How To Rank Number One On Google

Search engine marketing planning is not always as simple of a task as it might seem to be. Brainstorming and coordinating the right balance of organic search engine optimization (SEO) and the more immediate pay per click (PPC) advertising is a challenge even for those with lots of hands on experience in the business. Today, let’s take a look at a few search engine marketing planning questions and answers…

Question #1: How do I know what keywords to optimize organically and which to invest in PPC with?

Well, it really all begins with accurate keyword research related to your website’s overall niche. Choosing which methods to use for what keywords is impossible without revealing the facts and figures for each individual keyword phrase term being considered. In general, long-tail keyword terms (those with 3 or more keywords in the search phrase) tend to work well either with organic search optimization or with PPC.

You definitely don’t want to use PPC for terms that are not pre-qualified-in other words, using PPC to attract potentially uninterested “tire kickers” to your site is just a way to rack up costs quickly with very little to no return. It’s probably best to save these kinds of more generalist terms for SEO. PPC often works well for very specific keyword inquiries-such as model numbers, product names, and so on.

Question #2: When doing search engine marketing planning for my website, how important is social media?

As things stand right now, building a rock solid base of long-term SEO is probably priority number one. Competition is fierce here, and it does take time to realize great results-so the sooner the better. And of course, setting up per click advertising campaigns can bring immediate results to the table. So this is another high priority search engine marketing planning task. After these two aspects are accommodated, social media would probably come in next (unless you have a cutting-edge social media campaign under development). Social media promises to become more and more important as an overall part of SEM.

Question #3: How can professionals help me with SEM planning?

Let’s preface the answer to this question with another vital question…do you have access to the latest keyword statistics, metrics, and other vital data that goes into planning a search engine marketing strategy from the ground up? As we mentioned earlier, having complete access to this up to date data is essential for planning purposes and designing successful campaigns. There are some consumer resources available out there-such as the Google AdWords Keyword Tool-but that’s just the tip of the iceberg compared to the data that SEM professionals have access to.

Search engine marketing isn’t rocket science, although many seem
to think that getting adequate ranking in the search engines is a
complex and impossible task. Without a doubt, search engine
marketing is one of the most complex types of marketing because
the search engines’ rules and preferences evolve constantly. But,
considering that the majority of website visitors find the
websites they visit through the search engines, search engine
marketing is absolutely the best medium for internet marketing.

Search engine marketing and search engine optimization experts
may talk to you about complex things like algorithms, which are
really nothing more than mathematical formulas that reflect the
website ranking rules of particular search engines. Unless you
are a mathematician and you can get your hands on a search
engine’s current formula, you will never in a million years
understand algorithms, so don’t waste your time trying to. You
can be successful in your search engine marketing efforts without
knowing a thing about mathematical formulas.

Sometimes, the best way to get good ranking in the search engines
is through trial and error. You try different things, see what
works, and run with it. Sometimes, it may be best to hire a
search engine optimization specialist or consultant. Generally,
search engine optimization services are pricey, and because
search engine marketing requires ongoing efforts, they can get
really expensive. However, if you can afford it, hiring a search
engine consultant to get you on the right track is a great idea.

From my interviews with women who own their own internet
businesses, a comment made by one lady stands out in my mind. She
said, “I knew that getting listed in the search engines was
critical to the success of my business. I tried to achieve
ranking on my own, but I got so confused by all the information
about search engine optimization that all I really knew was that
I definitely did not know what I was doing. I couldn’t really
afford to hire a consultant, but I had to redefine some
priorities to get it done. Without the search engine marketing
consultant showing me the way, my business would have never
gotten off the ground.”

Whether you choose to pursue search engine marketing on your own,
or with a consultant by your side, there are a few things you
need to know about search engine marketing:

There is no magic search engine marketing formula for
achieving top ranking in the search engines.

There are a number of different search engines. The most popular
ones are Google, Yahoo and MSN. Each of the search engines has
their own rules for indexing sites, set their own algorithms, and
change them frequently. Be wary of search engine marketing
information that claims to be “the secret” or “the magic formula”
for achieving top ranking in the search engines.

Relatively, also be wary of search engine optimization companies
that guaranty top ranking. If you are offered such a guaranty,
get it in writing and check the company’s references and do some
independent research in regard to their reputation. Doing an
internet search for the company name will likely give you some
good information about their reputation because whether they are
good or bad, they are likely to be the topic of discussion in
internet marketing forums.

You have to submit your website to the search engines.

Search engine marketing requires that you submit your website to
the search engines. The search engines use something called
spiders to index websites and the spiders may incidentally pick
up your website at some point, but to ensure your site is
considered for indexing, you need to submit it to the search
engines. To do that, you need to find and read the guidelines for
submission for each search engine.

Using an automated search engine submission tool isn’t a very
good search engine marketing tactic because they generally submit
the exact same information to every search engine without
considering the individual search engines’ requirements. When you
submit your website to the search engines, you cannot expect
immediate indexing. Sometimes it takes up to six weeks to get
listed.

There are three search engine marketing factors that are
consistently important to achieving desirable search engine
rankings.

Though the search engine marketing rules and relative strategies
tend to change frequently, three factors remain important to
achieving a good rank. They are content, keywords, and links.
Content is important because the search engines cater to those
searching for information, not those providing it. When the
content of your website is relative to the terms a browser is
searching for, your website will be more desirable for indexing.

Keywords and keyword phrases are the terms that people use when
searching for something in the search engines and they are
central to your search engine marketing efforts. For your search
engine marketing efforts to be fruitful and to generate targeted
traffic, you need to do keyword research and find out what terms
your target audience is using. Rather than using the most
popular, competitive keywords, it is best if you can choose niche
phrases that provide targeted traffic but aren’t highly
competitive.

Link popularity, based on the number of links connecting to your
website, and link relevancy, the relevance of those links to your
website, usually tend to play a role in search engine rankings.
Thus, part of your search engine marketing campaign should be to
establish relevant links to your website.

To build your link popularity, find relevant websites and request
that they link to your website, or offer to trade links with
them. Getting your website listed in online directories that are
relevant to your industry as part of your search engine marketing
efforts can also enhance your link popularity.

You probably heard that in 2009 SEO will change dramatically. Results will not always be based on how many links you have or your keyword you selected. The new Search results will be more about personalization. So here are some SEO tips to help you make any necessary changes to your website or blog in the future.

SEO training will start with learning how the the search engines will behave in 2009. Anybody who does a search will get different results based on their past search history. That means your websites ranking will not matter because my search results can be different from your results even though we both type in the same keyword phrase. That alone makes SEO optimization a bit tricky. Search engines like Google will be looking at third party cookies and even your IP to see where you are located and give you results more based on your location. This may cause some people to delete their cookies to get a more conventional search.

Some more SEO tips also include having video on your website. One day written content will not be king. That crown will go to video. As video increases on the web your best SEO training will be to have your website include some type of video just to keep you on the first page. Google will be testing a bunch of universal search variables to tell just how engaging your website is so having both text and video will serve you plenty in the coming years. I know there are a lot of people who don’t use videos on their website and they offer lots of useful information. To me that is more important than a website with flashy videos and useless content. We will see what Google has to say about that in the future.

This means traditional SEO optimization will not matter as much. Ranking will eventually be dead. Things like traffic, analytics, bounce rates, and so on will count more. The more unique traffic your website have the better you will do. Spammy traffic from paid bulk traffic site will not be as well regarded as it has been in the past.

Speaking of spam, Websites that scape texts will not be able to rank on Google. If your website simply links to other websites this will effect you as well. Those types of links will be diminished in value dropping your website to the bottom of the search results. This will insure that you get quality results from your search and not just a bunch of links to nowhere.

So that is the future of SEO optimization. I hope these SEO tips can keep your website in good standing with Google in 2009. You don’t have to abandon all the usual tactics to have your website show up with good results. You might just have to incorporate a few changes making your site more compatible with Google. SEO training will be challenged and it will be interesting to see who will come out ahead.

Google has an enormous range of handy tools for you to use as a way of helping with your SEO and Traffic generation. All of these tools will help you with your SEO.

Google Webmaster Tools – search Google for Webmaster Tools

Google Webmaster Tools can give you some very technical information and provides you with detailed reports about your web pages’ visibility on Google. You can see what Google thinks about your pages, you can find out the Top Search Terms being used by your visitors and you can check the amount of inbound links/outbound links etc. You can also submit your site map to Google via Webmaster Tools which will ensure that Google knows about all of your pages. To get Webmaster Tools to work you need to install a small code into your site.

There are also a few other technical bits which you may find interesting.

Google Website Optimizer – search Google for Website Optimizer

Website Optimizer is a tool that can help you improve the effectiveness of your website or web pages. By allowing you to Split Test different versions of your website content, you can determine what content best attracts users to lead them to convert on your site.

Example: You have a Name Squeeze Page where you are offering a Free Report in exchange for your visitors Name and Email Address. Using website optimizer you would test two slightly different versions of that Name Squeeze Page to see which one converts best.

First you need to increase your Traffic, then you need to split test to increase your conversion rate.

If you put all your efforts into SEO and none of your efforts into Split Testing some of your SEO efforts will be wasted.

Again you will need to get your website designer to insert a code into your web pages in order to get website optimizer to work. The key to all successful marketing and online marketing is testing and measuring. It is essential to get the most from your marketing campaigns, and without the numbers how are you going to know what’s working and what’s not.

Google Maps- search Google for Google Maps

By getting your website listed for free in the Local Business Results it can really help you to get traffic to your site.

The Google Map Listings often appear above the rest of the free listings on the left of the Google Page.

You can add all your business details to Google Maps via your Google Account including opening times, photos, videos etc. To activate your Google Maps listing you will need to provide a telephone number or postal address and wait for a verification call or postcard.

Want to know more about how you can get your website listed on the 1st page of Google check out my Free Report: SEO Secrets.