🏆 Reaching #1 on Google <= How it happened
This weekend I had a very nice surprise: My latest blog post on gatographql.com made it to the top of Google's search results, when searching for "wordpress core graphql":
I noticed because, as I woke up on Sunday morning and I checked my traffic, I saw a wonderful spike:
By the end of the day, that blog post had brought in near 800 visitors (and they kept arriving the following day):
I believe this is the first time I reach the top of Google, when searching for some rather generic terms (say, without mentioning my name as part of the search).
I must admit, making it to the top of Google feels good!
Strategy to reach #1 permalink
Ok, so this is how it happened.
On Saturday, I wrote the blog post 🛠 Should WordPress have a GraphQL API in core? for my plugin's blog.
I had the blog post's URL, why-wordpress-should-have-a-graphql-api-in-core, contains those keywords I wanted the post to be associated with:
- GraphQL
- WordPress
- core
I then promoted the post on Reddit's /r/php channel, and shared it on Hacker News.
For HN, I posted it under the special section "Show HN", because the number of articles submitted there is lower, hence each post remains visible longer (before falling out of the first 30 results shown on the page).
The traffic on the "new" section is low, but really high on the front page. Then, the intention is to get the article upvoted, so it will make it to the Hacker News' front page (at least the one for Show HN).
A way to improve one's chances is to use a compelling title. Then, instead of using the blog post's actual title ("Should WordPress have a GraphQL API in core?"), I chose one more suitable to the Show HN ethos: "GraphQL API in WordPress core would look like this".
I crossed my fingers that the article would get upvoted, and went to sleep.
I woke up, and saw to my delight that the article got upvoted, and it made it to Show HN's front page. Yay!
I wish I had taken a screenshot. I did not. But it looked like this:
Google (I believe) picked it up from there, and the traffic then went through the roof 🚀
Search is a battle permalink
I was lucky this time, because people upvoting my article is out of my control. However, this is part of a long-term strategy, to have my plugin the GraphQL API for WordPress feature higher on Google.
That search result is actually a bit esoteric: "wordpress core graphql". Who adds the word "core"?
This is a step in between. The actual objective is to feature higher when searching for "wordpress graphql". And in this concern, my plugin is not doing great yet, but it's been improving!
When Googling "wordpress graphql", my plugin now shows on the homepage! (This was not the case as far as last week). It shows on the 7th position and, in addition, the 4th and 6th positions also concern my plugin:
WPGraphQL is currently dominating results for this search, taking positions 1, 2 and 3, which are the ones that truly matter.
But I'm coming behind, and will battle my way up 😜
