SEO Tips: Top 10 Google Rankings in < 24 Hours = Blogging + QDF

I've noticed an unexpected side effect from blogging about Google AdWords experiments related to top Google searches. My PPC advertising experiments led to some immediate SEO results. Some of the blog posts I wrote about AdWords experiments ended up ranking in top 10 Google search results within a few hours of posting. It can often take days or weeks for SEO changes to make a difference in Google rankings.

So, why were these particular blog posts ranking in hours instead of days? QDF. For some Google search results, Google applies QDF (Query Deserves Freshness). For some background on QDF, read Is Google Hot Trends Near Real Time? What kind of fresh content does Google like? Yep, blog posts. Here's an example:



Note the "1 hour ago" indication of freshness. That Google search query, etrade bankruptcy, was a hot search on both Nov 12 and Nov 13. It's actually still a pretty hot search. The blog post I wrote continues to receive a steady stream of traffic. As I noted from measuring ad impressions during my PPC advertising experiments, these spikes in search trends continue even after no longer being listed in Google Hot Trends.

I have many examples of this kind of strategy working. I'll show another screenshot to prove this was not a fluke. Consider this search trend from Oct 24:



A few hours after I wrote a blog post, it ranked well for that top Google search:



Here's the formula, then, for top 10 Google rankings in less than 24 hours:

1. Identify QDF searches (via the TagTrends tool or Google Trends directly).
2. Write a blog post with those keywords in the html title.
3. Tag that blog post with those keywords (I use TagBuildr to create Apogee Tags).
4. In between the title and the tags, write some good content. Please don't spam. ;-)

That's basically it. If you've enjoyed these SEO tips or want some PPC advertising tips, subscribe to Apogee Weblog. Oh, here are a couple of bonus SEO tips to go along with this strategy:

1. You can find more than 100 QDF searches each day. The TagTrends tool pulls data from this Google Hot Trends feed. Note the name of that link - it ends in hourly. Check the search trends at different times of the day and you'll see different top searches. Google only lists 100 per day when you look back in time, but on the day itself, you can find far more than 100 top searches.
2. It's often easier to rank for domain name searches. Note the usps.com/household example from above. From that screenshot, Google indicated 9,540 search results. Compared to other keyword searches, that's not a high number. I'm still amazed by this direct navigation via search behavior. Might, indeed, be a need for domain name reputation management.

Bottom line: For certain searches, it's possible to attain top 10 Google rankings in less than 24 hours. In these cases, applying simple SEO techniques to blogging is almost as quick as running PPC advertising, at a much lower cost. Having the time to write an effective blog post is another cost to consider, though.

Tags (made w/ TagBuildr and TagTrends but not TagMuse): seo tips, tags, blogging, qdf, top 10, google rankings, hot trends, domain name, ppc advertising