The following will build a successful
top rank site in six months time via Google alone. It can be done
faster if you are a real go getter and get a top rank even faster
A) Content:
Prep work and begin building
content. Long before the domain name is settled on, start putting
together notes to build at least a 100 page site. That's just for
openers. That's 100 pages of real content, as opposed to link pages,
resource pages, about/copyright/tos...etc eg: fluff pages.
B)
Domain name:
Easily brandable. You want "google.com"
and not "mykeyword.com". Keyword domains are out - branding
and name recognition are in - big time in. The value of keywords
in a domain name have never been less to se's. Learn the lesson
of "goto.com" becomes "Overture.com" and why
they did it. It's one of the most powerful gut check calls I've
ever seen on the internet. That took serious resolve and nerve to
blow away several years of branding. (that is a whole 'nother article,
but learn the lesson as it applies to all of us).
C) Site Design:
The simpler the better to get
a top rank. Rule of thumb: text content should out weight the html
content. The pages should validate and be usable in everything from
Lynx to leading edge browsers. eg: keep it close to html 4.0 if
you can. Google Spiders are not to the point they really like eating
html 4.1 or above and the mess that it can bring. Stay away from
heavy: flash, dom, java, java script. Go external with scripting
languages if you must have them - there is little reason to have
them that I can see - they will rarely help a site to get a top
rank and stand to hurt it greatly due to many factors most people
don't appreciate (Googles distaste for js is just one of them).
Arrange the site in a logical manner with directory names hitting
the top keywords you wish to hit. You can also go the other route
and just throw everything in root which might help you even more
to get a top rank (this is rather controversial, but it's been producing
good long term results across many engines).
Don't clutter and don't spam your site with frivolous links like
"best viewed" or other counter like junk. Keep it clean
and professional to the best of your ability.
Learn the lesson of Google itself
- simple is retro cool - simple is what surfers want.
Speed isn't everything, it's
almost the only thing to achieve a top rank. Your site should respond
almost instantly to a request. If you get into even 3-4 seconds
delay until "something happens" in the browser, you are
in long term trouble. That 3-4 seconds response time may vary for
site destined to live in other countries than your native one. The
site should respond locally within 3-4 seconds (max) to any request.
Longer than that, and you'll lose 10% of your audience for every
second and the much desired top rank. That 10% could be the difference
between success and not.
The pages
D) Page Size:
The smaller
the better. Keep it under 15k if you can
to get a top rank. The smaller the better.
Keep it under 12k if you can. The smaller
the better. Keep it under 10k if you can
- I trust you are getting the idea here.
Over 5k and under 10k. Ya - that bites -
it's tough to do, but it works. It works
for search engines like google, and it works
for surfers. Remember, 80% of your surfers
will be at 56k or even less.
E) Content:
Build one
page of content and put online per day at
200-500 words to get to a top rank in google.
If you aren't sure what you need for content,
start with the Overture
keyword suggester and find the core
set of keywords for your topic area. Those
are your subject starters.
F) Density, position,
yada...
Simple
old fashioned seo from the ground up.
Use the keyword once in title, once in description
tag, once in a heading, once in the url,
once in bold, once in italic, once high
on the page, and hit the density between
5 and 20% (don't fret about it). Use good
sentences and spell check it. Spell checking
is becoming important as se's are moving
to auto correction during searches to get
to that top rank. There is no longer a reason
to look like you can't spell (unless you
really are phonetically challenged).
G)
Outbound Links:
From every
page, link to one or two high ranking sites
under that particular keyword. Use your
keyword in the link text (this is ultra
important for the future to get to that
top rank).
H)
Insite Cross links.
(cross
links in this context are links WITHIN the
same site)
Link to on topic quality content across
your site t achieve a top rank in google.
If a page is about food, then make sure
it links it to the apples and veggies page.
Specifically with Google, on topic cross
linking is very important for sharing your
PR (page ranking) value across your site.
You do NOT want an "all star"
page that out performs the rest of your
site. You want 50 pages that produce 1 referral
each a day and do NOT want 1 page that produces
50 referrals a day. If you do find one page
that drastically out produces the rest of
the site with Google, you need to off load
some of that PR value to other pages by
cross linking heavily. It's the old share
the wealth thing.
I)
Put it Online.
Don't go with virtual hosting
- go with a stand alone ip to get to a top rank.
Make sure the site is "crawlable" by a spider. All pages
should be linked to more than one other page on your site, and not
more than 2 levels deep from root. Link the topic vertically as
much as possible back to root. A menu that is present on every page
should link to your sites main "topic index" pages (the
doorways and logical navigation system down into real content).
Don't put it online before you
have a quality site to put online. It's worse to put a "nothing"
site online, than no site at all. You want it flushed out from the
start, and get that top rank as soon as possible.
Go for
a listing in the ODP, that will certainly
help you to get that top rank in google.
If you have the budget, then submit to Looksmart
and Yahoo for better prospects. If you don't
have the budget, then try for a freebie
on Yahoo (don't hold your breath).
J)
Submit
Submit
the root to: Google, Fast, Altavista, WiseNut,
(write Teoma), DirectHit, and Hotbot. Now
comes the hard part - forget about submissions
for the next six months. That's right -
submit and forget and wait for that top
rank.
K)
Logging and Tracking:
Get a quality
logger/tracker that can do justice to inbound
referrals based on log files (don't use
a lame graphic counter - you need the real
deal). If your host doesn't support referrers,
then back up and get a new host. You can't
run a modern site without full referrals
available 24x7x365 in real time, otherwise
you would never know which keywords are
helping you to get that top rank you are
after
L)
Spiderlings:
Watch for
spiders from se's. Make sure those that
are crawling the full site, can do so easily.
If not, double check your linking system
(use standard hrefs) to make sure the spider
found it's way throughout the site. Don't
fret if it takes two spiderings to get your
whole site done by Google or Fast. Other
se's are pot luck and doubtful that you
will be added at all if not within 6 months
and getting a top rank could take much longer.
M)
Topic directories.
Almost
every keyword sector has an authority hub
on it's topic. Go submit within the guidelines
to get to that top rank.
N)
Links
Look around
your keyword sector in Googles version of
the ODP. (this is best done AFTER getting
an odp listing - or two). Find sites that
have links pages or freely exchange links.
Simply request a swap. Put a page of on
topic, in context links up your self as
a collection spot.
Don't freak if you can't get people to swap
links - move on. Try to swap links with
one fresh site a day. A simple personal
email is enough. Stay low key about it and
don't worry if site Z won't link with you
- they will - eventually they will once
you hav got that top rank.
O)
Content.
One page
of quality content per day to get to the
top. Timely, topical articles are always
the best. Try to stay away from to much
"bloggin" type personal stuff
and look more for "article" topics
that a general audience will like. Hone
your writing skills and read up on the right
style of "web speak" that tends
to work with the fast and furious web crowd.
Lots of
text breaks - short sentences - lots of
dashes - something that reads quickly and
you will get the top rank you always wanted.
Most web
users don't actually read, they scan. This
is why it is so important to keep low key
pages today. People see a huge overblown
page by random, and a portion of them will
hit the back button before trying to decipher
it. They've got better things to do that
waste 15 seconds (a stretch) at understanding
your whiz bang flash menu system. Because
some big support site can run flashed out
motorhead pages, that is no indication that
you can. You don't have the pull factor
they do.
Use headers,
and bold standout text liberally on your
pages as logical separators. I call them
scanner stoppers where the eye will logically
come to rest on the page.
P)
Gimmicks.
Stay far
away from any "fades of the day"
or anything that appears spammy, unethical,
or tricky, these will definitely cause hinderance
in your efforts to get the top rank in google.
Plant yourself firmly on the high ground
in the middle of the road.
Q)
Link backs
When YOU
receive requests for links, check the site
out before linking back with them. Check
them through Google and their PR value.
Look for directory listings. Don't link
back to junk just because they asked. Make
sure it is a site similar to yours and on
topic so that you get that top rank.
R)
Rounding out the offerings:
Use options
such as Email-a-friend, forums, and mailing
lists to round out your sites offerings.
Hit the top forums in your market and read,
read, read until your eyes hurt you read
so much. Reading will broaden your thinking
capacity and will help you to get a top
rank in google.
Stay away from "affiliate fades"
that insert content on to your site.
S)
Beware of Flyer and Brochure Syndrome
If you
have an ecom site or online version of bricks
and mortar, be careful not to turn your
site into a brochure. These don't work at
all towards getting a top rank. Think about
what people want. They aren't coming to
your site to view "your content",
they are coming to your site looking for
"their content". Talk as little
about your products and yourself as possible
in articles (raise eyebrows...yes, I know).
T)
Build one page of content per day.
Head back
to the Overture suggestion tool to get ideas
for fresh pages.
U)
Study those logs.
After 30-60
days you will start to see a few referrals
from places you've gotten listed and gradually
your ranking will increase. Look for the
keywords people are using. See any bizarre
combinations? Why are people using those
to find your site? If there is something
you have over looked, then build a page
around that topic. Retro engineer your site
to feed the search engine ( Google ) what
it wants.
If your site is about "oranges",
but your referrals are all about "orange
citrus fruit", then you can get busy
building articles around "citrus"
and "fruit" instead of the generic
"oranges".
The search engines like Google will tell
you exactly what they want to be fed - listen
closely, there is gold in referral logs,
it's just a matter of panning for it.
V)
Timely Topics
Nothing
breeds success like success. Stay abreast
of developments in your keyword sector.
If big site "Z" is coming out
with product "A" at the end of
six months, then build a page and have it
ready in October so that Google gets it
by December. eg: go look at all the Xbox
and XP sites in Google right now - those
are sites that were on the ball last summer.
W)
Friends and Family
Networking
is critical to towards a top rank of the
site. This is where all that time you spend
in forums will pay off. pssst: Here's the
catch-22 about forums: lurking is almost
useless. The value of a forum is in the
interaction with your fellow colleagues
and cohorts. You learn long term by the
interaction - not by just reading.
Networking will pay off in link backs, tips,
email exchanges, and it will put you "in
the loop" of your keyword sector.
X)
Notes, Notes, Notes
If you
build one page per day, you will find that
brain storm like inspiration will hit you
in the head at some magic point. Whether
it is in the shower (dry off first), driving
down the road (please pull over), or just
parked at your desk, write it down! 10 minutes
of work later, you will have forgotten all
about that great idea you just had. Write
it down, and get detailed about what you
are thinking. When the inspirational juices
are no longer flowing, come back to those
content ideas. It sounds simple, but it's
a life saver when the ideas stop coming.
Y)
Submission check at six months
Walk back
through your submissions and see if you
got listed in all the search engines you
submitted to after six months and see if
you are closer to a top rank. If not, then
resubmit and forget again. Try those freebie
directories again too.
Z)
Build one page of quality content per day.
Starting
to see a theme here? Google loves content
and this will help you like anything to
get a top rank. Making a quality content
page takes no longer that an hour a day.
Optimising it might take another hour or
so, however the effort will get you a reward
you have always dreamt off. At the end of
a six motnhs time, you should have around
200 pages of content. That will get you
good top ranking under a wide range of keywords,
generate recip links, and overall position
your site to stand on it's own two feet.
Do those 26 things, and I guarantee
you that in six months time you will call your site a success and
a top rank site. It will be drawing between 500 and 2000 referrals
a day from search engines like Google. If you build a good site
with an average of 4 to 5 pages per user, you should be in the 10-15k
page views per day range in one years time. What you do with that
traffic is up to you, but that is more than enough to "do something"
with.
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