Yes, it’s a real question. Can you “take over” page of Google’s search results? It used to be possible – a long time ago, someone published an ebook with that title.
By now you may be wondering…
What the heck is he rambling about?
Allow me to explain:
To “take over page one” doesn’t just mean that you secure the top spot in Google’s search results. It means that you have multiple web properties ranking on page one of Google, so even if you don’t get the first spot, you still a good chunk of the available traffic.
However, it gets a little more interesting than that…
Rankings in Google come down to specific keyword phrases or search terms. If you are willing to put in the work, you can take over page one for multiple search terms.
Fair enough, most of those are likely to be search terms with low search volumes, but as long as your buyers or clients have a reasonable lifetime customer value, it can be worth doing it.
So…
Can you take over page one of Google?
Yes, it is still possible to do that – unless you operate in an ultra-competitive niche like real estate, finances or weight loss. You will need some basic understanding of search engine optimization, but in theory it is still possible to do it.
In principle, it is simple:
a. Find keyword phrases that people search for – people who will need or want whatever you offer – that have low competition, but which still have enough monthly searches to make it worth your while.
(that is a conversation in its own right – a blog topic for another day)
b. Create web properties on websites with good domain authority (a value that Google calculates by combining many factors, including traffic, engagement, backlinks, size, domain age, etc.). Depending on how competitive the keywords are than you want to rank for, you may need to build some backlinks to some of those properties.
Yes, ideally you should have your blog post or information page as one of the properties ranked on the first page – but if your website is new, it might not always be possible. As your website’s domain authority increases over time, you will find that more and more of your blog posts or web pages make it to Google’s front page for specific search queries.
The big bonus is that each of these web properties can attract their own traffic on the platform they are published on – so you win three ways:
a. You get traffic from the platforms, even if only for a while.
b. You get the bulk of search engine traffic.
c. You leave your competitors in the dust (and off page one of Google), even if only for a few search terms.
Here are some places where you can create “points of entry” to your website, and piggy-back on the authority of the domain:
1. Youtube
Youtube is massive, it’s old, and it belongs to Google. While it isn’t easy to rank a video on Youtube any more, it is still possible to rank a video on Google – if the search term is not overly competitive.
2. Medium
Medium.com has really taken off since it was introduced in 2012. You are allowed to add links to the content, so not only can you link to your home page, but to several pages you want to send traffic to.
3. Linkedin articles
Linkedin is also quite massive. While it is nowhere near the size of Youtube, it still has around one billion users. For Google, that translates into some serious domain authority.
4. Slideshare
On Slideshare you can upload both PPT/PPTX and PDF files. Both formats can rank separately in Google. Having been around since 2006, with around 80 million active monthly users, it has a very high domain authority.
5. Pinterest boards
Doing SEO on Pinterest is simple and easy to implement. And if you compile a decent sized board, and you do basic SEO on each pin you save (don’t just rely on the original description of the original poster) and on your board, it is relatively easy to rank it in Google.
Just ensure that, at any given time, the first few pins on the board point to your website.
6. Reddit
After a period during which Reddit blocked Google from indexing it, it was re-indexed again – and now its domain authority seems to be higher in Google’s eyes. A decent, keyword-optimized post on Reddit seems to be reasonably easy to rank on Google, as long as the search term is not too competitive.
7. Guest posting
Most people, when thinking about guest posts on popular blogs, simply think about the rush of traffic they will get when it is published, and the credibility it will lend to their brand.
However, depending on the domain authority of the blog in question, you may be able to rank that guest post for somewhat more competitive search terms. And if you do that, you can get a steady flow of traffic from that blog post for a long time to come.
Not to mention that, if you are willing to put in the work and do the continuous outreach to popular bloggers in your niche, you don’t have to stop at one guest post (for any specific search term).
In conclusion:
Is it a lot of work? Yes. Is it worth it? That depends.
If you sell cars, and you make a thousand dollars or more in profit for each one you sell, how much would it be worth to have a few extra customers per month?
Will it last forever? No, probably not. At some point other results will start outranking your web properties. Unless of course, you make a point of creating the odd backlink here and there over time.
But the traffic you get while it lasts can be worth your while.