How High Google Ranking is Like Taking Candy From The Baby

August 30, 2010 - Last Modified: February 14, 2013 by Ana Hoffman

Are you still intimidated by search engine optimization (SEO)?

Do you still think there is no chance YOUR blog/site can be the one to show up on the first page of Google search results?

If so,

Take a look at these numbers:

1. 25% of marketers know little or nothing about SEO.

2. Only 14% implement SEO as part of their overall marketing strategy.

3. 60% do not currently invest in SEO at all.

3. 30% are not planning to invest in it in the upcoming year.

These and other statistics were revealed by SEO agency dotSEO in their new NakedSEO report.

Surprised?

Blown away more like it, if you ask me.

With numbers like that, what does REALLY stand between you and that top ranking position in Google?

If at least 60% of your potential competitors out there don’t do a thing to claim their fair share of Google traffic, what would you need to do to beat them?

I am not talking about becoming an SEO expert here, not at all. All you need to do is learn some solid strategies you can put into practice today and watch yourself break away from the pack.

Just find a way to be one step ahead of your competition. After all, getting a step ahead of someone who is standing still isn’t that hard!

If you are still not convinced that SEO is worth the trouble (which I am OK with: less competition for the rest of us), let me touch on one more thing from the report:

***23% surveyed marketers said that they were not all too sure about the benefits of implementing SEO and 14% of them said that they don’t see ANY benefits at all.

Here’s a very quick thought on that: what a bunch of hogwash!

Here’s the expanded version of that thought:

SEO Benefit #1. Google is the first port of call for anyone looking for services, products, or information.

SEO Benefit #2. The organic search engine traffic is absolutely free.

SEO Benefit #3. This is a leveraged traffic strategy, meaning once you achieve high search engine ranking optimization, maintaining it is very easy. You’ll be raking free traffic for a long time to come.

SEO Benefit #4. The traffic you get from SEO is highly TARGETED website traffic = increased sales of your products or services.

SEO Benefit #5. SEO is a marketing strategy that never sleeps – once your site is highly ranked, it will work for you 24/7/365.

SEO Benefit #6. It’s a very cost effective strategy, especially when you do it yourself.

Trust me, there are more where these came from.

Now if your objection to SEO is merely that fact that you don’t know anything about it and have no idea where to start, I’ve got the answer for you: download my free 7 Steps to Complete Search Engine Domination report, READ it and IMPLEMENT it. I promise that alone will put you miles ahead of your competition.

Question: is it wrong to take advantage of your competitors who want to know nothing about SEO by simply implementing a solid search engine optimization strategy of your own? Comment below.

And one more thing: I suspect that I will get a lot of comments on how difficult your particular market is and how it’s dominated by some heavy-weight gorillas. Yes, it’s true there are markets you are better off staying away from. However, these markets are not the rule. Find yourself a niche that doesn’t have a competition killer.

About Ana Hoffman

Follow @AnaTrafficCafe

Traffic, traffic, traffic... Can't do without it, but don't know how to get it? Ana does, and she freely shares her best advice on how to increase web traffic on her Traffic Generation Cafe blog. And don't forget to pick up Ana's 7 Steps to Complete Search Engine Domination free SEO report while you are at it - stop hoping for more search engine traffic and go get it!

{ 117 Responses }

Ryan says:

I fell in love with SEO traffic ever since it started generating Free Traffic to my blogger sites almost 3 years ago. It's one of the best sources of traffic for any webmaster. The only problem is that it's time consuming to do and there's a lot of changes ever since the panda and penguin updates were launched.
Trung Nguyen says:

Very nice statistics, "60% do not currently invest in SEO at all" - is that truth? I think we will change our mind when we knowing the benefits of SEO. Thanks for sharing an awesome post on SEO, Ana
John Allen says:

Search engine optimization is something every website should consider if they want to rank higher. Every one wants their site to rank high and also to receive a high level of natural traffic. This is why SEO should never be ignored.
AstroGremlin says:

Hey, Ana. Some longtail keywords are easy to rank for. "Discouraged squirrel" is pretty much available and has a pretty long tail. I haven't worked this one very hard, but pretty confident I could dominate in about a day. I've been surprised at some longtailed keywords I've ranked pretty well for. Did alright on "CommentLuv Enabled" from just one post. Other words are pretty much impossible, I figure.
Alex Gracian says:

Thank you for sharing this very informative article. I don't see anything wrong on taking advantage to my competitors who does not know nothing about SEO. In my point of view, it is all part of the game. It's a survival of the fittest.
Mark says:

Wow! 2. Only 14% implement SEO as part of their overall marketing strategy. Just Wow! If that stat is correct, then that does blow me away. I have never researched these stats before, but that is a telling one. I was under the impression that SEO was at the heart of everyone's marketing campaign. Hey. If they don't want to use it then that is fine by me. They will just get dominated...:) Very interesting, Ana. Thanks Mark
Rae says:

It's really good. SEO practice should be done more. getting top rank in search engine is certainly necessary.
Steve says:

Hello, Great article! It is hard to believe that anyone with a website or a blog could ever say SEO might not help at all. Getting listed on a search term for your business on Google should be a number 1 priority. Hope this helps. Steve
Karan says:

According to the changing algorithms, I believe generating informative content with constant on page seo can get you around the first page.But to get the rankings we expect, we need to practice some basic off-page seo stuff like article marketing and blog commenting too.
john says:

Those numbers are mind blowing. I am really surprised how many of them don't see the value. It isn't even hard to do with all the plugins available. Seem almost dumb on their part.
Garry Edwards says:

Great article, really like the part about the statistic, maybe seo really can help a small business to increase sales or maybe not.
- Ana says:
  
  It definitely will, Garry, no question about it; especially if it's a local business. Ana
Lisa says:

I don't think SEO is all that easy I've been working on it for three months. I see progress but it is very slow. Thanks for the article.
- Ana says:
  
  I never thought it was a piece of cake, but it certainly is not rocket science. With a bit of training and patience, Google might just be all yours. Ana
Leonel says:

It's amazing how many people give so little emphasis on SEO. Given that it is free, it should be taken advantage at a greater scale. It's all about leverage.
- Ana says:
  
  Free and leverage - you hit the nail on the head, Leonel. Ana
- Ana says:
  
  Leverage and free - 2 keywords here, Leonel; you are absolutely right. Ana
Thina Doukas says:

Im suprised in the statistics shown above. We consider SEO a major priority in marketing our photography business. Including a steady and natural backlinking campaign is essential to keep our listing on page 1 - 2 of the organic search engines on Google. Writing and submitting to Ezine is a great way to get indexed and ranked very fast for a specific keyword title. Implement larger keyword titles also. Reg Perry
- Ana says:
  
  Why are you surprised though? Not everybody is inclined to learn even the basics of SEO; maybe because we SEOers make it sound so hard to grasp. :) Glad you are making it form in your business though! Ana
Pankaj Gupta says:

Yes you are right. Most of us dont care about SEO of website and If large percentage is not giving much attention then we can take advantage and get the results :) Thank You for sharing the wonderful post :)
- Ana says:
  
  You are very welcome, Pankaj - now we just need to do it. :) Ana
kody says:

Thanks for the info. I thought SEO was really complex and just too hard to do but I'm now seeing my site rank much higher than before. I'm not on the first page for the keywords I want yet but I'm getting close!
- Ana says:
  
  Nothing is difficult once you know how to do it, Kody - a little bit of knowledge goes a long way! Thanks for coming by. Ana
Usama says:

Learn some SEO strategies and break from the pack. Awesome advice. Thanks.
- Ana says:
  
  Love the way you put it, Usama - break away from the pack! Ana
Ricky says:

I love those stats. I hope I can take advantage of this and beat my competitors. Although SEO is not a rocket science, many people fails to implement it successfully. Just visited your blog to get more info.
- Ana says:
  
  You said it, Ricky; people who are successful at SEO are the ones who take steps to actually implement it. Ana How To Monetize Your Website Traffic
Jermaine Young says:

I honestly only just recently figured out how to do this properly. Its still a work in progress but it really bringing us more organic traffic than before. The next phase is to get ahead of the curve and write posts with keywords that attract traffic. This is a very helpful post. Thanks for sharing.
- Ana says:
  
  We all have to start somewhere, Jermaine; the only difference between you and me is that I am one step ahead of you. Glad you found this post helpful. Ana
  - James Moralde says:
    
    I am also beginning to appreciate the benefits of SEO in my blog. Sometimes, when I do the right things, a new post would get to the top 10 serps within a few days. I appreciate you posting those stats. It's an eye opener.
    - Ana says:
      
      I've got to admit - I love it as well, James. SEO is a form of art as far as I am concerned. Ana
Latief says:

Thanks for the article, really love about the statistic, and yes seo really help a small business to get more sales because people who came from search engine are people who really wants to use your products or services. This days I'm helping a friend to increase sales with a blog with seo contents and its works, lucky me in my country seo awareness is still very low so I can get on top on with less seo and long tail keywords is really powerfull.
- Ana says:
  
  Never hurts to take advantage of other people's ignorance! Thanks for coming by, Latief. Ana
Eric says:

Crazy statistics! You would think now days, businesses would be more "up to speed" with their online marketing efforts. To me, the benefits of SEO are crystal clear. To think that the benefits are questionable is pure insanity. Here's one catch though - even if 60% of your competition is ignorant with respect to SEO, you really only care about your competitors on page 1 of Google (for your relevant keywords). I think once we narrow it down to page 1, things get a little bit more complicated. Sure, maybe there's 984,000 search results and most of them know nothing about SEO, but if the 10 listed on page 1 have utilized SEO in any sort of optimal way, you'll probably find it a bit more challenging to overcome them. Obviously, it's extremely doable, depending on the competitiveness of the keyword!
- Ana says:
  
  No kidding, Eric. Very good point about the first page ranking though. Nobody says that SEO is a work in the park. However, with all available SEO tools these days, you can find out anything you need about what your competition is doing right and wrong and simply do it just a little bit better. Ana
Hicham says:

Ana, Although I am surprised by the stats, I do believe that SEO is an important issue in case a blogger want to take his/her blog seriously and not just a diary or as a source of income in the future.
- Ana says:
  
  I was not surprised when I learned the numbers. I am surprised however, that very few people are taking advantage of them You know, Hicham, you brought up a very good point: blogging is EXTREMELY time consuming (if you want to be read, of course). Why not do it the right way? SEO is really not that complicated and can bring great results? I am all for leverage!
Joy says:

Ana, We have tried many ways to create an online presence and firmly believe that the organic method is the best and least expensive in the long run. We tried the pay per click route and it got expensive very fast.
- Ana says:
  
  I am with you, Joy; I am definitely biased against any type of paid marketing unless money is not an object, of course.
Samir says:

Well for the first year of my blogging life, I almost entirely depended on "chance" for my SEO. The results weren't quite bad either! Posts like "How to Clear Your Facebook Wall Automatically" have been getting around 5-6 visitors a day on a low-traffic blog! So it clearly doesn't take much link building if you've got your long-tail keywords right :)
- Ana says:
  
  That's very true, Samir - sometimes you "happen" to get it right with a post or two. However, 5-6 visitors per day won't put food on the table, if you know what I mean. Ana
  - Samir says:
    
    I do get your point, but what I wanted to say is that if you have more researched long-tail keywords and 100 such posts, you could easily have say 5000 visitors a day without any extra effort!
    - Ana says:
      
      Theoretically, yes. I am sure someone has done it, but I am yet to meet them. :)
Jamal Mohamed says:

Best title is enough for best place in search engines,Little seo like forum posting is enough to have a higher ranking in search engines,Your post is good
- Ana says:
  
  Assuming that your title has your keywords in it... I've never seen SEO being THAT easy unless you are targeting keywords no one else does, which might mean that it's not a money maker at all.
abhishek says:

What one can also do is target a long tail keyword of a very competitive niche, if the product is about a competitive niche and as the long tail keywords grow, the real keyword will grow organically as well. So no one can say that you can't rank for very high competitive keywords, only thing one should follow the 3D (determination, dedication and devotion) towards SEO and one can be up there.
- Ana says:
  
  True, it's not easy, but can be done. The more longtail keywords you rank for, the better your chance is to rank for the primary keyword. Ana
ronika says:

Although I set up my website about a year ago, it was quite basic and I paid very little attention to it. It's only in the past month or so that I started developing it (using Squarespace which has been a godsend) and updating my blog regularly. I offer accounting services to small businesses in Montreal, and I am currently the 2nd listing for Montreal Small Business Accountant on google. It seems that a few well placed meta tags and regular blog updates allowed this to happen. It's actually quite surprising how easy this was (although I imagine my competition is not working that hard on targeting small businesses)
- Ana says:
  
  It's very nice to be in a market where nobody else pays attention to SEO - great results, Ronika!
TJ McDowell says:

While I'm sure it's true that the majority of people don't know much about search engines, when we start talking about competitive terms with national competition, it may not be likely for you will end up getting the #1 slot in Google. That's where niche search terms come into play. Don't you think?
- Ana says:
  
  I am not really implying that you should try to rank for "insurance quotes", TJ. Let's be reasonable here and be a niche that has low to medium competition - that's where bread and butter is.
Chris says:

In my opinion SEO is the best way to get traffic. I mean think about it if you can get high on the search engines you are getting free traffic and while you are getting that free traffic you could be working on expanding your social media presence and start building a good foundation for traffic there. I always focus on SEO first because if you find a non competitive niche you can get ranked high very fast and then I focus on the other stuff.
- Ana says:
  
  Certainly, using a leveraged strategy like SEO that pays off long term frees up your time to get involved in other ways to market your business. Good point, Chris. Ana
Stan Cole says:

Interesting numbers and NO, is NOT wrong to take advantage of your competitors who want to know nothing about SEO. Is part of the game and we are competing in the same game. But these numbers are just statistics and many niches/areas are very difficult to dominate.
- Ana says:
  
  Thank you very much, Stan; I absolutely agree. If other folks choose to be ignorant about SEO, you bet I will step in and take the first spot! One Way Link Building
Mani Viswanathan says:

The stats says it all. People never focus on SEO much. But the time is changing & SEO is becoming imp :P
- Ana says:
  
  Exactly, Mani. This new stage in online marketing will be all about SEO and those who get on it now will be at great advantage. Ana SEO Link Building
  - Rohit says:
    
    As more and more time pass people will come to know more about this art plus more and more people will come to this business and will make it more cheaper and affordable.
Rohit says:

SEO is not like you invested your money once and this will keep giving you fruit for long term. This is the procedure which will keep going till your blog or website will last. Many people do not understand this. If they started any new website than they will hire someone to do directory submission, social bookmarking service and article submission. But this is a long procedure ... whenever you add new post you should do social bookmarking.
- Ana says:
  
  LEVERAGE is huge in internet marketing. What other strategy can you use to achieve this kind of long-term benefit? Very good point, Rohit.
ZK says:

Pick the right market and right niche and start giving your time to that. I am sure you will be able to see the results and money within 4 - 6 months. I tried and I know this is possible.
- Ana says:
  
  Right on, ZK.
Gino Dizon says:

Hi Ana, Thanks for these wonderful tips you've provided. After almost two months of blogging, it was the only time that I started to get serious on my sites' SEO settings. Good job on the post! And I love your article on the importance of SEO. Keep at it!
- Ana says:
  
  Thanks, Gino. Keep up with your blogging and SEO and you'll definitely start seeing results.
  - Gino Dizon says:
    
    Thanks Ana! I'm already seeing results, although they're not satisfying me that much yet. Thanks again for the encouragement!
    - Ana says:
      
      You know, Gino, never being satisfied with results is the mark of a great businessman.
      - digiknowzone says:
        
        Thanks! And so they say, well, hope things will turn out better. Thanks again!See you around!
Moon Hussain says:

Ana, I'm new here and all I have to say is "That was pretty damn good." That's for this post ;)
- Ana says:
  
  Glad you stopped by, Moon!
Andreas says:

The most important part for new website owners and bloggers is consistency including optimizing the site and updating the site frequently and do not quit if results do not show at first. If this done on a consistent basis, they will surely pass many other competitors who do not apply SEO or not on a consistent basis, as shown in the stats above.
- Alex says:
  
  Updating the site and optimizing it's not enough. Building link is much more important for seo. Reaching first page is quite easy but you must be on the three spots if you want to have serious traffic
  - Rohit says:
    
    I think consistency is the core factors in every field. You should add fresh contents consistently. You should do link building consistently. You should monitor your competitors results consistently. If you are consistent than believe me you can rank on any keyword and on niche.
- Ana says:
  
  I absolutely agree, Andreas. Many webmasters will quit if their brand new site does not show up in SERP within the first month. However, consistency, work, and patience are the keys.
Lennart Heleander says:

Hi Ana, Nice figures you have, it show who little people know and want to do SEO, good for me, bad luck for them. SEO is the most important thing you must do if you have a blog or a website. It is free – cheap – and minimum 90% use internet when they want to found something.
- Ana says:
  
  Good point, Lennart. Many people ask why I share such valuable SEO secrets on my blog and my answer is because most people will never do a thing about those secrets beyond just reading about them. Sad for them, but good for us.
  - Lennart Heleander says:
    
    Hi Ana, That’s true, people only read about SEO, and they don’t do anything about it.
    - ZK says:
      
      And if they do ... than they simply do spamming ... SEO is not like one or two steps ... this one starts from the first code of your website and never ends ... :)
      - Rohit says:
        
        Quite agree with you ZK. You should start link building for every posts you added to your blog. You should do social bookmarking, you should add relevant details as guest post. You should decorate your all rooms instead of decorating your drawing room. Visitors can come to any room ... so be ready for that.
Colleen says:

Hmm, not sure if it's like taking candy from a baby, as although few are implementing SEO, there are only a few needed to take the top 3-4 spots. And of course, anything beyond the first positions rarely get clicked.
- Ana says:
  
  I truly believe that SEO is not that difficult, once you know what you are doing. Many websites you see ranked #1 made it there by default because no one else is willing to implement some simple SEO strategies. 90% of your Google ranking is in the links to your website and this factor happens to be entirely under your control. Perhaps, I did make it sound easier that it is... but trust me, Colleen, it's not that difficult. Ana
  - Colleen says:
    
    No, it is not difficult, and I agree with you there, but it is the 'easy rankings' part I do not agree with. Except for niches where there is no seo being done, there are always at least 10 or more companies vying for the top 3 spots. That's where it becomes difficult to rank well.
    - Ana says:
      
      Can't argue with you there. If you have 10 companies that all KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING, it does become numbers game. But if somebody has to be in that first spot, why not you? All you need to do is do a little bit better that they are doing. For instance, you can build all the same links they have and then some. You can definitely duplicate/improve on-page SEO. No, not easy, but possible. I know you know it, Colleen - your website is doing well! Ana SEO Link Building
mijie says:

great articles, i like on fact number 3 . "60% do not currently invest in SEO at all." sometimes marketer dint' think about how powerfull search engine to bring the sales for them, that why they dont want to invest in SEO marketing
- Ana says:
  
  Many marketers simply don't think big enough. They don't think it's possible to see their own website on the fist page of Google, so they don't even try. Ana
  - ZK says:
    
    Many of them invest in early stage ... but once their website reach at first page they withdraw all the money from SEO projects and as a result they lost their position once again.
    - Ana says:
      
      You are right, ZK; SEO is an ongoing effort.
AJ says:

Actually I am not really impressed at all by those statistics. Just browsing the internet you can see how many blogs/sites have virtually 0 on-page search engine optimization. Not to mention that many sites/blogs aren't updated on a regular basis, so if yours does you already have an edge.
- Ana says:
  
  That's exactly my point, AJ. It doesn't take much effort to pass someone who is standing still.
  - Aj says:
    
    Yep. And you hit it right on. Which by the way, I love the title of the post ;) It definitely caught my attention.
Brian says:

The beauty of SEO is if you take the time to really learn it, it almost becomes second nature. You will be implementing strategies with your pages and posts instinctively that your competitors don't even know exist. In my eyes SEO ranks just above web usability as the most important facet of internet marketing.
- Ana says:
  
  I could not agree more, Brian. SEO might sound intimidating in the beginning, but it really is not once you know what you are doing. Thanks for stopping by!
  - ZK says:
    
    There are even few simple tips such as keywords in titles, keywords in domain can do wonder for your website or blog. But people do not understand this ... Many of them even do not research for the keywords ... and start building blogs and websites blindly.
    - Rohit says:
      
      Yes many of them failed at very first stage. Searching for keywords is really time taking task but if you will do it perfectly than road ahead will be really easy one.
Kharim says:

Really great article. :) What you have said here about "25% of marketers know little or nothing about SEO." I think this is really true, and might be even more.
- Ana says:
  
  It definitely might be more. Plus, the difference between knowing something and IMPLEMENTING it is huge. That 25% might know something about SEO, but are still not doing anything about it.
Alex Whalley says:

Wow! I love those stats! Wish you wouldn't reveal them though :) Another fantastic post Ana, really impressed with the content you are coming out with lately. Awesome
- Mike says:
  
  I agree with you Alex :) The stats look awesome and I have known I still have many chances to beat my competitors on the SERP lol :) Awesome article, Ana. Thank you for sharing it to us :)
  - Ana says:
    
    Thanks, Alex and Mike - I am a sucker for compliments, so keep them coming! :)
Abhishek-seekersfind.com says:

Hi Yeah you are right every blogger must follow SEO in their blog and blog post.The traffic is free and also don't lose their user only for SEO which is more worst.Good Sharing Thanks For Sharing -Abhishek
- Colleen says:
  
  True, but especially bloggers have a tough road ahead. How many folks want to rank for, "make money online" for example.
  - Ana says:
    
    Once again, I agree with you, Colleen. That's why I would never recommend somebody just jumps into a competitive niche like this one. However, I was surprised how many niches I found just by thinking a bit more creatively with great search volume and low competition. Ana
  - Lennart Heleander says:
    
    If they are so stupid so they only go for the tuff keywords “make money online” for example, will they never success. Use the longtail trick instead, easy and often higher traffic.
    - Rohit says:
      
      @ Colleen There are many other keywords for which people search only make money online is not the only one. There are many bloggers who are expert in squidoo lenses and provide squidoo tips. There are many people who are providing social bookmarking service and they want to rank for them. So just few basic tips of SEO for your all posts and you will be able to see the impact.
- Ana says:
  
  Thanks, Abhishek - glad you liked it!
Robert says:

It's funny how some people dont think SEO is important at all, I'm constantly working on it trying to improve it, but when you think about it, the big major sites and companies, they dont have to do any SEO since there sites are so big and so popular because of either their web presence or brand, people already know about them. Take CNN or Sky News, they wouldn't have to go promoting their sites and optimising them for search engines, because they know the will rank well because there so popular
- Ana says:
  
  That's true and I hope you are not trying to rank for the same keywords they do, Robert. :) However, those sites are more of an exception than a rule.
- Cindy says:
  
  Again I agree with you on this... there's no need for SEO for pages that have already built a solid web presence. Their large contribution to the blogosphere, as well as exposure to media make people come for them.
  - Rohit says:
    
    Who told you that they are not doing any SEO ... let me explain you - They do on site SEO by adding keywords on titles of their posts. For the off site SEO - Once they publish any news people start reacting on them and as a result - # People read and they do social bookmarking for them free of cost. # People like their posts and give credit to CNN or skynews by adding links. So in this manner their off site SEO also done. Got my point ?
Steve says:

Ana, Another wonderful article about SEO practices. If you utilize SEO I think that ranking in Google is not as hard as many people fear it might be. Particularly if you go after good longtail keywords. I particularly liked your point that the effort is inexpensive and has a great payout, because once it ranks it should rank for a long while. (until someone comes and does more than you really...) Trying to at least work some SEO into your articles/blog posts is not that hard and the little extra time is well worth it.
- Colleen says:
  
  "Particularly if you go after good longtail keywords." Exactly Steve. We rank well for some of the more competitive phrases in our local industry, but our bread and butter comes from the longtail where someone is very specific about what they are looking for, and we are the only ones with content covering their query.
- Ana says:
  
  Leverage is my favorite thing about SEO, Steve. Once you get there, #1 spot is yours to lose. Good point on the longtail keywords; I absolutely agree with both you and Colleen that could be the key to a successful SEO campaign.
  - Rohit says:
    
    Maximum websites are getting search engine traffic from the long tail keywords. And if you are starting your campaign than my advice will be to start with the long tail. Establish yourself as authority websites and than target short or main keywords.

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