How to get a top listing in Google for a keyword phrase that actually drives traffic to your website depends on many variables. These variables range in importance and often change… as you will notice lately with more top listings coming from fresh content from Social media properties.
SEO experts say that links pointing to your site is half the battle. I agree that backlinks are extremely important for accomplishing a top ranking. You will see some sites listed in the first place position on a competitive keyword that have a ton of backlinks and then you will see a site listed in the first place position that have a small amount of backlinks.