With simple monthly advice and no need for an expensive SEO campaign, we've helped Boyd and Moore Executive Search raise their Google ranking to the top 4 Executive Search Sites in Japan.

Having built Boyd and Moore Executive Search Japan last year, we have been working with them to increase their Search Rankings steadily over time.
Boyd and Moore Executive Search are an APAC, Tokyo based Executive Search and recruiting company whose local competition is quite fierce, making the push for high ranking reasonably challenging. Thankfully the sites we build are already optimised for Search Ranking by design decision, site coding and a few added benefits from our choice of open-source content management system.
This all put BMES in good stead when the new site entered the rankings at around 14th, from a previous old site 26th. Having already managed to put another client Robert Leonard in at 7th we were confident of pushing Boyd & Moore up the rankings as we had more flexibility to make on site changes, and that they would be implementing our advice over time.
Initially with a few on sites changes, and some cleaning up in webmaster tools, concerning old inbound links and a bit of time for Google to recalibrate, BMES had happily moved up to 8th. But here is where the difference began.
The service we were providing BMES was not a campaign, or vastly expensive SEO management. It was an monthly analysis and breakdown of advice BMES could take themselves to improve ranking. By following our advice, and us monitoring their activity in implementing the advice, BMES has been able to rise up the rankings now to 4th, and we personally feel that if all the recommendations are fully enacted then a top position is entirely possible.
When BMES moved up to 8th, it was not the site itself that needed any more optimising. In terms of correct mark up and such factors the site was punching well above it's weight especially in regard to the competition. So it was the offsite advice we were giving and BMES's implementation of the advice that enabled the site to push beyond general SEO treatment.
Now obviously we aren't going to give away what we were telling them, but the point of the article is that there was nothing specifically difficult or technical that our client needed to perform to provide them with better ranking. Also once they understood what needed to be done, it was well within their own power to gain further rank.
Possibly for really big campaigns one might need the services of dedicated SEO experts, or a focused heavy duty campaign to try and gain rank.
However for many businesses a significant increase in search ranking can be achieved with some simple actions, and good practices which also needn't inflict heavy damage on your budget.

Boyd & Moore Executive Search is a clear case of this, and if your own company could use some bolstering in SEO position, we'd be happy to help you with some good analysis of your site, and guided advice that let's you gain control over your own search position.