Marketing Tips Section How to Get Listed in Google
MARKETING
TIPS SECTION
How
to Get Listed in Google
Marketing
Twist isn't in the Google directory. I've known this for a while now
but decided not to worry about it until I knew I could get it done
right. Google is becoming the most important directory/search engine
so understanding how it works and what it looks for is the key to
getting listed.
First of all, here's what Google DOESN'T like:
Basically, what they're saying is they want real content and the more original the better. They don't like splash screens, dynamically generated pages, or doorways. They also don't like frames -- but I think we've all known that for a while.
They want to see that your site is real, has something to offer and is interesting enough for other sites to link to it. So, the more your site reflects each of these criteria the better your ranking in Google will be.
Here are some strategies giving Google what it wants:
1.
Google likes to see link popularity. That means other sites out there
linking to yours. Just add a "links" page to your site and
start trading links with complimentary sites. In fact, this is so
important that it's how they want to find you. Google crawls every
site in it's directory every 4 weeks and picks up links to new sites
from that crawling trip. So, as long as you're linked to a site already
in their directory you're home free. The more sites that it finds
linking to you the better. The theory being if other great sites think
you're important to link to then you must have something to offer
and they'll give you a better ranking.
2. This brings us to link relevance. Google doesn't want to just see a lot of sites linking to yours, it wants to see high quality sites that are relevant. So be selective with the links you choose for your link directory. If you link to a site that Google has banned or otherwise doesn't approve of it will hurt your ranking more than help it. It's better to have 5 links from sites that have great content and a lot of traffic than 500 links from link farms and other sites that are completely irrelevant to yours. The key here is quality, not quantity.
3. Google loves unique sites that have original content to offer. By providing a content rich site you'll not only be giving Google what it wants but your link partners a reason to want to link to your site which increases your link popularity. Filling your site with good content isn't hard. Here are a few ideas...
• Avoid free hosting and get a keyword rich domain name
• Make sure your site has a clear purpose.
• If you publish an ezine, create an archive page that links to all your past issues.
• If you write articles, create an articles page that links to all of them and allow others to link to them as well -- just make sure they give you credit and link back to you.
• Create an organized sitemap with text links to everything on your site. This will benefit your users as well.
• And, a new way is to have a blogger on your site. If you're not familiar with bloggers. They're basically online journals that people post online. Check out my Marketing Twist Daily Blogger to see an example of how this adds original content to my site.
4.
Take the time to read Google's
guidelines. They're very clear about what they like to see and
even give tips about what to do and not to do.
While there's no point in obsessing about it since there are plenty of other highly effective marketing tactics, being listed in Google is a good thing. It's basically free targeted traffic and there's nothing wrong with that!