Can you really achieve top search engine rankings with a new site? I recently attempted first page rankings for an affiliate web site that I created. The challenge was to select a product, research keywords, and buy a domain. The product I chose was a popular weight loss product.
After doing some keyword research, I decided to optimize around the key phrase of get rid of abdominal fat. In just 24 hours after purchasing the URL, I had a site up and running. The key however was that I was using original content and didn't include any of my affiliate links... at least not yet.
I applied some basic SEO techniques including on page optimization and off page optimization. It took a solid week to ten days to get the site indexed by the major search engines. Once it was, I started to see a slow and steady move towards the first page of Google. Oddly enough, a lot of what I did to promote the site was bring ranked higher than the site itself.