“Get ranked on Google.” Those are the first words we all think of as soon as someone says digital marketing. Google dominates the united states and most of the world. I can’t stress that enough! So why not go to the source for information? This quick blurb has hidden gems if you know what you are looking for. Besides getting Google Certified, taking a quick read over the Google rule book should pay off. Lets uncover some of the key SEO takeaways from Googles SEO guide.
Google’s SEO guide
Headline format, meta description and no-follow If you have a unique piece of content that has amazing content, but no one shares it, try making it unique by adding a no-follow attribute to it. By doing this, the title will be visible to the user that the page is in no way connected to another website. Another great technique is changing the layout to include links to other websites. The point of this is to get some link juice on your page, but not to drive traffic back to your own site. This is where the headline format comes in. Headline format Don’t use the same headline for the body copy and the meta description. They are very different things and by doing this, Google thinks the page is spammy. They may also be looking at your meta description and thinking it is spammy as well.
Google Ranking Factors
Google ranks sites on several factors including relevance, freshness, authority, popularity, and currency. Get familiar with these on the Google bot search page. If you are finding the results are getting stale, it is time to go out and do something about it. Quality Over Quantity This point takes a bit of investigation, so make sure you dig deep to find out exactly what it means. Google doesn’t want you to waste resources on content that will be invisible to the search engines. You need to spend time writing quality content for your website. Google likes to see a high number of quality, original pages linking to your site. One Example Sometimes people don’t understand what constitutes good quality content. Google sets a high standard here so you don’t want to make any mistakes.
Credibility
Before we get into the “real” stuff, I want to address the credibility that your competitors need to possess. Although, if the SEO’s in question aren’t credible, this step might be moot. For those who are legitimately well respected, of course it doesn’t hurt, but not being credible will greatly lower your value in the eyes of Google. See this article, where I go over some basic criteria that Google uses to deem which company’s rank higher on google. Operations Planning is everything. Google can’t be expected to rank your website unless it is sure that you will maintain the expected quality of your content and other factors. The key to an effective SEO campaign is writing strategies. Without effective planning, you can never have a dependable campaign.
Crawlability
A ranking algorithm looks at many factors and to maintain a top spot on their search page, there are rules to follow. One of these, crawability. The indexing of a website is a key factor. The more accessible it is on the web, the more Google is confident of your site and your page being useful to their user base. So how do you ensure a good ranking for your website? Read this handy tip on how to make your website crawlable. Google Webmaster Tools If you want to see what keywords people are searching for around you, be sure to have your website in Google Webmaster tools (http://webmaster.google.com). Many people skip the process of typing in their site name and go straight for their email address and submit form. It may seem annoying, but in the long run, you will be thankful you did it!
Do’s and Dont’s
First and foremost, Google wants good content to be the go-to source for any website. Sure, keywords and links matter but if your website is just a bunch of pages with no real substance, people will leave. They will go somewhere else to find what they are looking for. Taking what the search engine wants into account when writing content is easy. But it is important to understand the points and do nots when you are crafting content. This is a must read for all newbie bloggers and business owners. Keep this book nearby when designing new content. The Google page rank (and keyword) algorithm is something most digital marketers and SEOs have probably heard of. Let’s do a quick recap of what it is. Page rank and keyword rank is determined by organic traffic, visibility, and reputation.
Conclusion
Marketing is a skill that is constantly evolving. Many people try to fit everything into the same mold, but it is really important to learn from the experts in the field. You have the power to put yourself in a good position to succeed. If you are looking to do a bit of homework, there is no better resource than the ultimate guide to digital marketing. Pick it up today!
