Let’s talk Google
As you are probably aware, Google is the primary leader of all search engines. The fact is, if you are unable to show up on the first page of Google for a specific keyword, then your chances of getting found on the Internet is greatly depreciated. However, at this point in our plan there are a few things you will need to be aware of about this search engine behemoth. Going back to the beginning of this digest, I stated that one of the most important attributes you can have in this business is patience. The following information, although not written in stone is what is known as Google’s Sandbox.
Many SEO experts believe that one of the primary SEO obstacles that must be overcome is the amount of time a website has been indexed. In other word the longer a website has been indexed, the higher it will rank. I too feel this is a criteria that the Google algorithm looks at when determining where your site will rank in the Search Engine Results Page (SERPS) Therefore, my advice would be to determine what type of website you will be using be it a static site or dynamic, that you build a couple of pages of content relating to your specific keyword and submit it to Google and the other primary search engines such as Bing, Yahoo, and ASK as soon as possible, even if you are not yet ready to begin a full on website build at this time.
On more that one occasion I have noticed that my own newly domain websites will often rank fairly high on Google then take a nose dive for up to six months, and no matter what I do, how much detail I go into to get my rankings up, my new domain sites will linger for a time in the sandbox. Understanding this, I cannot over emphasize the need for patience. Use this down time to your advantage by developing content for your site and tweaking your sites keyword SEO. This is also the time to get started building back links to your site.
The Short Story on Google SEO Theory
Way back when the Internet was young, SEO was fairly simple. Meta Tags were pretty much the only things that we need to manipulate to rank high in the SERPS. All that was required was a Title Tag, Keyword Tag, and Description Tag to deal with. If you understood how to work with these three Meta tags, you were virtually guaranteed to rank high in the search engine results. However, this is no longer the case. In-fact, Google states they do not use the Keyword tag at all. However, I would be lying if I said I did not use the keyword tag in my own SEO operations.
Imagine for a moment that you are the new kid on the block. You don’t know anyone, you have no friends, and you are pretty much left to your own devices for a period of time. Now imagine you are most well known person in school. What is the primary difference? Friends and acquaintances that see you as someone they should know! Google’s algorithm works by taking this popularity into account when ranking your website. The more friends your website has (back links) the higher your popularity will be in the search engines. Now take for instance that your website is about barbecue recipes. It stands to reason that you would want to have back links from like minded websites such as other food related sites, lifestyle sites, BBQ Event sites and the like. With an abundance of back links to your site from other related websites the Google algorithm will see your site as an expert in this field and your rankings will improve for this reason. I will discuss more about back links and SEO later on in this guide. But for now, it is important that you understand the sooner you begin building back links to your site from related websites the better.
Google also takes into account the type of content, the amount of content, and the way in which your content is constructed. My advice is that you not worry too much about these factors at this time, and begin writing about what you want to place on your site. Remember that your primary product on an AdSense optimized website is your content. If you are going to get your visitors to click on an AdSense ad in an effort to increase your income, then it is important that you have content that gives the reader a reason to hang around for a while. If your writing style is boring, and your content is drab then your visitors are going to vacate your site rather quickly. The longer they stay on your site, the more apt they are to see an AdSense ad that will cause them to click on it. This is particularly important if you are marketing affiliate products. You must build excitement in your content, and give the visitor what they are looking for. IE: INFORMATION.
It goes without saying that if this is your first attempt at AdSense or Affiliate Marketing, that you should be writing content about what you know and like to write about. Anything else and you will find that what you think will be an easy way to earn a living will become a drudgery, and an excruciating ordeal that will cause you to abandon early on your attempt to earn a living with AdSense and Affiliate marketing.
Philisophical point: Internet marketing is a lifestyle rather than a hobby!
You must understand that when Google looks at your website, It is looking for relevant and unique content. You need to think about bringing something different to the table than what is already available on the net. I know this sounds nearly impossible, but what the Algorithm is searching for is content that is dissimilar to the information it already has. In essence what I am telling you is to keep your content unique, and try to get around the work of article writing by cutting and pasting and then paraphrasing someone else’s work. Remember plagiarism is going to get you kicked to the bottom of the barrel and could get you into a hell of a lot of trouble with copyright law.
Essentially, what Google wants to see is that you are able to provide the user with unique content, your site has back links from related sites that indicate your site is a valued contribution to the Internet community, and is properly formatted. In addition, the time spent on your site is also an indicator as to the value of your content. Placing high in the search engine rankings is dependent upon these factors and more. The more pages that are continually viewed by your traffic will help to keep your bounce rate down. A low bounce rate is an indicator as to how relevant your information is to your visitors. It is one of the primary statistics within your Google Analytics Control Panel. A safe assumption would be to continually work to increase your page views and decrease your bounce rate ratios. This is done by writing informative content that keeps your visitors wanting more. For more information on Search Engine Optimization, feel free to read through some of the related articles on this site and others to get a grasp on SEO.