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fabulous article! thank you so much. Now id you know of a great SEO company let me know. If you want to buy a home in Laguna Beach let me know that too and I will help you. hillary@thecoastalpropertyexperts.com
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Get Your Website on the First Page of Google...the Right Way
Who hasn’t opened an email from some company claiming they will get your site on the first page of Google search results? Please read this article before you break out the VISA…
Written Sep 10, 2010, read 5327 times since then.
If you have a website with a contact form, or a displayed email address, you will get an email from a SEO company claiming they will get your site on the first page of Google search results. What business doesn't want that?
The emails from these companies will use terms like Automatic Directory Submission, Google Sitemaps and do-follow blog commenting. While there is potential validity to a few of their methods, most are ‘utter garbage’, in the words of someone I consider to be a SEO expert.
Get one thing straight, I’m not a SEO expert, but I have a few ideas I’d like to share…
Forget the whack comments that come out of Google’s CEO on a daily basis; he has a team of engineers who are off the wall. They are brilliant. Google changes, as needed, to remain the premier search engine in the world. Why else would Bing be the un-used joke it is?
You can’t fool Google...; you must treat her like a female lover - one that doesn’t 'pretend'.
That’s right; Google is a chick! (I mean no dis-respect to my female audience, I love 'power-chicks'! Please take a moment to keep reading.) You have to take the proper steps, and give her the proper time, to make her trust and cherish you.
You will never totally understand her, because it’s her prerogative to change her mind. Accept that. What once made her happy may not keep a smile on her face today.
She needs time to get ready for love to occur, lots of it. In my opinion, most SEO companies attempt to violate her. They make their money by showing quick results, or they simply (like most men) have no clue (or care) about how she really wants to be treated. They perform their little act solely for themselves.
You cannot give her 5 minutes and expect her to love you back fully. She needs your constant attention. She needs time to accept you, trust you, and really understand you want her love.
I believe Google likes the way I approach and treat her. My boring little site does rather well in Google search, especially since I became a bizniker. If you have a minute, Google the words "IT Consulting Nashville” as a test. I’ve been on page one for a rather long time, without paying anyone a dime.
Special Note: One thing you might want to do as you judge your SEO efforts – perform your tests from different PCs, that are on different subnets. I’ve noticed that I’m almost always the #1 (non-paying) link when performing that test from my own PC. When I go to other PCs, I’m usually #10. I’ve read a few things about why this happens, but who really knows?
Want some real fun? Google ‘Steve Kozy’ and see what site comes up first in the list. You don’t have to be Carnac the Magnificent to guess correctly. The guys at biznik will love the answer; #1 is currently biznik.com/members/steve-kozy.
Add ‘Nashville’ to that search for even more fun; every 1st page link points to me, except for one of Dad’s $3M land deals. I love the city that's currently my home & believe everyone should visit Nashville and grab a little of its magic, but there is another motive for giving this place a 'shout out' every time it fits, in everything I publish.
This leads to Tip #1: Work with a website developer or consultant who can build/adjust a site that is friendly to both users and search engines. A good one can help you optimize your pages to target keywords that your customers and visitors might search for to find you.
Tip #2: Keep your content fresh! Google and the other search engines are not easily fooled by the tricks that SEO companies charge for. The engines like to see current, relevant content, simple as that. Your site needs to have either a news system, blog, or some other way to highlight events & projects on your home page so that content can be changed frequently.
Tip #3: Submit your site the right way. Google has added a feature called Sitemaps which is nothing more than a small text file that lists every page in your website and when it was last updated. The benefit is that if you submit a sitemap to Google, it can keep your content current in the search index, unlike simply submitting a URL and letting Google find the rest of the pages on its own. There are programs that not only create this file for you, but automatically update it whenever content is added or changed to your website.
Tip #4: Use friendly URLs. Take a look at the address bar for this article. On many sites you'd see something like “yoursite.com /blog/post.php?postid=874&activeblog =yes&highlight=seo”. All of the text after the "/blog" means nothing to either a user or to a search engine, but “biznik.com/members /steve-kozy/articles/get-your-website-on-the-first-page-of-googlethe-right-way” is both easy to read and easily indexed by search engines. This is known as a "friendly URL" and it is a great easy way to improve your rankings.
Tip #5: Get other sites to link to yours. Search engine ranking is also calculated based on other sites linking to yours. Submit your web address to other sites and directories that are related to your industry. The key here is ‘your industry’; the current Google algorithms like relevant things.
Do all of you know your website can actually get banned by Google these days?
Some of the SEO ‘guarantee’ emails proclaim their techniques "will not get your website banned" by Google. Often their methods involve things like spamming blog comment engines with your site address to create links back to it. While that may not get you banned, it will certainly create a lot of hassle for other site administrators as they have to spend time clearing out the garbage links that the SEO company posted after they rang up your VISA. Eventually, those links will be removed or flagged as spam and thus defeat the purpose of paying the SEO company to post them.
Let’s end this article with an actual example of bad SEO in action. A law firm that has trusted my company with their IT needs for 20 years asks me to look at a well-prepared SEO sales pitch you watch on a website. The pitch gets you to test one of their clients. You Google ‘law firms Memphis TN’. DAMN! …their client IS #1 on the first page. One of the jawbones starts reaching for his wallet...
C’mon folks, we’re Software Knowledge. My cousin, Jimmy Karol, is one of the best magicians in the world. He taught me my first trick when I was 7.
I ask the law firm to give me 30 days. We check next week, same position. Week 3 - Bingo! The client has dropped to the second page. To shorten the story; we keep watching. In 5 months the client was back on page 14, right where the sales pitch said they started. Money down the drain.
In summary; be wary when someone sends you an email promising or guaranteeing a certain ranking on Google. It's just not possible, and their methods could damage your long-term ranking or even get you blocked permanently.
Remember, treat Google like a lover, not a prostitute.
I see Google as something beautiful, like the Indian festival of Raksha Bandhan (Rakhi).
Ties of silk string, that are as strong as steel, existing while almost being invisible.
In times of war, these 'strings' were purely karma (or as Software Knowledge says 'mojo'.)
Consider the words and links you use in your website, articles, tweets & blogs. Are you creating strings (mojo) that tie your material together in a way Google loves and trusts?
Steve
Shout-out to my little sister; Happy Birthday Chapstick! The world would be a happier place if everyone had a sister like mine.
Stephen J Kozy III has been serving the computer needs of the southeast US since 1982. He currently lives in Nashville, TN... a magical city.
http://www.softwareknowledgeinc.com - Nashville is Alive... come visit us!
Learn more about the author, Steve Kozy.
Comment on this article
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Posted by Dennis Smith, Seattle, Washington |Oct 18, 2010 Good tips above to always keep in mind! SEO is always changing and you have to keep on top of the competition.
There's some really good information in the updated Google SEO Starter guide (FREE):
http://socialmediaphile.com/index.php/2010/10/08/google-updates-seo-starter-guide/
You have to remember to think about how others would search Google and determine what keywords might bring your business to the top of search engine results page(SERP).
Just because I rank #2 for "Volunteer Management Software" doesn't mean someone is going to search using those exact keywords.
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Posted by Steve Kozy, Nashville, Tennessee |Oct 18, 2010 Thanks Hillary, Never been to Laguna Beach, but will try to take a vacation there with my beautiful wife to decide if it will be where we retire... always heard good things about that little piece of paradise.
Thanks also Dennis, in case our biznik readers do not the time to read the link you posted, it starts with this: "Are you looking to get your website or blog to the top of Google’s SERP? While there is no magical formula to get to the top of Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP), there are good practices you should follow."
In my first version of this 'different' type of article on SEO, I refer to many SEO pitches as 'magic-beans'. Like any successful business, growth does not occur in an instant. Readers, the 32 page document the link leads you to is fantastic!
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Posted by Tony Hettler, Des Moines, Washington |Oct 19, 2010 Great Article. This was a great starting tutorial to how things on Google work. I now have topics in which I can search into more depth to become even more familiar with getting top rankings. =)
I appreciate the time you took to write this!
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Posted by Joanie Dhillon, Seattle, Washington |Oct 19, 2010 Interesting analogy, Steve! But, it is so true. What stood out to me most was "Your site needs to have either a news system, blog, or some other way to highlight events & projects on your home page so that content can be changed frequently." This was something one of my biz website's struggled with. I do like the event and project suggestion. Thanks for the fabulous post!
Joanie
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Posted by Marilyn Oliva, Fort Lauderdale, Florida |Oct 28, 2010 Thanks Steve. Love the comparison of Google to a power chick! I agree that you have to beware of promises from so called SEO experts. I know from experience that your website ranking depends on how much time you spend posting new content and hopefully getting links back to your site. A friend of mine calls it "Feeding the Beast" because it is not a onetime deal. If you make the commitment to optimize your site to have a good Google ranking you have to keep feeding it relevant and useful information.
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Posted by Richard Satterfield, Gloucester, Virginia |Nov 05, 2010 Just joined but loved the article. Good advice. I happen to be from Nashville originally but now reside in Gloucester, VA. I plan to put some of your advice to practice.
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Posted by Ciara Brennan, Scituate, Massachusetts |Nov 05, 2010 To tell you the truth I don't agree with you. Google is a search engine, a machine. It is not a person. It does not read your website unless you are manually reviewed and trust me with the amount of websites and webpages out there, this is not likely to happen unless you are drawing serious attention (think pills like Viagra, people spamming to increase Adsense earnings). I can and have gotten many businesses to #1 for their chosen keywords in under 3 months. Do you want to know why? It is because I am not afraid of Google. I am not going to tiptoe around afraid to make moves because of what may happen. I take action and that is what gets my sites and my client sites to #1. Nothing else.
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Posted by Steve Kozy, Nashville, Tennessee |
Dec 21, 2010 Hi Ciara,
I have not been on biznik in a while, but a delayed thanks for this input. To tell you the truth, I agree with much you write. The purpose of this article was to open ones mind to the topic. Your statement: "I am not going to tiptoe around afraid to make moves because of what may happen. I take action..." is my favorite. Much of what I wrote concentrates on taking action, the right way.
Thanks again for the input, Steve
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Posted by Nick Webb, Seattle, Washington |Jun 02, 2011 Way late to the party, but good article. You essentially have echoed my thoughts on SEO.
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Posted by Chas Wyatt, Gladstone, Oregon |Jun 04, 2011 Just ran across this article. As an update, since Google has implemented it's 'Panda' program, many sites that use RSS feeds have lost ground in Google rankings. Whether fairly, or not, they have been dubbed as 'content farms'. The new buzz-word in SEO is original content.
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Posted by Michael Max, St Louis, Missouri |Aug 18, 2011 Great article, and the metaphors totally fit.
One of the things that I think is hilarious is when an SEO company calls asks me if I would like to be on page one of google. If they bothered to actually see where I stand on google with a few choice keywords they would have seen that I'm already on the first page.
You have to do your homework to get ranked on google, and you should do your homework before approaching clients as well!
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Posted by Sue Cartwright, Worcester, Worcestershire United Kingdom |Jan 05, 2013 Hi Steve,
This is a fantastic article and a brilliant analogy, who of us ladies would mind being referred to as a 'power chick' - not me, that for sure.
Interestingly, your article is as bang on today as it was back in September 2010, way before Google changed it's algorithms to favour more 'social' activity on websites and blogs. The key as you say is to keep producing fresh and relevant content - that's relevant to your core message, industry, readers and competition. Filling the gaps by writing content that people want and can't find is the 'magic bullet' in my content-driven world.
I'm here so late because you kindly read my first 'come-back' article and sent a message, one reason why I love the Biznik community and have returned after a long break. I've been spending the time developing my business and writing materials (and visiting Australia last winter). I have made a note to visit Nashville when I come to the US - something I would dearly love to do in the not too distant future.
Until then, I look forward to reading further insights and articles. I've fixed my LinkedIn link and heading over to your FB page now, many thanks for the heads-up and for liking my page.
All my best Sue
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Posted by Steve Kozy, Nashville, Tennessee |
Jan 07, 2013 Sue, Thank you for the extremely kind compliment. The biznik community is a better place now that you're back! Looking forward to your wonderful insight. Steve
Steve's current promotion
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Updated Sep 25, 2010
Trash your Vista in Oct
Software Knowledge will be offering free webinars & Nashville open-house parties on Upgrading your Vista PC to Windows 7. It can be done rather easily...[more]
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