How to get to number 1 on Google - ORLY?

Everyone is an SEO expert these days.

Written Jun 22, 2008, read 316 times since then.

I have had a great laugh at the expense of a few people contacting me claiming to know everything there is to know about SEO including "How to get to number 1 on Google".

Well, I need to let you into a little secret. SEO IS EASY.

Yes, that's right, there is no secret, there is no magical formula and there certainly isn't any special 'hotline to Google' pre-requiste for joining the elite, (even though some claim that there is and that they are the 'chosen ones'!)

OK smarty pants, how is it done?
What is SEO all about?
Simply put, it's about optimising your online presence to maximise your potential for high listing on the top 4 search engines or directories commonly known as Google, Yahoo, AOL and DMOZ.

Huh? You did what with what in a who what?

In other words, build your site using common sense, logic and cleanliness.
Seriously, that's all there is to it.
No chin stroking, no rocket science, no long beards.

I'll say it again:
Build your site using common sense, logic and cleanliness.

And for those that still don't get it, here's 3 easy steps to start you off:

1, The Domain/ URLs:
Choose and create specific and relevant domains and URLs.
It's no good having something like www.cheap-hosting-company.eu/customers/index.php?Page-1=SDDD4eer/~twelve/mybikeshop/Pages/ladiesbik - I mean, how good will that look on your business card?

If possible, a much better option would be something like:
www.mybikeshop.com
with URLs like - www.mybikeshop.com/prices
www.mybikeshop.com/contact_us
www.mybikeshop.com/ladies_bikes

2, Page title:
A bit obvious really but title your pages to describe their content.
Don't leave it as 'Untitled Document'.
Why not? well, if you do then you'll end up amongst the other 37,000,000 google results.

3, In page tags:
How a page is built makes all the difference. There are tags that need to be in the header, tags that need to be in the footer, all are relevant, but it's the ones in the body that a lot of developers seem to mess up.
Construct a page incorporating the following structure -
<h1>Most Important</h1>
<h2>Second Most Important</h2>
<h3>Third Most Important</h3>

So there's 3 easy steps to get you started but don't get me wrong, it takes a lot of hard work and a lot more steps than just these 3.

I don't claim to be any SEO expert and I will never promise anything as ridiculous as "getting you to number 1 on Google" but I do try as hard as possible and sometimes the hard work pays off.
A site I designed and developed about 2 years ago flounders around page 20/ page 25 and wouldn't know what page 1 was if it was invited to a special one off 'be on page 1' open day.
Conversely a site I designed and developed less than a month ago currently sits at number 2 on Google page 1.
Try these keywords - "Bespoke Menswear"

So, developers, keep that code clean and structured and if you've got a website and someone promises to 'get you to Google page 1' ask them about their Snake Oil special offers.

Learn more about the author, Lee Rickler.

Comment on this article

Posted by Bob Gerrish, Bothell, Washington | Jun 27, 2008

Good article, Lee.

Content is also worth mentioning. I want Pizza Works to show up in Google searches when people look up Gluten Free for Seattle. I put a small, insignificant line at the bottom of the home page "(Pizza Works is located in a Seattle suburb on Finn Hill between Kenmore and Kirkland)"

This makes me visible on searches of Finn Hill, Seattle, Kirkland and Kenmore, even though we have a Bothell address which is out of place.

Check your content and make sure you have words that you want to show up in a search. If you don't get them in the content.

Some search engine robots still search the "keywords" meta tag. So put all those searchalbe words in it as well.
Posted by Steven Bradford, Seattle , Washington | Jun 27, 2008

I love your premise-- That basic SEO isn't rocket science. Though it can be a lot of tedious work if you have to upgrade a site with old fashioned design that's opaque to search engines. I'm not an SEO specialist, but using the tips you mention, plus others (such as describing photos in their file names, and giving them descriptive alt tags containing the important key search words of the site) even an amateur can greatly improve a ranking. A long time associate is 30 year expert in a field that was moribund and is suddenly hot. (Stereoscopic Video 3D) But his search results were terrible despite having a lot of searchable content. I've been slowly going over his site, changing all the page URLs, adding Tittles, changing the image file names from numbers to descriptions, etc. One of the main problems was that all of his main headings were gifs, not searchable text! This preserved a certain font look but hurt search results. I took out those gifs and made them text headings.

Now instead of being low on the second page of results, he's usually hitting in the first two or three.

It's tedious work, but it paid off.

Taking the mystery out of video: web, DVD or 3D
Posted by Lee Rickler, London, Islington United Kingdom | Jun 27, 2008

Content is king, Bob, as you say, and my 3 tips above are just the beginning. And I agree with you Steven that it can be tedious but rewarding work.
Posted by Lee Rickler, London, Islington United Kingdom | Jun 27, 2008

Just a quick note: To boost my claim that it's not rocket science, this article has only been online for less than a day and already it's on page 1 (position 8)
Posted by Lee Rickler, London, Islington United Kingdom | Jun 27, 2008

reguarding above - it's gone again!
Posted by Chris Cliff, Lynnwood, Washington | Jun 30, 2008

One thing I frequently see missed (beyond title tags) is tagging pictures on a page. Many times we forget that the mighty G. also indexes the pictures on our pages using the alternative description text!

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How to get to number 1 on Google - ORLY?

Everyone is an SEO expert these days.

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