22 Things to do to for a Top 10 Google Listing

In order to make your website list in the top 10, you have to optimize your site for the keyword phrase you have chosen.  (Note that yes it’s possible you have chosen the wrong phrase, maybe you aren’t sure what to choose.  Read through some of the other entries on this site to find out some ways to make a great choice.)  This entry is going to concentrate on some of the factors that will affect your ability to command a top ten spot using the keyword phrase you have chosen.  (Note that you can’t earn a top ten spot for every phrase you have chosen, it’s just not possible.  You may have to adjust your site to match a phrase that you later find to be more in tune with what you are doing.)  But all that aside, let’s say you have chosen a great phrase, say 3 to 4 words and are now ready to make the changes to reflect that phrase on your site.  Here’s a list of things to edit and things that Google and Yahoo rate highly.

1. Your keyword phrase in your website name (can’t get started without choosing your keywords, can you?)
2. Investigate your competition, see how they rank against you, what keywords they are using, and how often, and where on their pages.
3. Keywords used in the meta <title> tags </title> area
4. Global Link Popularity – how many sites link back to you
5. Link texts inbound to you from other sites using your keywords
6. Using search keywords in the <body> area </body> several times
7. Age of your website
8. Keywords in headlines between <h1> tags </h1>
9. Having a subpage that uses the keyword phrase in your site.
10. Links from social networks like facebook, twitter, and buzz
11. Server speed, does your page load quickly – avoid slow graphics
12. Keyword phrase use inside <h2></h2> headline tags all the way to <h6></h6>
13. Keywords used in img alt attributes.  Every graphics has an alt tag.
14. .com instead of .net, .biz. .info etc.
15. Using keywords in bold text in the body of the page
16. Your Alexa ranking – go to http://www.alexa.com and create an account
17. Use keywords as links to other pages on your front page
18. Use keywords as links to other sites on your front page
19. Keywords used in meta tag description at least once, if not twice.
20. Keyword use in meta tag keywords (of course!) This is the only one most people think really matters.
21. Keywords in first sentence of the body text.
22. Keywords in html comments line just under meta tags

These are just a reasonable subset of things you should do to your website to acquire a top 10 listing on Google.  These should be done prior to any major submissions of your site.  Each time you make changes, there is a dealy of several weeks before the search engines all spider your site and get you relisted the way you want so the more care and time you put into these things, the better off you’ll be. 

Please make a comment or ask a question.

2 Comments

  1. Ignacio Dec

    I in fact am not a fan of the Yahoo Search phrases tool. Perhaps I’m just silly, but I don’t genuinely have confidence in a tool just handing me out keywords to invest my income on, even if it does incorporate statistics. I prefer doing my own testing and explore. The more I think about these things myself, the much more concepts I’ll basically formulate on my own. The instrument simply makes items too easy and stimulate me to get reckless with the budget.

  2. admin (Post author)

    Well said, even after intense reserach, I still have to make adjustments. That’s why really good analytics are key to the ongoing success. Also, the fact that the world changes, what interests them a month ago may not interest them anymore. By staying on top of what’s working and what’s not, you have a much better chance at success. I use http://www.sitemeter.com. It’s free, but the analytics it provides for the paid member is in my opinion one of the best. I want to know exactly what keywords people are using to find me and exactly what sites or pages the search came from as well as where. I’m always surprised at some of the results.

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