SEO Success Story: American Bridal On Top

One of the most gratifying things about being an SEO teacher, instead of just an SEO consultant, is that I get to see students learn, grow, and succeed in their efforts. When one of my students takes what they've learned and has great success, it puts a smile on my face and gives me a little extra energy to keep doing what I do.

Shirley Tan of American Bridal attended my 10 week "SEO Your Site" Workshop / Teleclass last August and September, and the email she sent me this morning was especially satisfying. after a six-month climb from page 2 of Google's search results for "wedding favors," Shirley is now sitting on the #1 spot (click the image to see) .

This particular search result was made semi-famous (and very competitive) by SEO guru and internet marketer Brad Fallon with his "Stomping The Search Engines" information product.

Brad has touted his ability to achieve the #1 listing on this SERP as clear evidence of his mighty SEO powers, so I guess Shirley and I can say "me too," while acknowledging that Brad is indeed an SEO expert and much more... I wouldn't be surprised to see him back at #1 soon.

I attended Brad's "boot camp" in Atlanta last June as a speaker, and I was, to be honest, very impressed by the presentations and the fact that Brad and his partner (Andy Jenkins) didn't just focus on rankings. In fact, the best information they presented was about improving a web site's conversion rate. Until then, I wondered if I was the only SEO teacher who knew enough about the big picture to really help people with more than rankings.

In the bar after the first day's sessions, Ken Giddens and I had a chance to hang out with several of Brad's students, and they were joking with us about how foolish it would be for anyone to try to knock the mighty Brad Fallon off that #1 spot. Ken and I both laughed, because we knew how naive that was... nobody is so great that you can't outsmart 'em, outmaneuver 'em, and eventually outrank 'em in search results.

Nothing is permanent in SEO. We are not entitled to rankings, the search engines just let us borrow them for a while if we do the right things. Today, Shirley is #1, and we can have a little laugh at Brad's expense. Brad won't sit still, and neither will the dozens of students that he has inspired to chase the same market.

So today, I may not be the coolest guy on the planet (Brad can keep that ranking), but I do feel like the greatest SEO coach on Earth.

Speaking of coaching, my next site workshop / teleclass (the one Shirley attended) starts April 25th. Unlike Shirley, you won't pay over $1000 to attend - in fact, if you register before April 16th, you will get the same class for just $695. I hope you'll join us, and I look forward to sharing your success story in this space.

Regular readers don't panic: My "one thing" for today will be posted in a little while. I gotta go make groceries with my mother in law, and attend my weekly conference call with my SEO coaching group. After that, I'll get it posted.