the next time you sit down to create a new site, be careful to do your keyword research before you purchase your domain name."
I totally agree with you Jon. I dont think I own a domain without my primary keyword in it.
Cheers
Wally
Hi Jon,
I got success with the technique of selecting a keyword domain and got the required page rank and visitors as you have specified. really you're exploring sooo many secrets for the benefit of web community at the cost of nothing. Please Keep on posting such interesting things…
Hi Jon,
It's my first post, I have subscribed your blog quite a year ago.
I lazy go through and read all these full flush of information and comments. But I admit it's all valuable info, thanks for your contribution in SEO tips.
Few month back, I have sent to your support center regard the deep linking, is now available?
Yeah Jon,
I noticed this a while ago, too - and use it actively since
As usual, your advice is right on the money!
Regards, Misha
As usual, you have a great post again! Every post is very useful, it's just that I still do not apply what I read. Next I have to do it. Your blog is a big help for me.
I find that not only can I get a lot of information from you post, but the comments that other people put out contain a lot of valuable information. I especially like it when you comment to questions that people pose. I get a lot of great tips that help my websites.
That was a great revelation. One of my sites ranked on the 2nd and 3rd positions within days of setting up for this very reason.
What about blogs which do not have domain name. Would they also rank high if there is a perfect match between the name of blog and the key words?
Sri
Hi Jon,
Nothing worth than action. I try your method, my new domain get indexed and at the position of 11 within 3 days.
I found that the keyword gather from Google is less accurate. I got about 20,000 searches in google search database but just a few visitors visit my site. Less than expected.
I would appreciate if you can recommend for any keyword tool or services.
Thanks. i'm looking for your advice.
Sorry Jon-
but those who've pointed out that there really is no competition for that phrase are right and it doesn't really prove much. Doesn't matter if people don't search that way with quotations. These are your real competition cause they have optimized their page for that term.
Doesn't matter if 2 million pages have those 'words' anywhere on the page I'm afraid.
So R is right in that regard..anyone can get top rankings for that term since there are only 800 or so competing pages.
However, if you CAN find exact kwords for a nice competitive niche with 80 or 90 thousand competing pages and then so easily rank for that term doing nothing but writing 10 articles…then great job I say! I won't hold my breath here though.
It is really good to know your tips and procedure that helps our sites to get rank in Google very quickly.
Hi Jon,
I'm regret to tell you that the seo keyword "dieters blog" for your website had been dropped to page rank 72.
hi jon!
just some ? from me:
on my blog i am using statcounter and last month or so most of the queries from google to my site/referrers has been with the site:[myblogurl] command…
why is that you think?
also my usually good rankings using wpblog and seo writing, tagging etc has stopped, indexeing works like a bomb still though but not the rankings anymore…
you think google made some bigger changes in last 2 months or so regarding that?
allways good stuff from you jon, thanx!
Ive always wondered in actualality how important it is to have a good domain name. You pretty much confirmed my suspicions. Thanks for the informative article.
very Interesting, I will give it a try.
I've never seen anybody optimize a site so fast! That Three Way Links network of yours seems to be working out quite well.
Hi Jon,
I'm keep tracking your web page and the keyword "dieters blog" without quote rank at no. 3 in Google today.
Your 3 way link is work!!
I've heard a lot of good things about this site
Is it really a exact match bonus for the domain or just that there is
almost zero competition for those keywords?
Results 1 - 10 of about 922 for allintitle:dieters blog
and the other guy offering "proof"….
Results 1 - 10 of about 139 for allintitle:affiliate weapons
If you can find a allintitle: phrase that is under 1,000 and better
yet, under 200, AND that phrase actually gets search traffic,
certainly you can rank with ease.
Bompa
I guess this is reinforcement for getting more very keyword specific domain names for my arsenal.
Thanks for the post.
Rick
Yup that's right. Keyword play an important role in Search Engines & moreever if that keyword is placed in your domain name then your website can rank well. Then just insert proper meta tags & that all.
Regards
Ayush Kumar
Of course your URL is extremely important. As far as I am concerned that is how people identify your site and it should be the keyword you want representing your website.
Hi Jonathan, great advice have already started to set up my own blog.
thankyou
Prolem with implementing 3WayLinks. I have created a new website using FrontPage. After uploading, I want to use 3WayLinks. But, 3WayLinks requires the hosting site to handle .php files.(I already have 2 indexed Google pages). I've been told by my server hosting service that .php requires a server that is Linux based. FrontPage because of extensions requires a Windows based server. Can anyone suggest a workaround?
Please ignore the above posting. The information was given to me by a very well known company in the field and was completely wrong.