How to Rank High on Google and Other Search Engines

Have you ever searched for something online and wondered why certain websites appear on the first page and others on the tenth?

Have you ever wondered how you can get your website to appear on the first page when a customer searches online?

Below are some answers to these questions based on a seminar Neal Rodriguez, Managing Director of Shovecom, LLC, gave at NYC Business Solutions, Queens Center, on September 29.

What is SEO?

The acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is the process of increasing traffic to a website by increasing the ranking of that website on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Search engines rank websites – and determine what websites populate on the first, second and third pages of their results – based upon the relevance and authority of the website in relation to the keywords and phrases used when someone performs a search. 

Relevance is primarily measured by the content on the website. Authority is measured by the number and quality of links from other websites that lead back to the website. 

The idea is to create relevant content on your website with the right keywords and phrases that are in line with what your customers are searching. In addition, you want to get other websites to link to pages on your website by building relationships with bloggers, editors, influencers, and content providers that cover your industry.  

How should you get started?

1.  Keyword Research

a.       Ask your customers and prospects which keywords and phrases they use to find your websites – or websites with content like yours.

b.      Query your relevant keywords in Google Keyword Tool and other tools that gauge a keyword’s popularity.

2.       Content Creation 

a.       Using the keywords suggested by customers, potential customers, and Google Keyword Tool, will tell you which keywords you should use when writing content for your website. This is key to driving search traffic. And, of course, the keywords should be related to the content that you post on your website.

b.      Write content on the problem that your product or service solves and post that content on your website. Give yourself a goal of creating at least one article a week.  

3.       Link Building

a.    Identify other bloggers and content providers that cover your industry and pitch to them articles that you have written for their audience to be posted on their websites. When submitting articles to other websites, make sure you have links that point back to your website.

For more, check out related blog entries, attend a free Small Business Digital Toolkit course offered at the NYC Business Solutions Centers, and read Neal Rodriguez’s article in Forbes.   

Lloyd Cambridge is the Center Director of NYC Business Solutions, Queens Center. Please drop Lloyd a comment below. And, don’t forget to share this with your network via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, and your favorite networking sites.