Finally Broke Into The Top 10 in Google - How I Did It and What I Would Do Next Time(Step by Step)

[Liam Hamer]

It was a nice surprise to see this thread back on the front page again, and I'm glad so many of you have found the info useful I really appreciate all the kind words, so thank you

I actually sold the site in question a couple of weeks ago. Because of other IM commitments, I wasn't really actively promoting it or adding new content so I decided it was best to go to someone who could put the time and effort into the site it deserves. Before I sold it, I hadn't built any backlinks to it or added any content for a couple of months yet for the most part it still maintained its front page position(on Google and Yahoo). I just had a look now, and it's sitting at number 5 in Google I still strongly believe it will one day achieve the number 1 spot, and I'll be very happy when it does even though I don't own it any more.

(BTW, if you go to my profile and look at my recent threads, you'll see the site in question in my websites for sale thread )

I have another site that I did most of the same things as that one, and it's sitting at number 1 in Google and Yahoo now and has been for a couple of months, again despite not actively building backlinks or promoting it recently.

I am a big believer in good on page SEO and I feel this is instrumental in a site maintaining a good ranking. Yes, of course backlinks are massively important and can make all the difference, but I see good on page SEO as the backbone of a site you want to rank well. If you haven't already, do yourself and your sites a big favor by downloading the free tools at The Most Effective SEO Software - SEO PowerSuite Tools They're so easy to use and give you so much information about every aspect of SEO.

I think it's too easy to fall into the trap of building(or outsourcing) hundreds/thousands of profile backlinks, and while this will undoubtedly help your rankings, I feel you should also put plenty of effort into all different kinds of backlink sources(as described in my OP). You don't necessarily have to spend money either - web 2.0 properties are free, as are RSS feed submission sites, some good press release submission sites etc etc etc. With this said, having tools like the 'Bots' is a great investment and time saver in the long run though.

Again, I'm really glad so many of you have found this info valuable and I hope you continue to do so

[seojoeblow]

Hi Liam,

Very informative post. Thank you.
Can you please point me somewhere i can read more about web2.0 properties?
What is Page SEO?

Thannks

[Hajath]

thanks for the excellent post...

[ODSF]

Awesome post...really..

I'm definitely going to try to do some of the stuff you wrote about and apply it to my own website.

Thanks!!

[Opeleroy]

Thanks for the helpful post. Some of the links you included in your post were exactly what I was looking for, particularly the article directory link

[CS]

Hi, i am a newbie, I have a very basic question wish to ask..

I understand that to create backlink, I need to submit article to many article directory sites.

Can i create a article and submit to different article directory sites?

What is the different between press release and article directory? Can i use the same article for submission too?

[Rogerp]

Thanks for all of the terrific advice! One question about the press release sites that you mentioned. I've noticed that at least two of them require paid releases in order to have links in them. Did you do that? I wasn't sure if it would be worth it to pay that much for a single release and was curious if you had chosen the 'premium releases.'

Thanks again for the informative post!

[Liam Hamer]

Again, thanks for the kind words I have a little update of sorts. A couple of sites that I applied a lot of the things in the OP to, but haven't done anything with for a number of months have recently appeared in the top 10 of Google and Yahoo. One of them is my wife's site, and it sits at number 1 for a pretty competitive keyword. It hung around number 10 and lower for a few months, but recently it has taken the top spot. She is now updating it regularly, E-Mailing the list she has built with it(99% of visitors are organic search engine visitors) and making sure it is nicely monetized.

The other one is a seasonal(Christmas) mini site that I had forgotten all about. The last time I checked it was something like 50 in Google, but I checked a few days ago and it is at number 6. I will probably work to try and get it to the number 1 spot(or at least a little higher) just in time for Christmas, there are some decent CPA and Clickbank offers I can promote on there.

I guess my point is that if you do the right things(varied backlinks and good onpage SEO), eventually you will be rewarded. The longer time goes on, the more the age of your site/domain seems to come into play too. With that said, I would never recommend just leaving a site and hoping it eventually climbs. If a site has money making potential, then effort should be put into it. I need to learn to take my own advice

Originally Posted by seojoeblow

Hi Liam,

Very informative post. Thank you.
Can you please point me somewhere i can read more about web2.0 properties?
What is Page SEO?

Thannks

There is lots of info right here at the WF, a search will bring up a treasure trove of info Here are the links for the sites I mentioned in my OP that i work with:-

Free Website - Wetpaint
Blog.com - What's your story?
Webs - Make a free website, get free hosting
Squidoo : Welcome to Squidoo
HubPages
Weebly - Create a free website and a free blog
Zimbio - Interactive Magazine

Originally Posted by CS

Hi, i am a newbie, I have a very basic question wish to ask..

I understand that to create backlink, I need to submit article to many article directory sites.

Can i create a article and submit to different article directory sites?

What is the different between press release and article directory? Can i use the same article for submission too?

Yes, you should be submitting to at least 5-10 article directories in my opinion, and if possible even more than that. The backlinks you will gain from doing this are useful, but can be even more useful and carry more weight if you vary the articles(rewriting, spinning etc) for each individual directory you submit to.

I treat press release sites as somewhere to submit significant updates, such as a brand new site, a brand new product on a site, a brand new feature on a site etc etc.

Originally Posted by Rogerp

Thanks for all of the terrific advice! One question about the press release sites that you mentioned. I've noticed that at least two of them require paid releases in order to have links in them. Did you do that? I wasn't sure if it would be worth it to pay that much for a single release and was curious if you had chosen the 'premium releases.'

Thanks again for the informative post!

You're welcome

It's been a few months since I've used press release sites, but it's simply a case of whether you think the backlink is worth paying for the link. If it's a small amount, then generally I think it is because of the page rank the sites I listed have. Plus, if it's a niche where you will get traffic from it, it can be well worth it too. If you don't want to pay, there are a tonne of free press release sites out there, I think there's a big list right here at the WF somewhere

[Domenic Carlson]

Originally Posted by Buzzin

Wow, the info available in this thread is worth more than most ebooks that people are trying to shove down your throat

That's so true. How many eBooks do you think were copied and pasted from forum posts just like this one?

[Natlex]

Originally Posted by Domenic Carlson

That's so true. How many eBooks do you think were copied and pasted from forum posts just like this one?

Sadly too many.. almost 90% of the WSO content are stuff you can fidn on the forums. But I guess finding it in a WSO saves you the time it would take to sort it out.

[eddie jay]

thank you so much i've been doing this now for about a year and got nothing .. however this is a great blue print to get started on .. ( plus i see how much i need to put into this )

[Liam Hamer]

Originally Posted by Domenic Carlson

That's so true. How many eBooks do you think were copied and pasted from forum posts just like this one?

Originally Posted by Natlex

Sadly too many.. almost 90% of the WSO content are stuff you can fidn on the forums. But I guess finding it in a WSO saves you the time it would take to sort it out.

Yep, that's a pretty disappointing aspect of IM in general, but the way I look at it is that the honest people who put this info out there to help others will be rewarded in time, and the dishonest ones not so much. I'm a big believer in the law of attraction

Originally Posted by eddie jay

thank you so much i've been doing this now for about a year and got nothing .. however this is a great blue print to get started on .. ( plus i see how much i need to put into this )

You're welcome I think most of it is pretty simple stuff and is accessible to anyone from newbies up. I myself am far from an SEO expert, but I know that when I put up a new site, I can implement these things and really get things up and running in the SERPS.

[coolgadget]

Telling you the truth...Your tips is very interesting..And I'll try to practice your SEO tips so that i can increase my site in Google..Thanks very much..

[anjoh77]

Liam my site is two now a month old. I've been doing a lot of stuff as well and I was getting traffic with an ad and Twitter. After the ad stopped, the traffic stopped. Well, I can't run an ad everyday obviously so your response is much needed. How can you tell if its real traffic or search engines crawling your site or if its real traffic (yea, noobie here)? Google Analytics doesn't tell me that (or I don't know what I'm looking at which is highly possible too). It seemed like I got a lot of traffic (over 300 in two weeks) for the timeframe but I could be wrong since I don't know what normal traffic is for a new site. How can you really tell? I've done the article, posted in forums, adjusted the metatags, ran an ad, tweeted and a few links. I have no backlinks yet and my site is so far down on Google's list, its like being in a black hole. I need some help! lol

At any rate, I could kiss you and your arse for this information! I really need it. Seriously! Thanks a million and ..... smooches!

[dagaul101]

Nice tips, targetting high profile article directories with solid PR and Alexa ranking will always help in a competitive niche