I likely don't even need to mention that Google is currently the largest of all the search engines with ComScore Media estimating this giant to be responsible for 42.7% of all online searches in March of 2006. For this reason people tend to view Google as the engine to rank on. While this point is debatable (let's remember that there's still 57.3% of searches that aren't done on Google) it's definitely an important engine to rank on. So how is it done?
The Factors
To optimize and rank highly on Google, as with any of the major engines, specific areas need to be addressed. On Google the most important of these factors are: ?Backlinks
?Age
?Content
?How it fares in the results Backlinks
More than on either Yahoo! or MSN backlinks are key to attaining top rankings on Google. More importantly, Google's methods for calculating the weight of backlinks is very different than either of the other two engines. Once upon a time backlink acquisition was mainly a numbers game. If you had more links you had higher rankings, it was basically as simple as that. Today however Google has an algorithm inside their algorithm for determining which links are more valuable than others. This algorithm has a number of factors itself, however there are some that are more important than others. They key factors that determine the value of a link in regards to its contributions to the ranking of your site are:
The age of the links - Like domains, links gain weight with age. The longer your links have been on a web page the higher their value. Basically this means that your link building efforts today aren't going to pay off for a number of months. The weight seems to age gradually. In a month your link will hold partial weight, in two months it'll hold a bit more and so on. Links hold the majority of their weight after about 5 to 6 months.
The location of the link - The physical location of your link on the page is an indicator to Google of its value. A link buried in the footer of a page will hold virtually no weight whereas a link near the top (i.e. where a visitor is likely to see it) will hold much more. Another location factor is how this link is situated relative to the content around it. A link that is located within content holds more weight than a link in a typical link-page or directory format with a title and description. The inline nature of the aforementioned location indicates that the link itself is more natural.
The anchor text and formatting - The linking text used is obviously important. If you are targeting a phrase such as "seo firms" then using these two keywords in the anchor text is going to attach relevancy between your site and these keywords. Be careful though, building a thousand links using all the same anchor text is going to look suspicious. Vary your anchor text, perhaps include other keywords and you'll find your efforts rewarded. The formatting of the link is also relevant. A link that uses bold, italics, etc. is obviously meant to be seen by a visitor and is thus more highly regarded by Google.
Relevancy - The relevancy of the site linking to you is of key importance. Getting a link on a health site if you're an SEO firm is going to hold little weight whereas a link from an SEO resource site will be much more valuable.
PageRank - While the value of PageRank is arguably dropping when one is considering it's importance in link building it is still a factor. A link from a PageRank 5 page is worth substantially more than a link from a PageRank 2 page.
Age
In a patent application from back in 2004 Google told SEO firms (and anyone else for that matter) that age was an important factor. Google has since become a domain name registrar which gives them access to whois data and thus they can clearly see the age of a domain, who it is registered to, where it is hosted, etc. The older your domain is the more legitimate Google sees it and thus the more likely they are to rank it. Additionally, domains that are registered for longer periods of time are also seen as more legitimate and thus will tend to rank higher.
Content
Google is more picky than either Yahoo! or MSN when it comes to content. While the phrase, "content is king," may be overused it is still relevant. The more content you have on your site the more likely someone is to find what they're looking for when they get there. Thus, the more content you have on your site the more likely Google is to believe a searcher will find what they're looking for there. This does not mean that you should grab every bit of content you can find and build a 500,000 page site about potatoes. The content needs to be relevant and preferably well written. While a search engine spider may not be able to tell if your content is truly well written it must appeal to a human visitor. The reason for this will be made more clear below.
A blog is a good option for the easy addition of relevant content provided that you can dedicate the time (generally only a few minutes per day) to post some new and interesting information on your industry.
Matt Cutts Blog - Read this blog from Google software engineer Matt Cutts. Obviously he's not about to give you the algorithm (or he wouldn't be a Google engineer would he?) but he does give great advice and the occasional head's up on updates. He allows comments on his blog and many of them are useful as well.
In today's business world you must create a website. Customers will look to Internet for a product or service that they need, but also for a website that makes them feel they are dealing with professionals. One of the most important things to keep in mind is that a well maintained website will show the customer how reliable you are.
A little-known benefit of having a web site is that you can influence your customers when they are still doing research, even before they reach out to visit your location or communicate directly with you. For example, you can pique customer interest and get the benefit of marketing whenever potential customers visit your site. This increases the likelihood that they will visit and return to your store. It also gives you the opportunity to encourage someone who is on the fence or indecisive, especially if the customer is tempted by vividly seeing the item on the computer screen or reminded by it being in their shopping cart but not yet purchased.
To create a website is to expand your customer base thousands and thousands of miles. Whereas your original clientele lived mere miles from you, having your business available to anyone around the world makes your business potential customer base infinite. This can be made even more profitable if you can find a way to implement your business to be accessible online.
Any retail operation running over the network means consumers will be spending money on the goods you are offering. If you have chosen to go with a service, things become quite a bit more complicated. Repair work is not "virtual", since it requires a physical presence. However, services such as accounting require only that data be shipped in one format and returned in another.
Don't be cheap when making your website. Internet surfers will be able to see any lack of professionalism or that you cut costs. Use professional software to create a website. Another option is to hire a company to make sure it is done correctly.
The most important step to create a website is to determine whether or not it can be profitable to you in of itself. Which route are you going to take? The two possible routes, as mentioned above, are to merely advertise your service or store online showing all the possible products to pique the interest of potential customers. The other is to actually supplement your business by allowing customers to use or purchase it online. The latter choice obviously is the more profitable one, but you need to choose whichever is right for you.
Both Jaipy Padda & Tem Balanco are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.