Question about Search Term Ranking

I been reading this forum and trying to implement some of the information. From what I gathered, if you search for a search term with quotes like, "keyphrase to search", this will give you a true reading of how many websites are actually optimized for that exact search phrase.

With that said, I started a new website and tried this out. I found a keyphrase that only showed 41 results when searching for it with quotes. Now, I made a Wordpress blog optimizing that search term. So about 2 weeks later, that page is ranked #3 when searched for with quotes, but it's no where to be found if I search for it without the quotes.

Did I do something wrong?

Um despite the lack of competition, G server farms still take some time to update, I'm assuming you've implemented promotion techniques for you blog i.e. link building, even a couple of authority backlinks would most likely be enough to dominate.

Oh, so I need some backlinks before it will start ranking without the quotes?

Sorry I'm intoxicated hence I don't know if I'm being clear, but yeah despite the lack of competition, the two results above are most likely pages on websites which overall have some/many backlinks, but are totally not optimized for that term, however their domain will give the page some authority in SERPs terms.

In short, build a few backlinks and just give it some time, work on something else in the mean time.

I always hear that PR doesn't really mean much when it comes to SEO. I'm a bit confused with that lol.

Okay so bottom line:

1. Optimize for low niche keyphrases that have a low SERP with quotes
2. Increase your PR by getting backlinks?

Then and only then will you start to rank?

So let me just get this straight. In order to out rank a website for a certain keyphrase using SEO techniques, you must have the same PR or better as your competition?

SupraFast said:

So let me just get this straight. In order to out rank a website for a certain keyphrase using SEO techniques, you must have the same PR or better as your competition?

Click to expand...

No there are other factors that come into play otherwise it would take you 1-3 months to get to the top of a keyword with a new site as the update is technically only every 90 days or so. (Unless what I've heard about it constantly updating your rank, but only updating the tools that show us every 90 days?) I've had a PR0 on several sites and I'm front page atop many people who have content optimized for keywords and have PR.

If you have a wordpress blog, writing optimized posts and creating backlinks using social bookmarking gives quick rankings for long tail keywords. Make sure that you rotate the titles and keep them relevant to your target keywords when you submit your blog posts to social media sites. I have seen good rankings on Google for brand new domains within 2 weeks using this technique. For more competitive keywords, you'd need to build linkwheels around your site.