Whether, with a well-optimized site, you end up in the top three or not will depend on many things, but one important variable is how much competition you have. If you have a plumbing company in Breckenridge, you may not score well on "plumbing" in general but you may be number one on "plumbing Breckenridge". The more specific and targeted your site, the better. If your business is geographical, making sure that your location is front and center to your website is key. If it's not, you want to make sure what makes you unique is highlighted.
SEO is not about how your website visually looks to people, it's about how the content looks to the search engines. You can have a beautiful website that ranks poorly and conversely, an ugly site that ranks well.
Keywords need to be chosen carefully. It's not just a matter of throwing what you think the keywords should be in your page a few times. You need to find out what people are looking for. If people aren't searching for the keywords you have chosen, they will never find you. There are several tools I use to help my clients find the best possible keywords for their website.
One aspect you don't have a lot of control over is longevity. Websites that have been around longer tend to do better in page rankings. That's because search engines assume they are more relevant and that's why they've been around longer. This is one reason I encourage people who are starting a new website to get a domain name as soon as possible. It is also why I encourage them to get relevant content on the website as quickly as they can. The very earliest content doesn't have to be pretty. It is just so that the search engines start to know what you are about. You aren't sending people to your site yet: it's just for the search engines. Then, when you have a beautiful website, you can upload it.
Older sites also are more likely to have links back to them that they have developed over time. As a freelance writer, I stick to the writing part of SEO but it is necessary to keep in mind that links are important as well. I can help you write your links (yes, links need to be written a certain way to make them most valuable to you). I can also help with your link requests if you decide to go that route. But, I've known many companies that don't actively pursue links and rank well. If you have a good website, links will come even if you don't pursue them. If you wish to pursue them, I will caution you DO NOT use link farms. It may seem attractive but your website will be hurt if you use them.
Myths about SEO: Search Engine Optimization is NOT about fooling search engines. If there is a game that the search engines don't currently know about, they will find out about it. And, if you play games, you will end up losing in the end. You will also loose if you target one specific search engine. Though you might rank highly on that one for awhile, it could cost you in rankings on the others. You want to be as visible to as many people as possible.
No one can guarantee you certain placement within a search. This is because the search engines decide the rankings and they are constantly changing. What is highly ranked on one search engine might be much lower on another one. They all have different methods.
One of the biggest myths I run across as a writer is the one perpetuated by designers. That is that beautiful sites with lots and lots of bells and whistles do better. That's not only false, but in certain circumstances, having lots and lots of bells and whistles can hurt your rankings. That's because the search engines are all about CONTENT. They don't look at the beautiful graphics and tables and animated gifs. They look at the words. For the best in SEO, hire a writer. To have the most beautiful website ever created, hire a designer. Or, for the best of all worlds, hire a writer for your content and a designer for the rest. Writers like me are more than happy to work with designers to get you what you want.
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