When people “Google” something, they are looking for specific information. Getting customers from the search button to your website, however, takes more than just answering their questions. The best way to be found on the web is to make sure your site ranks high on Google’s search results. We’ll talk about how all of this works, but first, let’s have a brief lesson on Google.
How Google Works
First, you need to know about SEO (search engine optimization). SEO refers to the techniques used to rank your site as high as possible on a search engine results page. In other words, you’re optimizing your website’s potential to be ranked by Google and to increase site traffic.
There are two kinds of search results on Google: paid and organic. Paid results come up at the top and right of your screen on the results page. PPC (paid per click) results are paid ads that appear when a certain keyword is searched. Organic results are, of course, the unpaid search results.
When you click “search,” Google fishes through its massive index of webpages to find the closest results. It then determines which pages is the best match by ranking them in order of relevance on the results page. Your goals, then, are to:
Provide content Google considers valuable (see below)
Be ranked within the first two pages of search engine results.
Raising the Ranks
Most people don’t look past the first two pages of Google results. So the higher you are on the first page, the more clicks you are likely to receive.
So, how do you improve your Google PageRank? First, understand that Google ranks are determined by the quality and value of the webpages to the specific search. Pages with high quality are listed first, and pages with low quality are listed last.
A valuable, high-quality page is relevant to the search word and authoritative.
For example, let’s say you just created a new company website. Even though you’ve posted content consistently, your PageRank is still low because you don’t have any authority by Google’s standards. But let’s say high-ranking website like chicagotribune.com catches wind of your company and links to your site. Now your site has more authority because another high-authority site linked to you.
Bottom line: Your website or blog gain authority when other credible sites link to your webpage. The more authoritative your site is, the higher you will be ranked by Google and the more clicks you will receive.
At ASJ Partners, we help you build content that will optimize your Google rank and help clients find you. Contact us today get started on a strategic marketing plan. Read more about improving your PageRank next week in Part 2: Keywords 101.
