First Page of Google

Can you get to the top of Google?

Yes! But at what cost? Anything is possible with either a truck load of money, or time or both. This page gives a few tips and examples of what Google and other search engines are looking for.

Take a look at the page about Search Engine Optimisation first. It will give you an idea how to best optimise your pages. It’s not the whole story though, that’s just how to get your pages right.

The Popularity Game

The web is one big popularity competition. In search terms this makes sense, if everyone is searching for you, your subject or looking at your site it must be popular. Google rates this as one of it’s ranking factors so you need to be popular.

The most effective ways of being popular follows the old playground rules, become the best mate of the most popular kids in the playground. In web terms you need sites that are already highly ranked in the search engines to link to you from their site. By association if cool sites think you are cool, Google thinks you are cool too.

Buy yourself to the Top

In an ideal world you get there solely on the merit of your brilliant website and marvellous content. But in reality in today’s market it makes so much sense. When looking at the the example used on the Search Engine Optimisation page a search for Parker Pens on Google will have a few sponsored links above the No. 1 result.

Sponsored links are the way to get to the top, it doesn’t matter how good, relevant or popular your site is. To sit at the top of a search page on Google based on the search term ‘Parker Pens’ you can pay a fee based on the search term ‘Parker Pens’ priced per click. Each time the search term ‘Parker Pens’ is searched for, your site will end up at the top of the page in the sponsored links, then every time a visitor clicks on the link to your site you are charged for that click by Google.

Effective Approach

Why not build your site using the best design techniques possible, but whilst your site is in it’s infancy use sponsored links to give your sites popularity an initial boost. Whilst establishing your site, this is a good solid approach. You can later disable the sponsored links when your site is subsequently found by it’s own merits in the normal search rankings.

Other Promotion Options

Set up a blog and talk about your topic, show you are an expert in the field. This will generate interest in you and your website. Use social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter etc. to get you and your site known. Forums are a good source of advertising your skills and knowledge. Also use conventional advertising in the papers etc.