2 builders who never spoke to each other · contested
Decide if first place is a ceiling or a position to hold
Holding the top slot for a specific concept compounds into traffic, links and shares that second place never sees, and once rankings stick the revenue per hour worked changes completely. What is disputed is what happens next: whether the position is territory rivals are actively trying to take, or a ceiling you accept while you find the next lever.
What both sides agree on
- Aim to hold the single top position for a specific concept rather than to rank respectably, because first place compounds into traffic, shares and inbound links that second place never gets.
Where this splits
Justin Jackson treats rankings as territory competitors are always trying to take, so marketing is never finished, while Cory Zue plans his next acquisition lever on the basis that growth from search flattens once you already hold every relevant term.
3 claims against 1
Cory Zue · Harry Dry
Rankings hold, so plan the next growth lever
- 01Plan your next acquisition lever while SEO is still working, because growth from search flattens out once you already hold the top position for every relevant term.
- 02Treat search structure as an asset that keeps compounding, since a lead established early is very hard for later, better-funded rivals to close.
Rivals are taking your terms, keep working daily
Marketing is never finished, because competitors are actively trying to take the search terms you currently rank for - move the ball forward daily.
- 03Search-driven products become dramatically more time-efficient once rankings hold, so measure the channel by revenue per hour worked rather than by revenue alone.
What it returned
- 50%
Thirteen years on, DoorDash and Uber Eats use comparable site structures but Grubhub's organic traffic is estimated by Ahrefs to be 50% higher.
- 2017
In 2017, 283 hours of work returned $945.35, about $3.34 an hour; in early 2018, 48 hours returned $3,381.60, about $70.45 an hour, with monthly rates above $100 from March onward.
Zue was close to ranking first for place cards and related phrases and expected search growth to stop there.
Justin cites Patrick McKenzie on the self-reinforcing authority of the top page for a query, and notes that searches for java and ruby both return the programming languages ahead of the Indonesian island and the gemstone.
Sources
- Ten SaaS marketing principles for 2024Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · 10. Marketing needs to be something you're constantly working on. · undated · dissenting
- Geeks as tastemakersJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Why geeks are becoming more influential · undated · dissenting
- Grubhub's link building strategyHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Thirteen years later · undated
- The Long Road to Passive Income Part 2: Getting from $100 to $1000 in Monthly RevenueCory Zue · coryzue.com · From $100/month to $200 $300/month: Riding Momentum · 2017-12-07
- The Long Road to Passive Income Part 3: Expectations vs RealityCory Zue · coryzue.com · The Silver Lining · 2018-07-24
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
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