First of all, it's nothing personal.
Just because a search engine that's popular the world over
doesn't show you love is no reason to sell your house and
head out to the desert with no canteen.
And, truthfully, Google doesn't really hate anybody. It's
just very very good at ignoring you.
Luckily, any reasons for Google's cold shoulder to be turned
on you are wholly technical, and we can turn that cold gaze
into a loving embrace, provided we do things right.
Know Your Enemy -
First things first, we have to look at the world through
Google's binary-colored glasses. What is it that makes Google's
world go 'round? What is it that search engine optimization
is really all about?
One simple word: results.
Google, in fact all search engines, pride themselves on
their results. When a user types a search query in the search
box, they expect the results to match and match well. A query
on dalmations better bring up plenty of sites about dalmations
and not much else. If a bunch of random subjects come up
as a result of your search, it wouldn't take long until you
got fed up and stopped using Google altogether due to its
inaccuracy. You'd skip over to Yahoo! or MSN and there goes
Google's revenues out the window.
Is it all about money? Sure, why not. That and bragging
rights in the endless search engine battle.
Scratch Google's Back, It'll Scratch Yours -
If Google's interest is in relevant results, it follows
that whatever we can do to help them achieve that will boost
us up in their rankings, and that's where search engine optimization
comes in. If our site is formatted and designed properly,
meaning that Google can readily derive its contents and approves
of them, we'll be rewarded by a promotion through their ranks.
See? Optimized.
Note, however, that how high you go is not dependent upon
this factor alone. There are all sorts of elements that go
into the algorithm that drives their index, some of which
we know about and some which are as highly guarded as Colonel
Sanders's original recipe. But every little bit helps so
let's check out just how to make Google as happy as we possibly
can.
Search Engine Optimization for Google -
The factors that help Google determine whether or not it
likes your site, in no particular order, are as follows:
- Page Title
- Page URL
- Anchor Text
- Meta Tags
- Content
- External Links
- Site Maps
Much has been written on all these topics and search engine
optimization, some of it in great detail down to the letter,
so we're not going to go over it all here too specifically.
The main thing to understand is that neither of these by
itself is going to make or break your rankings in search
engines. It's more of a holistic package, since each of the
items listed will help your rank just that little bit more.
However, aside from the actual page content which is the
most important, there is probably a bit more weight granted
to external links. The more sites that link to you the better.
And the better the sites that link to you (ie, those with
good page ranks themselves) will be the best. Take caution
that not all external links will help you out. In fact, you
may even be penalized if lousy sites with no relevancy link
to you.
The reason for this is simple, especially if you consider
it in the light of what we discussed earlier: results. Google
knows, or at least assumes, that a huge site with a great
page ranking and lots of visitors has good content. It will
further assume that your site too must have good content
if you've earned a link from the other.
Further Information -
As I said earlier, there are plenty of sites out there with
further information on each and every single aspect of search
engine optimization. There are also companies out there who
will do what most of us really don't want to do: that is,
optimize our own sites. Sure it can be fun and a good learning
experience to do it ourselves, but it's also a long road;
nipping and tucking and fine-tuning can be really aggravating.
Apparently some people like it, such as the folks at SEO
Elite. You can read about them HERE.
They do search engine optimization for a living and have
a great track record of being quite good at it.
In the meantime, good luck with your search engine optimization.
Keep on tweaking and keep on updating!
C. Pabst is an author, entrepreneur and the owner of
Work
From Home Businesses. He is also an expert in the field
of
Search
Engine Optimization.
