Over the last decade, thousands of people have earned a living from trying to figure out the Google search algorithm methodology. Some of those have figured out ways to hack the system, but Google, being very smart, has figured out how to prevent that and to punish those who use such unscrupulous tactics. Fortunately there are things you can do to improve your rankings, without incurring the wrath of Google.
Finding Keyword Phrases | Using Google Keyword Tool
Google looks at the document format and carefully considers the title and heading for relevancy. The headings should support your title and have matching keyword phrases.
Both the title and paragraph headings should be relevant to the site content as well as the keywords. If you try to get around this by using fluff, Google will penalize you.
Many people overlook the importance of page names. These are included in the metadata and are one of the first things that Google parses. This makes them especially important.
Backlinks are the bread and butter of high search rankings. The more high quality backlinks you have the better your site will rank. There are many ways to acquire good backlinks and you should use as many techniques as possible.
The links you use within your site also matter. This relates to having a good site map that links various information and resources on your site. Making good use of anchor text makes your site easier to navigate and use and Google recognizes this as a sign of a quality site.
Content is king! Google’s bots have gotten very smart and they can now easily recognize fluff. Provide your readers with quality, useful, original content and you will be rewarded.
Getting Google to recognize my site
A website that offers useful tool will be noticed. High quality downloads are also a sign of a useful site. Downloads will keep visitors returning to your site, which Google will recognize as a sign of a useful site. The result is a higher page rank and even more traffic.
One characteristic of useful content is that it stays focused on a single topic. This should be the topic related to the keywords you are trying to showcase. Don’t talk about cats if you are trying to attract visitors searching for dogs. Staying on topic is another sign of a useful website.
Duplicate content is a sin. That appears to be an attempt to pad the site with what looks like more information but is actually just fluff. Search engines will easily identify this and your site will be penalized.
Although it is difficult to get a top level domain with the desired keywords, you can name individual pages with names that include keywords. Pay attention to your page names and make an effort to create a site design that supports the keywords you are attempting to showcase.
Search engines are in the business of providing quality results to their visitors. Every once in a while, someone discovers a way to game the system and increase their rank, but the search engines will quickly catch on to the technique and will then penalize you for not following the rules. If you care about your site and your page rank, take the time to develop a quality site with quality content. The rest will take care of itself and you will see your page rank quickly increase.