During the summer of 2019 our agency designed and executed a Google search experiment in order to know and understand what does a business need to have to appear on the first organic result within the first page of Google search results.
We did the search experiment with SEO agencies in English language. We searched for SEO agencies, in English language, using different relevant terms that we found on Google Keyword Planner, and we selected the agency that appeared on the number one organic result, for each relevant search term, and then we took each one of those agencies trough different tests to measure page content quality, website content quality, links quantity, search term at title and description meta tags, search term at page result URL, search term at page result content, website mobile speed, and website SEO performance.
We found the following results for the SEO agencies that appeared on the number one position within the first page of Google organic search results:
Page quality content: 32% of agencies had high quality page content, and 53% of agencies had medium quality page content.
Website quality content: 37% of agencies had high quality website content, and 46% of agencies had medium quality website content.
Search term at page result URL: 24% of agencies had the search term at the page result URL.
Search term at the page result content: 50% of agencies had the search term at the page result content.
Search term at the result title meta tag: 61% of agencies had the search term at the result title meta tag.
Search term at the result description meta tag: 48% of agencies had the search term at the result description meta tag.
Number of incoming or back links: 9% of agencies had between 0 and 100 links; 20% of agencies had between 100 and 1,000 links; 71% of agencies had more than 1,000 links.
Website mobile performance (loading speed): 2% of agencies had mobile loading speed between 0 and 2 seconds; 72% of agencies had mobile loading speed between 2 and 4 seconds; 26% of agencies had mobile loading speed larger than 4 seconds.
Website SEO performance: 2% of agencies had between 70 and 80 out 100 for website SEO performance test; 33% of agencies had between 80 and 90 out of 100 for website SEO performance test; 65% of agencies had between 90 and 100 out of 100 for website SEO performance test.
Tools and guidelines
We use the following tools and guidelines in the experiment:
Relevant search terms: We use Google Keyword Planner (GKP) to find the most relevant search terms for SEO agencies.
Page quality content: We use the Google Quality Rater Guidelines for high, medium and low quality content.
Website quality content: We use the Google Quality Rater Guidelines for high, medium and low quality content.
Search term at page result URL: We analyzed each page result URL to see if the search term was there.
Search term at the page result content: We analyzed each page result content to see if the search term was there.
Search term at the result title meta tag: We analyzed each search result to see if the search term was at the title meta tag.
Search term at the result description meta tag: We analyzed each search result to see if the search term was at the description meta tag.
Number of incoming or back links: We use different SEO tools (Ahrefs, SEM Rush, Moz, Ubersuggest) to obtain the incoming links for each SEO agency website.
Website mobile performance (loading speed): We use Google TestMySite tool to measure each SEO agency website mobile loading speed.
Website SEO performance: We use Google Chrome Extension Lighthouse to measure each SEO agency website SEO performance.
Results
We are publishing in this table the search experiment summarized results:
| Variable | Result | Result | Result |
| Page quality content | 32% high quality content | 53% medium quality content | 15% low quality content |
| Website quality content | 37% high quality content | 46% medium quality content | 17% low quality content |
| Search term at page result URL | 24% of agencies had search term at page result URL | ||
| Search term at the page result content | 50% of agencies had search term at page result content | ||
| Search term at the result title meta tag | 61% of agencies had search term at search result title meta tag | ||
| Search term at the result description meta tag | 48% of agencies had the search term at the result description meta tag | ||
| Number of incoming or back links | 9% of agencies had between 0 and 100 links | 20% of agencies had between 100 and 1,00 links | 71% of agencies had more than 1,000 links |
| Website mobile performance (loading speed): | 2% of agencies had between 0 and 2 seconds mobile loading time | 72% of agencies had between 2 and 4 seconds mobile loading time | 26% of agencies had greater than 4 seconds mobile loading time |
| Website SEO performance | 2% of agencies had between 70 and 80 out of 100 for website SEO performance | 33% of agencies had between 80 and 90 out of 100 for website SEO performance | 65% of agencies had between 90 and 100 out of 100 for website SEO performance |
Search terms
Our agency used the following 46 relevant search terms, that were selected out of 156 search terms obtained from the Google Keyword Planner for SEO agencies terms:
seo agency
seo company
best seo company
local seo company
seo firm
search engine optimization company
top seo companies
professional seo services
seo service company
seo marketing company
best seo services
best seo agency
marketing seo services
organic seo services
seo marketing agency
search engine optimization agency
top seo agency
professional seo company
local seo agency
top seo services
business seo services
seo services agency
seo service provider
best local seo company
search engine marketing agency
local seo consultant
search engine optimization firm
international seo consultant
search engine marketing firm
expert seo services
professional seo agency
best search engine optimization company
seo consulting company
best seo consultant
seo marketing experts
seo marketing consultant
professional seo consultant
top seo consultants
international seo expert
expert in seo
seo services consultants
professional seo experts
best seo consulting company
online seo consultant
internet marketing seo consultant
seo internet marketing expert
SEO agencies
These were the SEO agencies that appeared on the first position within the first page of Google organic search results for the 46 relevant search terms:
WebFX
SEO
Ignite Visibility
Blue Corona
Neil Patel
Coalition
Trustcorp
Victorious
Thrive
2 Dogs Media
Bruce Clay
Screaming Frog
Over The Top SEO
ThatWare
Local SEO Hero
Top SEO Expertz
Delmain
FSE Digital
SEOtonic
ClickFlame
SEO4U
Try SEO Consultant
Main Street Host
David Carralon
Seven Atoms
Expert SEO Services
Experts Works
Hit Me SEO
Outspoken Media
Gotch SEO
Roofing SEO Team
Arindam Biswas
SEO ProHub
LeAds (MSalesLeads)
CR Global Digital Marketing
Backlinko
SEO Services Consultants
SEO Experts
Source Soft Solutions
SEO Web Consulting
Internet Marketing Ninjas
Intricate
Data
These were the data obtained during the search experiment
| Keyword stats 01jul18 to 30jun19 | Avg. monthly searches | # 1 Google SERP | # 1 Google SERP URL | Page Content E-A-T | Website Content E-A-T | Backlinks | TestMysite – sec | SEO Lighthouse/100 | Page URL keyphrase | Page content keyphrase | Meta title keyphrase | Meta description keyphrase |
| seo agency | N/D de 1 mil a 10 mil | WebFX | https://www.webfx.com/seo-agency.html | High | High | 95,821 | 3.2 | 84 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| seo company | N/D de 10 mil a 100 mil | SEO | https://www.seo.com/ | High | Medium | 507,883 | 2.3 | 98 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| best seo company | N/D de 1 mil a 10 mil | Ignite Visibility | https://ignitevisibility.com/services/seo/ | High | High | 107,919 | 2.7 | 74 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| local seo company | N/D de 1 mil a 10 mil | Blue Corona | https://www.bluecorona.com/top-seo-company/local-seo | High | High | 60,063 | 4.2 | 91 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| seo firm | N/D de 1 mil a 10 mil | Neil Patel | https://neilpatel.com/blog/is-your-seo-firm-is-helping/ | High | High | 1,004,278 | 2.6 | 100 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| search engine optimization company | N/D de 1 mil a 10 mil | Coalition | https://coalitiontechnologies.com/seo-search-engine-optimization | Medium | Medium | 582,992 | 2.2 | 87 | No | No | Yes | No |
| top seo companies | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | WebFX | https://www.webfx.com/best-seo-company.html | High | High | 95,821 | 3.2 | 84 | No | No | No | No |
| professional seo services | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Trustcorp | https://www.trustcorp.net/ | Low | Low | 5 | 3.2 | 91 | No | No | No | No |
| seo service company | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | SEO | https://www.seo.com/ | High | Medium | 507,883 | 2.3 | 98 | No | No | No | No |
| seo marketing company | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | SEO | https://www.seo.com/ | High | Medium | 507,883 | 2.3 | 98 | No | No | No | No |
| best seo services | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | WebFX | https://www.webfx.com/internet-marketing/best-SEO-services.html | High | High | 95,821 | 3.2 | 84 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| best seo agency | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Victorious | http://victoriousseo.com/ | Medium | High | 1,383 | 2.9 | 92 | No | No | No | No |
| marketing seo services | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Thrive | https://thriveagency.com/digital-marketing-services/search-engine-optimization-seo/ | Medium | Medium | 209,907 | 3 | 92 | No | No | No | No |
| organic seo services | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | 2 Dogs Media | https://www.2dogsdesign.com/organic-seo-services/ | Medium | High | 13,082 | 2.9 | 92 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| seo marketing agency | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Bruce Clay | https://www.bruceclay.com/ | Medium | High | 386,052 | 1.9 | 100 | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| search engine optimization agency | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Screaming Frog | https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/search-engine-optimisation/ | Medium | Medium | 53,762 | 3.3 | 85 | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| top seo agency | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Over The Top SEO | https://www.overthetopseo.com/ | Medium | Medium | 291,406 | 3.2 | 95 | No | No | No | No |
| professional seo company | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | ThatWare | https://thatware.co/advanced-seo/ | High | Medium | 90 | 3.7 | 83 | No | No | No | No |
| local seo agency | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Local SEO Hero | https://localseohero.co.uk/ | Medium | Medium | 1,002 | 2.4 | 100 | No | No | No | No |
| top seo services | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Top SEO Expertz | https://www.topseoexpertz.com/ | Medium | Low | 652 | 2.5 | 92 | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| business seo services | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Delmain | https://delmain.co/small-business-seo/ | Medium | Medium | 2,524 | 5.2 | 97 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| seo services agency | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | FSE Digital | https://www.fsedigital.com/seo/ | Medium | Low | 595 | 5.6 | 90 | No | No | Yes | No |
| seo service provider | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | SEOtonic | https://www.seotonic.com/ | Medium | Medium | 1,804 | 3.1 | 82 | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| best local seo company | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | ClickFlame | https://clickflame.com/ | Medium | Medium | 1,621 | 3.8 | 97 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| search engine marketing agency | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | SEO4U | https://bestseo4u.co.uk/service/search-engine-marketing/ | Medium | High | 3,600 | 3.9 | 92 | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| local seo consultant | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Try SEO Consultant | https://tryseoconsultant.com/local-seo-consultant-services/ | Medium | Medium | 32 | 6.4 | 97 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| search engine optimization firm | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Main Street Host | https://www.mainstreethost.com/seo-services/ | Medium | Medium | 16,710 | 3 | 100 | No | No | No | No |
| international seo consultant | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | David Carralon | https://davidcarralon.com/ | Medium | High | 9,840 | 2.8 | 90 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| search engine marketing firm | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Seven Atoms | https://www.sevenatoms.com/search-engine-marketing-agency | Medium | High | 8,463 | 4.4 | 88 | No | No | No | No |
| expert seo services | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Expert SEO Services | http://www.expert-seo-services.com/ | Medium | Medium | 547 | 5.5 | 100 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| professional seo agency | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Experts Works | https://www.expertsworks.com/services/seo | Low | Low | 0 | 7.5 | 92 | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| best search engine optimization company | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Hit Me SEO | https://www.hitmeseo.net/ | Low | Low | 66 | 3.8 | 69 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| seo consulting company | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Outspoken Media | https://outspokenmedia.com/services/search-engine-optimization/ | High | High | 64,068 | 2.2 | 87 | No | No | No | No |
| best seo consultant | N/D de 100 a 1 mil | Gotch SEO | https://www.gotchseo.com/seo-consultant/ | Medium | Medium | 8,746 | 2.8 | 92 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| seo marketing experts | N/D de 10 a 100 | Roofing SEO Team | https://www.roofingseoteam.com/ | Low | Low | 12 | 3.7 | 92 | No | No | Yes | No |
| seo marketing consultant | N/D de 10 a 100 | Arindam Biswas | https://www.arindambiswas.com/ | Low | Low | 297 | 6.5 | 92 | No | No | Yes | No |
| professional seo consultant | N/D de 10 a 100 | SEO ProHub | https://seoprohub.com/ | Low | Low | 252 | 4.1 | 83 | No | No | No | No |
| top seo consultants | N/D de 10 a 100 | LeAds | https://www.msalesleads.com/top-seo-consultants/ | High | High | 143 | 3.5 | 85 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| international seo expert | N/D de 10 a 100 | CR Global Digital Marketing | https://chrisraulf.com/ | Medium | Medium | 66 | 4 | 100 | No | No | No | No |
| expert in seo | N/D de 10 a 100 | Backlinko | https://backlinko.com/seo-expert | High | High | 801,873 | 3.9 | 98 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| seo services consultants | N/D de 10 a 100 | SEO Services Consultants | https://www.seo-services-consultants.com/ | High | High | 15,060 | 4.6 | 97 | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| professional seo experts | N/D de 10 a 100 | SEO Experts | https://www.seoexperts.com/ | High | High | 341 | 4.8 | 87 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| best seo consulting company | N/D de 10 a 100 | Source Soft Solutions | https://www.sourcesoftsolutions.com/best-seo-consulting-services/ | Medium | Medium | 25,811 | 3.5 | 81 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| online seo consultant | N/D de 10 a 100 | SEO Web Consulting | https://www.seo-web-consulting.com/ | Medium | Medium | 1,398 | 2.9 | 100 | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| internet marketing seo consultant | N/D de 10 a 100 | Internet Marketing Ninjas | https://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/services/ | Medium | Medium | 815,812 | 3.2 | 80 | No | No | No | No |
| seo internet marketing expert | N/D de 10 a 100 | Intricate | https://intricatedigital.com/ | Medium | Medium | 221 | 3.5 | 83 | No | No | Si | Si |
You can read our previous article in the following link:
