3 Ways (part 1) to Improve Search Engine Rankings

There's lots of talk about ways to improve search engine rankings, and it's clearly a very emotive subject with many people amongst the so-called 'internet SEO (search engine optimisation) experts' fraternity, all of whom often have differing opinions about what gets a website 'ranked'.

From someone who has had all (yes all) his websites ranked on page one in the Top 5 search results for the Top 3 keywords I have targeted (and these are competitive, high traffic keywords), let me share with you now my thoughts on how to get highly ranked and get your websites listed amongst the top 10 search results for your keywords.

I have a simple 3-Stage Approach to getting ranked high. Here, in Part 1, is my first Stage...

Stage 1. Pick The Right Keyword Phrases:

Firstly I ensure I target keywords that have traffic. What I mean by that is it amazes me how many people think it's all about being placed high up the page by being "highly ranked", with no regard for the actual amount of traffic a keyword gets! What's even more staggering are these 'SEO expersts' that offer their services, usually at exorbitant rates, with promises like "we'll get you appearing in the Top 10 Results on 100 pages" when they don't have any idea what keywords are being identified by you as their client.

Let me be really clear on this - anyone can have a Number 1 position for a keyword! ...anyone - just type in a keyword phrase, say with 4 or 5 words in it (this is a 'longtail keyword'), and it is likely to have very little competition that you could dominate the Top Number 1 spot for that search. But what you have to ask yourself is how many people are actually typing in that 5 or 6-word phrase? Probably no-one I suspect. So here's the thing - yep, it is pretty easy to get highly ranked, like Top 5, for many keywords, but the first thing you need to do is identify if there are a whole bunch of people looking for that keyword, because if there isn't, then getting ranked at even Number 1 spot isn't going to make any difference to your business sales, because even at Number 1, if no-one is searching for that keyword phrase and searching for it, then there's no-one that will ever see you at Number 1.

So, before anything - before you 'optimise' your website (I'll discuss this in Part 2); before you look to get ranked high in the search results; before you do anything, make sure that you are clear on the keywords you are going to target actually have traffic, by which I mean there are lots and lots of people typing in that keyword phrase into a search service looking to find you. Get your keywords right first! ...and make sure they are keywords people are using in their searches - in lots of searches!

By Steve Mitchell