Looking for that miracle potion to rocket you up the rankings, that silver bullet that puts you on top of the search results? Funny so is everyone else. A few people thought they’d found it. They were cunning enough to realize it was phony and there was more money to be made in selling the “secret” to noobs who didn’t know better.
This created a generation of online marketers and business owners to fall into the hands of self-proclaimed and egotistical internet gurus who milked them for every cent they could, promising them nothing short of $6000 in three days and the #1 result in Google, all for the low low price of $199 … no wait just for today, it’s only $29 and we throw in this PDF of useless crap (euphemistically referred to as an eBook) that is valued at over $1000 absolutely free. To good to be true? Absolutely. Did that stop thousands of suckers from signing up. Absolutely not.
Anyway getting back to the topic of search engine rankings. The SEO craze led many along a merry path of using the recommended methods of article marketing, directory listings, blogging, and paid links, in an attempt to game the search engines.
For the most part it was a complete waste of time (and money for those who signed up to any of the many guru internet marketing courses.
So what’s the key to improving your ranking? It involves forgetting about your website for a minute and seeing the bigger picture and that means focusing on your brand.
Why brand is so important
Google’s algorithm has changed over time and while there was a time when article marketing and directory listings could influence your ranking, with Google’s Panda update, that influence dropped away. More recently Google’s Vince update has shifted the focus to what it considers as authority brands, businesses that are considered leaders in their respective fields.
So if you want to improve your rankings, improve your business branding, exposure and popularity and the ranking will follow.
Of course, you might feel that your business will never reach the heady heights of being the next Sony or Coca-cola so does that mean you should give up hope of getting on the front page of Google? No, it just means you might need to rethink your strategy.
How you can improve your business brand
To assist Google to view your business as a recognised brand in your niche, there are a few things you can do. Try the following points to boost your brand in Google’s eyes.
- Is the content on your site relevant to the product you are selling? What can the visitor gain from your site that they cannot get anywhere else?
- Keywords need to look natural in the text. Articles should not be too keyword rich. Try to include your company name in the anchor text (link text) too.
- Increase the amount of people who are searching for your brand. You will find this happens naturally as your website becomes more popular. Direct searches for your company will not happen overnight. You will need to advertise and draw in traffic using other keywords too.
- Use social networking sites. Facebook and Twitter are two great sites to use. These have millions of users every single day. Creating a business page will help you to build up an online presence. Similarly you can use same niche blogs to advertise your business. Reply to posts and get your brand noticed.
- Make good use of offline advertising too. Flyers for example can give a link to your website. Consumers can then log on directly to your site or they may search for you on Google.
So forget being obsessed with where you are in Google’s search results. Focus on building your business and the ranking will take care of itself.