First, I would like to convince you that getting a #1 position on a search engine isn't a valuable goal. I promise to come full circle and answer the question though.

Why would you want a #1 position on a search engine? I can only think of two possible reasons:

1. Engage in a large scale link exchange campaign. Find every site in your category (cars, horses, internet marketing, widgets, etc). Check out their site. If they have a quality site, add it to your own directory. Then write a personal email to the webmaster telling them about your link to their site. Tell them why you liked their site and finish up by asking for a link back to your site. This is the most effective method of developing traffic we have ever found. It is generally much higher quality than any search engine listing and it is much more permanent.

2. Write articles for newsletters. While you are doing your link exchange campaign, make a list of newsletters you run across. In fact, sign up for them using a separate email address (eventually newsletters would drown out your main email address). As you receive the newsletters, make a note if they have articles written by third parties. Once a week, write an article about the topic of your site (but never mention your site, products or services). Submit your article to the editors of each of these newsletters. Your article should contain absolutely no advertising hype, but should contain a short two or three line resource box at the bottom. This resource box should contain your URL.

3. Find every discussion forum, mailing list, Usenet newsgroup, etc for your topic. Read them periodically and find a question you can answer. Answer it without ever mentioning your product/service. On the signature line, include your URL.

All of these methods build your web presence dramatically. You will receive a far greater quantity and quality of traffic doing these things than any search engine listing will ever deliver. Best of all... all of these methods increase your ranking in the search engines because they all create links to your site. Link popularity has become one of the most important factors in search engine ranking.

Now on to the answer to your question...

First, let's refine the question a tiny bit. Two other things matter a great deal:

1. Which search engine contains your #1 listing.
2. What search phrase triggers your #1 listing.

There is really only one answer for #1 anymore . . . Google. It has dominated the search engine wars so much that the only reason to have a #1 position on any other search engine is vanity.

The search phrase is quite a bit more important. You need to discover the search phrase that most matches your product/service, yet inspires a large number of searches. Use wordtracker.com to discover this search phrase. Let's pretend your search phrase is "widgets" for the rest of this article.

Now the question is: How do I get a #1 ranking for "widgets" on Google?

We do a regular (monthly) statistical analysis of the Google results. The single most important ranking factor on Google is the number of links to your site with the chosen search phrase in the link text. The location of the links matter (sites with more links to them count for more), but the largest factor is simply getting links to your site with "widgets" (your search phrase) in the anchor text for the link. Here's the step-by-step process for getting a #1 ranking on Google:

1. Choose a domain containing your search phrase.

2. Create a page on your site with instructions to link to your site.

3. On that page, give example code that has your search phrase in the link text.

4. Go back and read the beginning of this article. You now need to do all of those things. Mention your "add link" page in the emails you send to webmasters in the link exchange program.

James D. Brausch
Vice President, Marketing
Target Blaster, Inc.