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The Google Top Ten
Although this article deals with the Google search engine, a real web marketing strategy will always aim for good spread across a considered (researched) list of other search engines. Afterall, Google may have a very dominant position serving 63% of all British web search enquiries3 (compared to 47% in the US), but that’s no reason to ignore the rest.
How can I get my web site onto Google’s first page of results?
I think I hear this question (or its variants) more often than any other, which maybe isn’t surprising as it seems widely held that a web site faces doom having the temerity to turn up on any page other than Google’s first.
Well, how do you do it, how long does it take, is it even possible or worth doing?
Some people claim that they can get any web page to the Google top ten, pretty much on demand; Google says they can’t. The answer lies in very Liberal fashion somewhere in between – because actually you can but you probably shouldn’t.
For most commercial web sites, to cheat the Google system and leap in at the top you have to bend some rules. However, you also have to bend your website out of the streamlined, purposeful shape it hopefully possesses; leaving behind, when the process is complete, an inane object likely to send visitors fleeing for the exit within seconds. And then Google will probably discard your listing when they find out (and they will find out; let’s face it you won’t be hard to find). So Google is kind of right: you can’t really cheat your way to the top – because it is tantamount to commercial suicide.
This holds true in situations where there is fierce competition for particular search terms. However, where competition isn’t so hot there are ways (such as blogging) to work with the Google system and still achieve a page one listing. The fact that this happens (and can happen so quickly) is both Google’s strength and its Achilles’ heel. Currency and relevance are what made Google such a good search tool in the first place and if it’s used according to the manufacturer’s instructions the system works very well.
The position of a web page is worked out by considering many factors, chief amongst which is its Google PageRank™. PageRank measures a web page’s importance and is determined by the nature of the links between that page and others: a link from a highly rated page does your ranking more good than a link from one with a low rating. The PageRank algorithm has subtle and extensive implications beyond the scope of this article but it does show that getting links to your web site is very important.
Ultimately though, relevance to the search terms will always win out, which is why a search for your company name (unless it’s very common) will usually bring your website up number one, as will using strange word combinations – even Google knows of only one “shoemaker of distinction” (it’s in South Africa). The only snag is that people don’t normally search for company names or strange word combinations, they search for things like “curtains”, “motor bike insurance” and “cheap holidays”. Oh well, back to the PageRank.
Considering all this, a good starting strategy would be to:
- optimise your web site (also known as Search Engine Optimization or SEO);
- start a link network;
- submit your web site to other relevant databases;
- get listed on certain directories;
- ensure that your content is relevant and useful.
These are actually just general web marketing activities, and will benefit you regardless of what happens on Google. But sure as cream rises they will all help to improve your Google position too. Some will work better than others in this regard, it depends on what area of business you are in and what the competition is like for your target search terms (this changes so the research is worth repeating occasionally).
In the end, if you want to achieve a sustainable high Google position, then you will almost certainly have to be patient; and there are never any guarantees – it may never happen. If you are really lucky you might be guaranteed a place1, if you’re not then your chances could be 1 in 100 million2, which is about ten times less likely than winning the National Lottery.
My advice is to be realistic and read on, because the important point I’ve been trying to get to is that, for 99% of businesses, getting to page one on Google is not actually what’s most important.
- 1
- Search for “lycra ballet shoes”. Number of results: 8.
- 2
- Search for “car”. Number of results: 1.03 billion.
- 3
- Times Online June 06, 2006.
awesome article…is it true that google doesn’t like paid lists? I.e I pay partypop and the get me on google page 1 organic.
Thanks Dustin.
Google doesn’t judge, indeed doesn’t know, whether you’ve paid someone to do your web marketing for you or not. And I would say you are doing the right thing by getting professionals to do it for you – Google certainly won’t ‘mind’.
However, Google can spot, doesn’t like and will ‘object’ to webpages that try unfairly, by using so-called Black Hat (aka unethical or spamdexing) techniques to get an unreasonably high position in its search results. No reputable company will use these techniques, and anyway I believe they have quite low ’survival value’ (which is the subject of an upcoming article).
If you are worried your Web Marketing company might be using unethical SEO techniques, which could put your site’s listing in peril, simply ask them to confirm in an email that the methods they are employing are Google approved White Hat techniques. This way you have recourse if the worst occurs.
Really cool stuff la, can I copy your article for my blog?
Hi Spencer, thanks for the compliment but sorry you cannot copy or reproduce the articles on this site. You can link to them though, use a trackback or pingback, which is normal practice for blogs. I see you use wordpress too so it should be a cinch.
Thanks, John.