How to get to number 1 on Google - ORLY?
Category: General
I have had a great laugh at the expense of a few people contacting me recently claiming to know everything there is to know about SEO including "How to get to number 1 on Google".
Well, I need to let you into a little secret. SEO IS EASY.
Yes, that's right, there is no secret, there is no magical formula and there certainly isn't any special 'hotline to Google' pre-requiste for joining the elite, (even though some claim that there is and that they are the 'chosen ones'!)
OK smarty pants, how is it done? What is SEO all about?
Simply put, it's about optimising your online presence to maximise your potential for high listing on the top 4 search engines or directories commonly known as Google, Yahoo, AOL and DMOZ.
In other words, build your site using common sense, logic and cleanliness.
Seriously, that's all there is to it.
No chin stroking, no rocket science, no long beards.
I'll say it again:
Build your site using common sense, logic and cleanliness.
And for those that still don't get it, here's 3 easy steps to start you off:
1, The Domain/ URLs:
Choose and create specific and relevant domains and URLs.
It's no good having something like www.cheap-hosting-company.eu/customers/index.php?Page-1=SDDD4eer/~twelve/mybikeshop/Pages/ladiesbik - I mean, how good will that look on your business card?
If possible, a much better option would be something like:
www.mybikeshop.com
with URLs like - www.mybikeshop.com/prices
www.mybikeshop.com/contact_us
www.mybikeshop.com/ladies_bikes
2, Page title:
A bit obvious really but title your pages to describe their content.
Don't leave it as 'Untitled Document'.
Why not? well, if you do then you'll end up amongst the other 37,000,000 google results.
3, In page tags:
How a page is built makes all the difference. There are tags that need to be in the header, tags that need to be in the footer, all are relevant, but it's the ones in the body that a lot of developers seem to mess up.
Construct a page incorporating the following structure -
h1 tag -
h2 tag -
h3 tag -
So there's 3 easy steps to get you started but don't get me wrong, it takes a lot of hard work and a lot more steps than just these 3.
I don't claim to be any SEO expert and I will never promise anything as ridiculous as "getting you to number 1 on Google" but I do try as hard as possible and sometimes the hard work pays off.
A site I designed and developed about 2 years ago flounders around page 20/ page 25 and wouldn't know what page 1 was if it was invited to a special one off 'be on page 1' open day.
Conversely a site I designed and developed less than a month ago currently sits at number 2 on Google page 1*.
Try these keywords - "Bespoke Menswear"
So, developers, keep that code clean and structured and if you've got a website and someone promises to 'get you to Google page 1' ask them about their Snake Oil special offers.
Update : In the case of this article, maybe it should be renamed "How to get to number 6 on Google".
* As of 05/10/2008
Tagged: google, seo
Well, I need to let you into a little secret. SEO IS EASY.
Yes, that's right, there is no secret, there is no magical formula and there certainly isn't any special 'hotline to Google' pre-requiste for joining the elite, (even though some claim that there is and that they are the 'chosen ones'!)
OK smarty pants, how is it done? What is SEO all about?
Simply put, it's about optimising your online presence to maximise your potential for high listing on the top 4 search engines or directories commonly known as Google, Yahoo, AOL and DMOZ.
In other words, build your site using common sense, logic and cleanliness.
Seriously, that's all there is to it.
No chin stroking, no rocket science, no long beards.
I'll say it again:
Build your site using common sense, logic and cleanliness.
And for those that still don't get it, here's 3 easy steps to start you off:
1, The Domain/ URLs:
Choose and create specific and relevant domains and URLs.
It's no good having something like www.cheap-hosting-company.eu/customers/index.php?Page-1=SDDD4eer/~twelve/mybikeshop/Pages/ladiesbik - I mean, how good will that look on your business card?
If possible, a much better option would be something like:
www.mybikeshop.com
with URLs like - www.mybikeshop.com/prices
www.mybikeshop.com/contact_us
www.mybikeshop.com/ladies_bikes
2, Page title:
A bit obvious really but title your pages to describe their content.
Don't leave it as 'Untitled Document'.
Why not? well, if you do then you'll end up amongst the other 37,000,000 google results.
3, In page tags:
How a page is built makes all the difference. There are tags that need to be in the header, tags that need to be in the footer, all are relevant, but it's the ones in the body that a lot of developers seem to mess up.
Construct a page incorporating the following structure -
h1 tag -
Most Important
h2 tag -
Second Most Important
h3 tag -
Third Most Important
So there's 3 easy steps to get you started but don't get me wrong, it takes a lot of hard work and a lot more steps than just these 3.
I don't claim to be any SEO expert and I will never promise anything as ridiculous as "getting you to number 1 on Google" but I do try as hard as possible and sometimes the hard work pays off.
A site I designed and developed about 2 years ago flounders around page 20/ page 25 and wouldn't know what page 1 was if it was invited to a special one off 'be on page 1' open day.
Conversely a site I designed and developed less than a month ago currently sits at number 2 on Google page 1*.
Try these keywords - "Bespoke Menswear"
So, developers, keep that code clean and structured and if you've got a website and someone promises to 'get you to Google page 1' ask them about their Snake Oil special offers.
Update : In the case of this article, maybe it should be renamed "How to get to number 6 on Google".
* As of 05/10/2008
Tagged: google, seo