Ranking well on Google takes two things, good content and
great links. But it's not an even split. Because Google
assumes only a page with good content would get great
inbound links it puts about 70% of the importance for
ranking on links and only about 30% on content. That little
tidbit alone will put you head and shoulders above all
those competitors still messing with META tags and spamming
keywords. But if you want a huge advantage over the rest of
your competition, keep reading. I'm about to show you how
the pros do it and win every time.
Part 1: Perfect Your Anchor Text
So just what is anchor text and why is it important? Anchor
text is the clickable word or words that make up the
hyperlink. You've seen anchor text a million times (the
underlined words that are typically blue.) Google figures
any words special enough to be used as a guide in a link
are extra valuable, which makes anchor text extremely
important for you to use properly.
Just how powerful is anchor text? More than most people
dream. Try an experiment. Go to Google and search for
"click here" (without quotes.) The top match for years has
been a page for Adobe Acrobat Reader. So does that Adobe
page have "click here" copied 50 times in the text? No. In
fact "click here" does not even appear on the page a single
time! Does it have "click here" embedded in its META tags.
No; again, not even once.
So how can it possibly rank number 1 on Google for a term
it never even references? Because of the thousands of
Webpages that use "click here" as the anchor text linking
to Adobe's free download of Acrobat Reader.
By the way, did you happen to notice how many pages Adobe
beat out for a term they never optimized themselves for?
Almost Two Billion! So yes, I have to say anchor text is
extremely powerful.
Part 2: Build Linking Consistency
Most people don't realize that even though
http://www.Wikipedia.com and http://Wikipedia.com lead to
the same Wikipedia homepage, they are seen as two different
links by Google. Let's take it a step further. If you keep
the "www" and lose the "http" you have another link that
goes to the same place but is treated as unique by Google.
All that said; be as consistent as possible when requesting
links. Find one format and stick to it. One hundred inbound
links to the exact same URL is much better than 25 links
each, using four different URLs that lead to the same place.
Part 3: PageRank Leads to Page Rank
Google's PageRank algorithm can make or break your search
engine optimization efforts and plays a big part in your
eventual Webpage rankings. So PageRank and page rank?
Here's a tip to end the confusion. When you see the single
word "PageRank" it is referring to a trademarked name that
Google owns. PageRank is a unit of measure that Google
developed, and uses to determine the value of a Webpage.
When you see the words "page rank" we are merely talking
about how a Webpage ranks, or is positioned on a search
engine for a given keyword.
So how does it work? A page with a GPR of 6 is considered
very important by Google, while a page with a GPR of 0 is
not so much. If you get links from pages with high GPRs you
will build your own PageRank. If you get links from pages
with no GPR, they can still help you but do not lend any
additional PageRank credibility.
Higher GPR leads to more credibility with Google and
possibly becoming what they consider to be an "authority"
which can double your top placements, literally. To see
what I mean, search for "cats" on Google (without quotes.)
The number 1 match is Wikipedia.com and references furry
little felines. The number 2 match is also from Wikipedia
but is about a Broadway musical.
So what? Notice how that second match is indented? That
means it was not meant to be number 2 and might have
actually been number 10 or 16 or more. But since
Wikipedia.com is what Google considers an authority, it
get's little bumps like this. Pretty nice huh? And trust
me, you don't have to be Wikipedia to become an authority.
Everything you need is in this article. I've done it many
times.
There are different ways to see a page's GPR. If you don't
already have it, visit Google and download their "Google
Toolbar." It will show you the GPR of any page on the Web.
Part 4: Use the Best Tools
Last but not least, SEO is like anything else, if you use
the best tools for the job your results will be faster,
better and longer lasting.
Back in the day, search engine optimization professionals
and do it yourselfers had to do everything by hand. It took
forever and one simple mistake could mean weeks of work
down the drain. Today however, there are plenty of software
tools to help get the job done in a faction of the time.
Just find the BEST one for what you want to accomplish.
For our particular needs, were looking for an app than can
help with linking and build our "authority" status and
check ranking progress. Over the past six or so years I've
used nearly a dozen pieces of software claiming to be the
best. Some were pretty good. Others were a waste. The one I
most often recommend to my SEO seminar students is SEO
Elite (http://www.SEOeliteWeb.com) because it gets amazing
results and is one of the most affordable options at $167.
Even if you're not ready for a tool, you might want to
check out the above link and go through some of the video
tutorials. They show you how to find "authority" link
partners, get special insights on anchor text and how to
best spy on your competition.
That's it for now. Good luck and keep at it!
----------------------------------------------------
Michael Small is the founder of free SEO (search engine
optimization) site http://www.SEOpartner.com and author of
numerous search engine optimization books and whitepapers
including the SEO Notebook, available at
http://www.theSeoNotebook.com
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