10 Tips to Rank at the Top of Google

By Lisa Virkus on Apr 29, 2013 in Sales and Marketing | 0 comments

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Article By, Dave Lavinsky

It’s a given these days that your business needs a website. And, if your website ranks at the top of the search engines for the right keywords, it could mean a ton of new customers and revenue for your business.

SEO or Search Engine Optimizing is the process of getting your website to rank as high as possible on your most important keywords. And when focusing on SEO, you should pay most attention to Google (rather than Yahoo or Bing, etc.) as Google currently has a 68% market share of all searches done in the United States.

And when optimizing, keep the following ten SEO tips in mind.

1. Social Media Optimization Helps SEO

Social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) can provide you with website traffic. It also impacts your rank in Google. Specifically, Google’s ranking algorithm decides on your brand’s social media value through the number of likes in Facebook, the comments and shares it gets, the number of Twitter followers, the number of tweets that states your brand or has your web link, and the number of people you have in your Google circles. So don’t ignore social media.

2. Content Is Still King

The key here is for you to establish yourself as an expert in your niche by providing relevant and fresh information to your readers. You can also invite guest bloggers or hire content writers that can give your site vital information about your industry. The search engines are keen on whether your site provides quality information.

3. Do Guest Posting Properly

While guest posting (i.e., getting other experts to post their articles on your website) can be a great source information, be careful with backlinks. Backlinks are links from one site to another. Make sure you only link to high-integrity websites and blogs. So, if your guest poster wants to link to a “sketchy” website in their article, don’t let them.

4. Diversifying Can Protect You

With Google Panda and Penguin penalizing websites for shady SEO techniques, one of the best things you can do is to diversify your SEO techniques. Consistently update your site with fresh and winning content while using diversified anchor texts and links. “Real” is the word here, real content and real links are rewarded by search engines.

5. Location-Based Searched Results Can Take You Higher

Search activities based on location boost your ranking as well. Location-based meta tags and descriptions can do wonders to your page rankings. How you are positioned in Google places can also help drive traffic to your website. This can be critical to your business if your sales depend on local customers.

6. On-Page Optimization Never Gets Out Of Style

Proper keyword selection, research, and testing are crucial in doing your on-page SEO. Tags and internal links should be done appropriately. As mentioned earlier, your content is the most determining factors in improving your rank. They key is to produce high quality content that appeals to your customer.

7. Videos And Infographics Are Cool Ways To Do SEO

Videos and infographics engage customers. So they stay longer and consume your content. As mentioned before, this is what the search engines want.

Also, videos, when posted on other sites (like YouTube) can drive traffic to your website (e.g., in the description under your video).

Finally, if your videos and infographics are good enough, other sites will link to them on your site, which will drive traffic and boost your rankings.

8. Press Releases Make The Town Talks About You

Well written press releases can build your brand and generate a lot of new links to your website and thus boost your rankings. There are many online sites that allow you to publish your press releases (the better ones do charge fees).

9. Usability And Significance Add Power

Ask yourself whether your site is providing your audience answers to their needs. Is your site offering quality information to web searchers and clients? Like any brand, establishing your brand’s quality is recognized by search engines. Solving customers’ problems makes your website more relevant.

10. Build And Maintain Strong Relationships

Your clients are your most important concern. Be creative and sincere in dealing with your clients and you will start building your brand empire. Have them experience your product and services in a personal way and you will find that making sales is easier and simpler with a strong following.

While search engine optimization is very important to driving traffic, always prioritize your brand. And create high-quality content. Old-school SEO experts may want to convince you to have hundreds of low quality articles proliferated around the web to boost your rankings. The new Google algorithms and market attitudes will punish this behavior.

In short, keep the quality of your content high and always pay attention to the needs of your customers, and your search engine rankings should continue to rise.