Irrelevant Ramblings

Last week we I showed you what Keywords were and how to use them in the meta tags and main content of your site. Optimizing the keywords for your site is only half the battle of climbing the rankings in Google.

This we we are going to talk about how to get your site to become the first search result.

WARNING: THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT. IT WILL TAKE TIME AND EFFORT.

There is only one way to make it to the top of the Google standings and that is by making them think you are the coolest kid on the playground. Ultimately ranking in Google, or any other search engine, boils down to a popularity contest. That’s right you have to make it look like you’ve got more friends than the other guy.

So, how do you gain coolness? Coolness is calculated by incoming links to your site.

Coolness Factor

Coolness is based on the number of friends (links) you have. A single link from a uber cool site, might just make all the difference and propel you to the front of the pack.  On the other hand it may take thousands of links to make it to the top. 

The more uber cool links you have the easier it is to move to number one. But if you are getting links from the ‘not so cool’ crowd it will take you much longer.

So to make it to the top you will have to learn how to tell the cool kids from the not so cool kids. The cool kids are #1-10 on the search results for your keyword, the not so cool kids are #11-50. You need  to make Google think that you’re in their circle of friends. 

How Many Links Do I Need?

There is no easy answer to this question, it all comes down to the keyword you are searching for. For a keyword that is not competitive it might take 2 links to be number one, but for an uber competitive keyword it could take you 100,000 or more links.

If you would like to figure this out for a specific keyword this is how I do it:

1. Search for your keyword in Google and record the addresses of the first 4 results.
2. Go to Yahoo.com and preform a link domain search (search for linkdomain:eachurlhere.com). 
3. Note the total number of inlinks shown. This is the number you will have to beat.
4. Check the page rank of each of those links. Keep track of how many links come from each page rank. (links with higher page ranks are cooler) 

This is not a hard process, but depending on the the number of inlinks to each of your competitors, it could take quite a long time. If you are looking for an automated approach you can head over to SEO Elite  ($167 US) and it will automate this process for you. The other alternative is to contact me and I can do the work for you as well. I won’t cost as much as SEO Elite.

So this is a start to understanding link building, next week we’ll talk about getting sites to link to your site.

This is a spoof!

The Fine Print:

Your probably thought it was smart to buy a foreign import of superior quality, with better mileage and resale value. Maybe you even thought that years of market share loss might prod us into rethinking our process and redesigning our products with better quality in mind. But you forgot one thing: We spend a shitload of money on lobbyists. So now you’re out $25 billion, plus the cost of your Subaru. Maybe next time you’ll buy American like a real man. Either way, we’re cool.

Brad Ruggles has written a great post about raising a Christian Family. Check it out by clicking below.
7 Keys To Raising A Good Christian Family