Yesterday I had one of the most exciting moments of my SEO life. For the most sought-after keyword on my list — the one with the most traffic and the most competition — my company’s website appeared in the Google search results at #24. I did a victory dance around the office. I interrupted the sales meeting in progress to announce the joyous news. Then I danced a little more.

Granted, #24 is still crap. Very few people are going to drill down to the third page of the SERPs to find our website. But considering our site had skyrocketed from #87 to #57 to #24 in a matter of weeks, I felt a little dancing was appropriate. I was finally seeing major progress. More importantly, I finally had proof that the SEO techniques I’ve been studying and testing were working. I rock! Go me!

Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

This morning, still basking in the glow of my awesomeness, I typed my coveted keyword into Google … and despaired. Not on page one, two or three. Not on page four … five … six … Dammit, where are we?! Ah, there we are. Right back on page 9 where we started, at a dismal #89.

Just. Freaking. Great.

As I write this post, we have bounced back up to #36. I’m very happy to be there, but I’m definitely not busting out the victory dance again anytime soon. In the course of 24 hours, a very important lesson has been driven home, and it is one that I will never forget:

Google giveth, and Google taketh away.

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