5 Tips to Improve Your Google Rankings

By Sally Falkow

Google is hands down the top search engine with an estimated 50% of the search traffic. Thus the SEO (search engine optimization) actions that you do should be geared firstly to Google. This is a key point in developing an Internet marketing strategy.

You must entice the search engine to find you using these tips. If the search engine can't find you or you don't rank in the top few listings, you are losing most of your potential customers. A beautiful site that is not search engine friendly is a waste of your money.

Organic listings -- prime real estate

"Savvy marketers know the best links are organic. Known as natural or algorithmic listings, these links are the non-sponsored, free listings that appear in the major search engines upon keyword queries. Organic listings are derived from databases built by search engine spiders and ranked by proprietary search algorithms generally based on relevant content, proper HTML coding and quality inbound links."

"Research shows that search engine users prefer organic links to sponsored links in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

*comScore and others have reported that 70 to 80 percent of users click organic rather than sponsored listings (pay-per-click).

*Jupiter research found that six out of seven sales resulting from search engines originated in the organic search listings.

"Based on the clickability of organic listings, it's safe to assume that well-optimized websites will achieve their business goals. Industry research has documented this in both case studies and research studies". - iMedia Connection

Keep in mind these facts:

*88% of economically active Americans go online everyday.
*A recent study showed that 85% of users research products and services on the Internet before they purchase.
*77% get their news online through Google or Yahoo news.
*80% of all business on the Internet goes to the first three on the first page of a search result. The design, content and programming of your site all influence your search rankings.

*Over 90% of B2B buyers use search engines during the buying process.
While the Google algorithm is of course top secret there are know actions that get results:

1. Have an Internet marketing strategy. You need a plan of action that is based on solid key word research and what your competition is doing. Getting onto page one for your relevant key words is like getting onto the bestseller list for an author. You are competing against the other guys who are using an array of tools to get listed on the first page of search results. Your strategy should be based on "long tail" terms.

*Although you should use the keywords that get high search numbers, as with any other online marketing or public relations activity, most of the ROI in your web traffic comes from what is called "the long tail."
*You will get more traffic and more conversion across a variety of more specific niche phrases with a lower number of searches. Combined, these searches bring more traffic and more ROI.
*With correct optimization, there are several terms which you take advantage of that have high searches, but relatively low competition.

2. Google in particular gives high marks for in bound links to your site. That means other web sites linking back to your site. A great tool to achieve this is an optimized press releases. They get:

*Your message out across the web where your future customers are reading their news.
*By including links into your press release, the press release when picked up by the news engines such as Yahoo News, Google New and thousands of other sites will link back to your site. That creates back links which are huge for Google.

3. Programming. There are several technical issues that need to be done correctly including titles with correct page optimization.

*For an architect, the search engines will not rank well a page with a title "Welcome to Our Site" but will rank the same page with the title "Building Design Services".
*Also your Meta tags need to be correct and consistent with your strategy. Meta tags are information placed in a web page not intended for users to see but provide information to search engine browser software.

4. Add RSS feeds. RSS is really simple syndication--it is a very effective tool to get your content syndicated across the web. Every Internet marketing strategy should include RSS. Think like a publisher and you will have the right viewpoint. You want to be continually adding content under RSS feeds. Search engines search for words so you need lots of optimized content (embedded with long tail key words) to 'feed' the search engine. Search engines like big sites with lots of new content. Add press releases, newsletters, product updates, articles, etc to your site and of course make sure that they are optimized against your strategy under a RSS feed. See www.press-feed.com for more info on an inexpensive service.

5. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but search engines can't read a picture. You can, of course, have lots of pictures and a great design on your site but you also need text as search engines only read text. If you have a Flash intro your site it will be basically invisible to the search engines without text. It is a two step dance:

Secondly, your site must interest the prospect to come into the site and convert i.e. do what you want them to do. E.g. sell a product, sign up for a newsletter, request more info, etc.

Your website is a vital tool in your marketing and PR campaign--your online face to the world. But even the most perfect website is no use at all if it is never found and seen by the right audience.

Your brand awareness and value increases with top search page result placement.
The bottom line is that your customers can't buy what they can't find. Make it easy for them by optimizing your web site and using these Internet marketing strategy tips.

About the Author:

Sally Falkow is President of Expansion Plus, Inc., and author of Website Marketing Strategy Ebook. She is an authority on Internet Marketing and search engine optimization strategies. For more information, visit http://www.expansionplus.com/.