How Do I Get To The Top Of Google?
That’s the cry for help I hear so often from clients. How on earth do you get on the first page of Google when you aren’t one of the big guys? People complain Internet marketing doesn’t work for the little guy because you need thousands of dollars to get a good search engine ranking.
The good news
The search results that we are all used to seeing in Google are called “organic search results.” (There are results you have to pay for like the sponsored links or the ads on the right hand sides). Getting up the rankings is called Search Engine Optimization or SEO. (Another TLA – Three Letter Acronym).
But guess what?
Most of the “big guys" aren’t very good at SEO. The main reason they get top positions, or organic search engine ranking, is because the little guys are even worse at it.
Yet it needn’t be that way. Website marketing can be successful if you make smart choices.
It is definitely possible for a small-business operator to get better search engine rankings against some big guys by using organic SEO. You might not get Number 1 but you can get onto the first page.
And you can do it without employing an SEO company or SEO services provider.
"Me? Number 1? Yeah right. But I’m no SEO expert" you might say to yourself.
If you do the right keyword research and link building, then you can get to number 1. Yep. You can beat out the big companies with their huge budgets for SEO marketing.
The secret to your website marketing is to think a bit differently and not to go for the obvious search phrases or keywords. The competition is too tough mainly because your competitors aren’t smart enough to do that smart thinking.
Aim for keywords with a bit less traffic; a bit less popular but much more targeted to a smaller audience. Go for those and you have a good chance of getting near the top.
You can find keywords for free by using Google's own tool.
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
It takes a bit of understanding and then you need to know which keywords to target.
Look for ones with less competition.
But how do you do it?
There are two main aspects to SEO – one is easy to do – the on-page. The other, off-page link-building takes a bit more work.
The trade-off is that the harder worker gives you better results. Isn’t that always the way?
The easier bit
This is where you can really score well against the bigger operators and your smaller competitors because they simply don’t understand what they need to do which means it’s quite easy to get good local web marketing results by using SEO.
The main components are:
- Title tag
- Meta description
- The domain name or page url
- The copy you create for the page
Notice, I've not included the keyword tag?
Most companies agonize over the keywords to put in here.
Just don’t bother. It’s a waste of time because the search engines don’t bother with that component any longer because unscrupulous operators crammed thousands of keywords in or had their keywords in white so people couldn’t read them.
So Google, quite rightly, said "Forget that" and stopped reading them. They want their customers, the searchers, to find good quality, relevant information.
Here’s an example of one client who wanted some search engine optimisation in Auckland who . He wasn’t even on Page 5 of Google. (I have worked with clients around the world, not just search engine optimization in Auckland).
After intensive keyword research, careful competitor analysis and copy writing some optimised web-pages, he now has 39 Page 1 results including 7 Number 1 listings!
So if you play ball with Google, Google will look after you.
But you still need to construct those elements correctly or you will languish way down the rankings.
"Wow! I’m on Page 1 of Google in only 4 days." Alan Combies, health practitioner.
"Finally - thank you, thank you, thank you, to Andrew Haddleton for making our website slowly start to get some amazing traffic and for fine tuning our content to increase search engine rankings." Maria Carlton www.Marukibooks.com
Click your link
You still need to get people to click on your link if you want them to come to your site and spend money with you.
And getting that click is determined in large part by the on-page SEO that you do.
Google is being really kind to you again because they give you the chance to create three classified ads – for FREE – to promote yourself.
"I don’t believe it, Page 1 in the world in over 11 million pages." Robyn Pearce, www.gettingagrip.com
No-charge consultation for you
You need to make more money from your site. So email me at Andrew@gigmarketing.biz for more information or an SEO consultant to make your on-page SEO optimization work better for you.
What's this linking that people talk about?
Linking is the best way to get higher and sustained rankings. You do that by team-work. And the team-work may surprise you.
If one of your competitors has a higher ranking than you, ask them to link to your site. Yeah. Your competitors can help you.
And why would they do that you ask?
Because you can help them too.
Many people will tell you that exchanging links is a good thing as both businesses get a link. And yes, that's true to a certain extent but a one-way link is even more powerful.
Because the search engines think that if people link to you then you must be important in your industry.
How Do I Get A One-Way link?
The easy way is to ask.
Sometimes the other guys will just say yes because they don't know any better.
Sometimes they will want to exchange links.
If that is the case, then you can do a deal by using another site to create one-way links. But for the maximum benefit for your site, you need to get the series of links set-up properly or your competitors will get the most bang.
"I am in shock about the number one listing for the -------- jewellery." Lori Trigwell, SilverStone jewellery
Email Andrew@gigmarketing.biz for your complementary 15-minute consultation with an SEO expert in Auckland to make your search engine optimisation work better for you.
