How to Get and Stay on Page One of Google

For starters, you need to understand keywords and how they affect your rank in the search engines. Keyword(s) are words or phrases that people type into the search engines to find something. Some keywords are more competitive than others. The higher the search volume for a given keyword or phrase, the harder it is to get on page one.

Choosing your keywords is not a simple task. People change constantly! This means their search patterns change. So you need to figure out what people would search to find you and track how that may change. Having the right keywords is essential. It doesn't do you any good being on page one, if your customers aren't looking at it (for example being number one for the keyword "giraffe" when you sell accounting software and giraffe isn't in your name). To get and remain on page one of the search engines requires constant, continuous education and communication. You need to really step back and think about what word or phrase people will type in to find your services.

For many businesses, especially niche based ones, getting on page one is relatively easy. Why? You don't have much, if any, competition! Here is an example; let's pretend I am a Tu Nai Massage Therapist in Orlando, Florida (Tu Nai is a very specialized form of massage). In short, my keywords would be: "Tu Nai massage Orlando, Tu Nai massage Orlando Florida, Tu Nai massage UCF." I wouldn't put "Tu Nai Florida" because people are not going to drive more than 10 or so miles to visit me; it is also a larger area and therefore would be more competitive.

Since I would have very little, if any, competition, all I would need to do to get on page one is this:

1. Create a simple website and use my keywords on each of the pages.
2. Write twenty or so articles about Tu Nai and then add the extensions "massage Orlando, massage Orlando Florida," and so on in the title, body, and closing.
3. Publish each article as a webpage, or to a blog, and link the closing phrase that contains my keywords to my homepage. For example, I would attach a hyperlink leading to my homepage to the text, "Tu Nai massage Orlando."

Within a few weeks, I would be on page one of Google. To stay there, I would simply continue to write and publish articles to my website that incorporate my keywords.

While this strategy works fine for people with relatively little competition for their keywords, here are two more steps that will help those with more competitive ones.

1. Cluster the keywords. Clustering is all about relevant content. It involves publishing content using your keywords with additional extensions like: Tu Nai tips, Tu Nai secrets, how-to Tu Nai, etc.... The more relevant content you publish the better.
2. Write high quality content. This may seem obvious, but it is very important. Better content attracts more readers. The more people that like your content, the more will link to your site, and the higher you will rank in the search engines. If your content is juicy, it is called linkbait. This means people will want to link to it. Top quality content can go viral with little to no marketing. You can dominate the search engines overnight with one juicy piece of content.

Lots of things play a role in search engine ranking. The algorithms that power search engines like Google are very complex and factor in many things. One example of something that is out of your control is domain age. The longer your website and blog has been online the higher you will rank in the search engines. For the most part, you have control over how you rank, and if done right, you can put your site at the top of the list without giving an arm and leg to do so.

In summary, to rank high in the search engines you need to do three things: Choose the right keywords, create lots of juicy/ relevant content using your keywords that people want to link to, and keep it up. Like most things in life, it takes work to get to number one, and it takes work to stay there.

Did you find this article helpful? Do you have any other tips or tricks that you'd like to share? Please do by visiting the jiveSYSTEMS blog (just Google it!). I look forward to reading your comments!