Beginners - How To Rank On The First Page of Google: Give Them What They Ask Us For!
If you are just starting out and you are wondering how to get your website ranked in Google, you only need to understand a few basic concepts. Some of the topics you'll find below are paraphrased from a recent USA Today interview with a highly ranking (pardon the pun) Google Representative, Matt Cutts. So this is pretty much how it is!
There are over 100 different components to Google's ranking algorithm that look at everything from meta tags to inbound links and the authority of those sites linking in. Fortunately for us, some of those components are not kept so secret.
So, step back and listen to what Google wants, and then give it to them. It's as easy as that.
Believe it or not, many people run their websites without highlighting the search terms that people are typing into the search engines.
Make sure to place the main keyword phrase of your page SOMEWHERE ON THE PAGE! A lot of people will fill their pages with content and completely disregard the keywords that people will be typing into the search box. Matt Cutts uses an example of a Chiropractor that he met who wasn't getting any web traffic for the term San Diego Chiropractic...well, the words, "San Diego Chiropractic," were nowhere to be found on his site! He says, "You have to make sure the keywords are on the page...best to let people know so immediately, at the top of your page."
He also suggests using the meta tags that are available to you in html. He says that they are crucial, "...because what's shown in search results most often are the title and description tags."
This makes a lot of sense if you put yourself into a searcher's mind. When your page of results pops up. You are first drawn toward the title of the page and a lot of searchers read the description as well. This could very well be vital in getting more traffic than your competitors above or below you on that search results page. If your title and description are exactly what the searcher is searching for, then you'll be good to go.
Note: Google does not place much emphasis on the keyword tag, mainly just the title and description.
Perhaps the biggest factor in determining where to rank your web page is the amount and quality of inbound links, or other websites that link to you. The more, the better. But they also take into consideration just how authoritative the websites are that link to you. So if you can get links from about.com or noaa.gov, you should get a huge boost in ranking...as long as your site relates in some way to the linking site as well.
Google also suggests creating a blog and posting to it on a regular basis. You can start a blog and link back to your website. You can also take part in social media sites like Digg or StumbleUpon.
As far as keyword density, Google seems to be suggesting that we come up with two or three phrases that we wish to rank for and place them naturally into the web page. There is no need to stuff keywords!
Finally, the old addage that comes up over and over again - Content is King - remains in effect. Just make sure that the content is written by you and not plagiarized from elsewhere on the internet. The more content you have on your site, the better the chance that others will link to you. Content alone is a great way to get traffic/backlinks!
So in a nutshell, there you have it! If you are just starting out and wondering how to get your website ranked highly in Google, follow the steps above and you should have a nicely ranking website in time. Don't rush it and don't purchase links or try to get them in a way that is unnatural.
One last thing that should also be cleared up is that advertising with Google has nothing whatsoever to do with their rankings. Their results are purely editorial.
There are many other tips and techniques out there for ranking highly in Google, but the ones above were the only ones that Cutts suggested at the time, so I will leave it at that.
Be patient and run your web business with integrity! You'll start seeing results before you know it.
Respectfully,
Allen Graves
There are over 100 different components to Google's ranking algorithm that look at everything from meta tags to inbound links and the authority of those sites linking in. Fortunately for us, some of those components are not kept so secret.
So, step back and listen to what Google wants, and then give it to them. It's as easy as that.
Believe it or not, many people run their websites without highlighting the search terms that people are typing into the search engines.
Make sure to place the main keyword phrase of your page SOMEWHERE ON THE PAGE! A lot of people will fill their pages with content and completely disregard the keywords that people will be typing into the search box. Matt Cutts uses an example of a Chiropractor that he met who wasn't getting any web traffic for the term San Diego Chiropractic...well, the words, "San Diego Chiropractic," were nowhere to be found on his site! He says, "You have to make sure the keywords are on the page...best to let people know so immediately, at the top of your page."
He also suggests using the meta tags that are available to you in html. He says that they are crucial, "...because what's shown in search results most often are the title and description tags."
This makes a lot of sense if you put yourself into a searcher's mind. When your page of results pops up. You are first drawn toward the title of the page and a lot of searchers read the description as well. This could very well be vital in getting more traffic than your competitors above or below you on that search results page. If your title and description are exactly what the searcher is searching for, then you'll be good to go.
Note: Google does not place much emphasis on the keyword tag, mainly just the title and description.
Perhaps the biggest factor in determining where to rank your web page is the amount and quality of inbound links, or other websites that link to you. The more, the better. But they also take into consideration just how authoritative the websites are that link to you. So if you can get links from about.com or noaa.gov, you should get a huge boost in ranking...as long as your site relates in some way to the linking site as well.
Google also suggests creating a blog and posting to it on a regular basis. You can start a blog and link back to your website. You can also take part in social media sites like Digg or StumbleUpon.
As far as keyword density, Google seems to be suggesting that we come up with two or three phrases that we wish to rank for and place them naturally into the web page. There is no need to stuff keywords!
Finally, the old addage that comes up over and over again - Content is King - remains in effect. Just make sure that the content is written by you and not plagiarized from elsewhere on the internet. The more content you have on your site, the better the chance that others will link to you. Content alone is a great way to get traffic/backlinks!
So in a nutshell, there you have it! If you are just starting out and wondering how to get your website ranked highly in Google, follow the steps above and you should have a nicely ranking website in time. Don't rush it and don't purchase links or try to get them in a way that is unnatural.
One last thing that should also be cleared up is that advertising with Google has nothing whatsoever to do with their rankings. Their results are purely editorial.
There are many other tips and techniques out there for ranking highly in Google, but the ones above were the only ones that Cutts suggested at the time, so I will leave it at that.
Be patient and run your web business with integrity! You'll start seeing results before you know it.
Respectfully,
Allen Graves
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