Over the past year our company embarked upon an SEO experiment. We tested several techniques using numerous keyword phrases to determine how fast we could rise in the organic search engine results (the non advertisement results listed in a Google, Yahoo or Bing search).  One of our primary target markets is insurance agencies, so we selected a dozen long-tail keyword phrases germane to this market. When we began this experiment, we were ranked very low, in some cases as low as page 10 on Google, in other cases we were simply unranked.  Our goal was to rapidly reach page one on Google search results.

We began with a keyword analysis, determining which phrases we deemed most valuable to our marketing services agency and which keyword phrases had less competition. Long-tail keywords are typically three word phrases and more specific than a broad based single keyword. For example, “California Transportation Litigation” would be a good example of a long-tail keyword phrase, whereas “Litigation” would be a very broad keyword. “Insurance Agent Leads” would be another long-tail example while “Insurance” is another example of a broad and seemingly vague keyword.

Some of the long-tail keyword phrases we chose included:

• Insurance Agency SEO
• Insurance Agency Leads
• Trucking Agency Leads
• Trucking Agency Marketing

As of this writing we are ranked Google page one for all of these long-tail keywords. We currently appear as the #1 entry for the first three long-tail keyword phrases and we appear #2 for trucking agency marketing. Some of these terms are highly focused, with 100 to 200 searches per year; other keyword phrases we selected are searched thousands or tens of thousands of times per year.  We appear on Google page one (and Yahoo for that matter) for many other of our selected long-tail keyword phrases. How long did this take? In almost all cases, Google page one rankings were accomplished in 90 days. We have also seen similar results for many of our B2B clients, which tend to be professional service companies, insurance agencies or B@B technology companies.

How is this accomplished? We approached our SEO experiment using both on page and off page optimization techniques. The on page techniques included the modification of:

• Page Title
• Description
• Keywords
• H1-H4 Tags
• Alt Image Tags
• Keyword Density
• Blog Integration
• Dynamic Content

There were many additional on page optimizations used, but the changes noted above are of critical importance.  Off page optimization included ePublishing, directory submissions, link building, blog distribution, and social media marketing. There is almost no limit to the amount of content which can be generated outside of your website, but you have to start somewhere and then continue to invest in your content development. Though it may seem obvious, all of the off page optimization requires a link back to your website. More links is one of the many elements the search engines use when deciding which web sites to display in their organic search listings.

As of this writing, an increasing number of our new clients are arriving from the efforts noted above, with SEO, LinkedIn, ePublishing, and blogging now generating over 25 % of our new business activity. We believe that the list above will soon constitute 50% of the leads generated for our own business, and expect other companies to find a similar result over time. Many of these topics are covered in my recently released book, Your Virtual Success, available online and at all major bookstores.

www.startupselling.com www.alanblume.com www.yourvirtualsuccess.net