If your website isn't on the first page of Google it is virtually invisible because most people don't bother to search beyond the first page of search results. If your site is not on the first few pages of search results, it is unlikely that your web site will ever be seen - except by you and your friends!

Can you really get your site listed on the first page of Google?

Yes, you can get onto the first page of Google providing you follow basic search engine optimization principles and are prepared to work hard. Getting listed on the first page of Google depends on a number of factors:

Identifying profitable keywords

How much competition there is for your chosen keyword

The number of pages on your site

How much keyword rich content you have

How well you use keywords on your site

Your site's domain name

How may incoming links you have

Amongst others...

What you need to do to get on the first page of Google and make more sales

Make sure your website is one of the best for the services and products you offer. If your site has long blocks of unbroken text, is cluttered, difficult to navigate, unattractive or doesn't have what people are searching for, then even if your site gets to the top of search engine rankings, the increased traffic won't be much good to you.

Add regular features, articles and special offers, give your visitors good reason to return to your site. Note what your competitors are doing and keep abreast of new trends. Research, update and constantly improve. Make sure you have an opt in box and give your visitors a good reason to give you their email address so that you can keep in touch and bring them back to your site.

Identify the best keywords for your website. Give the search engines good reasons to include your site when they are listing relevant search results. Help people to find your website by including the words people are using to search on your pagse.

Apply standard website optimization techniques to your website: keyword density, keywords in page titles, descriptions, headings, sub headings, anchor text, image tags...

Sprinkle your keywords throughout your website and make sure you use your keywords in context. Mix up your keyword phrases, and make sure your text doesn't sound stilted or un-natural. The last thing you want to do is get on the first page of Google but lose customers.

Build lots of one way links to your website. Each links counts as a vote in your favour and is a key factor in search engine optimisation.

And the bonus is that even if your site never gets to be on the first page of Google, following these steps will benefit both your website and your business and you will get lots more visitors to your site.