where should i start to rank 1st in google

I want to rank on the first page of google for the keywords "web design in oklahoma"

I know nothing about SEO and right now I don't have time to learn it.. so im considering hiring someone to do some SEO work for me.

Do you think its possible to rank for those keywords if I hire someone? I have some money to spend on it but I would like to know if you think its a good investment?

If you were to rank #1 for that keyword you would be getting ~200 visitors per month, maybe less... don't know how much you are thinking to pay someone to rank you for that keyword but I personally wouldn't bother with it... you would be better off trying to rank for a keyword such as "effective web design" which has about 1900 local searches and 4K globals per month.

About 50% of the 200 visitors (for the oklahoma keyword) goes to spot 1, 20-30% to result 2 and from there to the bottom is just horrible ....

My advice > Many people don't have the time to learn SEO and all the black magic that goes on behind the scenes BUT if there is one thing you should learn is to do basic keyword research with the freely available google keyword tool, that way you will at least have an idea of the amount of traffic you can expect if you were to rank for a keyword such as "web design in Oklahoma" before you invest any money on it.

If you want to outsource the whole thing the first step is:

1. Hire someone to do proper keyword research for you
2. Make sure you understand the results that are given to you through that keyword report.
3. Optimize your pages or Hire someone to give you on-page SEO advice (this is easy)
4. Once your onpage stuff is in place hire somenone to do off-page SEO for you (this is your main investment)
5. If you have a good landing page/site and the person you hired to build backlinks for you is worth the money you are paying.... step 5 should be PROFIT!

Perfect post by JuicyBlack, a proper kw research is the key of a successful campaign.

The only disagreement I have with JuicyBlack's post is that 'effective web design' as a keyword doesn't imply that the person is looking for a web designer, it could mean that someone is doing research on web design theory, or that there is an existing company called Effective Web Design and people are Googling it!

It might not have great traffic but 'web design oklahoma' is an ok starting point and with good rankings would surely bring you some business. Buy the exact match domain if available.

Everything else said about outsourcing is good!

^ yeah, "effective web design" was just an example... I pulled google's keyword tool and that was the first keyword I saw there and used it to illustrate a point.

If he wants to go with the OK keyword he would have to consider whether or not his landing page is good enough to monetize around 100 visitors per month (roughly 3.3 visitors per day) and still see a ROI after SEO expenses. Assuming he is able to rank # 1 for that keyword.

Traffic is non existent for websites that don't make it to page 1 for that keyphrase... with 180K competitors it is not impossible to rank for it but the thing is whether or not he can make it to page 1... Sure thats a decent keyword to rank for but if he doesn't hit a high ranking on page 1 then any SEO investment he makes will be money down the drain...

Target both.

Remember - -search engine results are geographically sensative to the viewer anyway.

I will agree with JuicyBlack... If you don't know what you are getting in return then how you are planning to spend... You need to finish your homework first... Proper keyword research is first step before you do anything else... Such small keyword is not worth spending money for SEO although if you get this, it could be handy and added advantage but still not worth of spending any serious money... Find better keywords which can bring you more ROI...

Can you please explain the step by step process involving "proper keyword research"?

market samurai, the dojo, and google keyword tool

Steps for keyword research

1. Go to the url "https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal"
2. Type the captcha in the textbox provided
3. Type the keywords in your mind in the box "word or phrase"
if you want to give your website name also you may give in "website" text box provided for that purpose.
4. You may click on advance options if you are looking for the research based on specific country.
5. Once you click on the button "search" you have everything there, with all combination of words and phrases near to the keyword you had thought of, choose the ones nearest to your keywords with maximum local searches.

Thanks for all the replies.. Im going to start learning how to do some keyword research.

JuicyBlack thanks for putting me in the right direction. I dont think im going to just jump into SEO without a thought out plan of what my goals are.

After some keyword research I shall have a number of keywords that I will try to rank for.

I have a good amount of business flow right now to keep me going I just think if I want to get bigger doing some SEO for long term results would be a great investment.

Why web design in Oklahoma? I am not in the business, but it doesn't seem like you need to meet face to face or anything, it might help the customer get what they want of course but it isn't necessary. That is why not many people aren't searching for the Oklahoma part. Although I think it would be on the right track to try and rank for a lot of less competitive keywords at this point... ranking for anything broad and high competition like "web design" would be really difficult.