Google uses a different method to rank websites than most search engines. You must invest time to rank well in Google; however it is well worth it when your pages start to rank high in the most used search engine on the net.
Linking
Link popularity is key with Google for higher rankings. Your pages link popularity is measured by PageRank, a system used by Google to determine the popularity of your webpage’s. Internal linking is a great way to pass PageRank to the most important pages of your site thus increasing the chances of those pages to rank well in Google. If you do this well you could really help, say, your index page to rank higher in Google. There are 2 types of links that help increase your link popularity:
- Links from other websites using the keywords in the anchor text.
- Linking to your own pages with other pages within your site also using the keywords in the anchor text.
Search engine optimization covers many areas, however one of the most important dynamics is anchor text of inbound or incoming links. Quite a few search engines put a significant amount of weight on the anchor text of your incoming links, Google being the biggest fan. If you get a large amount of incoming links from related sites with high PR (PageRank) and with your keywords in the anchor text, that’s about 75%.
Title Tags
Google puts a great deal of emphasize on your Title tag.
Ensure that you put your pages important keywords in the title tag and as close to the front of the title tag as possible. Do not put your websites name or company name in the title tag. Unless of course your Coca Cola or Microsoft, then it’s ok. This is called Branding and unless that is your goal, don’t do it. No one is going to find you using your company name.
Header Tags
Google also uses header tags (H1, H2, H3). Ensure that your keywords are in at least one or two header tags.
Image Tags
Also get them in a couple of Alt tags as well. If you’re not familiar with Alt tags it’s the wording that is used to describe the images on your page. Use keywords to name your images.
Meta Tags
Google does however use the Meta Description tag to create a summary for you webpage’s description in the SERPs. This in and of itself can be determining factor as to weather or not you rank well for your keywords. Link popularity means absolutely nothing if you are targeting the wrong keywords. Do not overlook this very important tip. Using a keyword research tool such as Wordtracker is highly recommended.
Keywords
Make sure that the first sentence that utilizes your Keyword is the one you want Google to display in the SERPs, because there is no way to force Google to display a specific description. As stated above link popularity is the most important thing you should concentrate on when optimizing for higher rankings in Google.
Although your pages content isn’t really analysed for ranking your sites pages, Google does check it for the keywords you are focusing on. Make sure that you have your keyword positioned throughout your page at the top and at the bottom of your page. This will present your site as a theme and may very well affect your rankings.
Activity
Blogging, activity on Social networks and Search engine registration are the most basic tools to use when getting your site found on search engines. If you have dynamic content and communication between other sites especially ones with high page rankings,(see: alexa.com for Page Rankings) you will find your self getting pulled upwards with every click of the send/post button.
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