Friday, May 9, 2008

The Power of Being #1 and Zipf’s Law

Zipf’s Law

• #1 is ten times more traffic than #2
• #2 is ten times more traffic than #3, which means
• #1 is 100 times more traffic than #3

When you make your web page about just one thing, your next goal is to make your web page the #1 search result about your just one thing.

I can tell you from my own experience that being #1 is so powerful that you need to find a way to gain that position as the only definition of success.

This doesn’t mean being the best at what someone else does. It is more important to define what you do best and stake out your position as #1 in doing what you are really #1 in already.

If you control the definition of your category, or niche, or subject, then you can always control the fact that you are #1 in that space. And you can always control this definition. You have to be honest. You can not say “I am the number one website about insurance”. But you can say “I am the number one web site about boat insurance in Wake County, North Carolina.”

If that statement is too broad or untrue then narrow it down even more. How about “I am the #1 website about bass boats in Wake County, North Carolina.” Or, “I am the #1 website about ski boats in Wake County, North Carolina”.

This is the stuff great web pages are made of. This narrowing down of your topic to something that you are and can be #1 in is how you get found.

Once you have narrowed your #1 position down, think about how you can expand that position.

Expand your #1 position by geographically adding definition. If you are #1 in Wake County, North Carolina, then are you also #1 in Raleigh, NC; Apex, NC; Cary, NC; Wake Forest, NC; Fuquay-Varina, NC; on Falls Lake; on Lake Jordan?

Each of these gives you another web page to create that will get you found.

Expand your #1 position by adding other narrow boat definitions. If you are #1 in bass boats, how about jet skis, sail boats, pontoon boats, canoes?

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