Think Like a Search Engine & Understand SEO
One of the most frequent questions I am asked by clients is . . .
“Why does my competitor’s site outrank my site on Google”?
As a general rule, anytime you’re trying to understand search engine optimization, take the viewpoint of the search engine. You’ll find that logically, this type of marketing only makes sense if you think like a search engine.
In order for a search engine to stay in business they need a dedicated user base. To keep people searching on Google or Yahoo, the engines need to provide the best results possible. For example, if I do a search for “baseball bats”, and the first result is a site that sells “baseball hats”, the poor result means I’m not likely to use that search engine in the future. So how do the major search engines determine what sites are the most appropriate for any given search term?
Search engines analyze the content of a page to determine its topic. But even then there are thousands of pages that could be considered relevant for any given keyword (2,040,000 for baseball bats). How does Google determine which page is likely to be the most satisfying result that will keep their users happy?
They’re looking for a site that has demonstrated it is a useful online resource. To do this, a website must provide content that is unique, helpful and important. However, interpreting the written word is beyond the scope of a search engine. To determine if a website is useful, a search engine examines the sites that link to it.
In fact, search engines weigh inbound links very strongly. Each link that points to a website is a vote of confidence. The more votes a site gets, the more useful and popular it is seen by the engines. In order to demonstrate that a site is a useful resource, it has to show link growth. A site that is growing links is actively demonstrating its importance on the web – it’s proving that it is a useful resource. It also greatly helps if you mirror your link growth with content and page growth. If you implement a strategy that creates new links and new content, you will help establish your site as a powerful source in its field.
If your competitor is outranking you, it’s time you start demonstrating to the engines that your site is more useful than the competition. Add more content – and get more links. You’ll find that even small changes can make a significant difference to your search placement. In fact, with the right type of online growth, you should see your site begin to change it’s positioning in as little as 45 days.
Thinking like a search engine isn’t tricky at all. It’s the best way to naturally improve your search presence. And, hopefully, provide a better online resource for your customers.
“Why does my competitor’s site outrank my site on Google”?
As a general rule, anytime you’re trying to understand search engine optimization, take the viewpoint of the search engine. You’ll find that logically, this type of marketing only makes sense if you think like a search engine.
In order for a search engine to stay in business they need a dedicated user base. To keep people searching on Google or Yahoo, the engines need to provide the best results possible. For example, if I do a search for “baseball bats”, and the first result is a site that sells “baseball hats”, the poor result means I’m not likely to use that search engine in the future. So how do the major search engines determine what sites are the most appropriate for any given search term?
Search engines analyze the content of a page to determine its topic. But even then there are thousands of pages that could be considered relevant for any given keyword (2,040,000 for baseball bats). How does Google determine which page is likely to be the most satisfying result that will keep their users happy?
They’re looking for a site that has demonstrated it is a useful online resource. To do this, a website must provide content that is unique, helpful and important. However, interpreting the written word is beyond the scope of a search engine. To determine if a website is useful, a search engine examines the sites that link to it.
In fact, search engines weigh inbound links very strongly. Each link that points to a website is a vote of confidence. The more votes a site gets, the more useful and popular it is seen by the engines. In order to demonstrate that a site is a useful resource, it has to show link growth. A site that is growing links is actively demonstrating its importance on the web – it’s proving that it is a useful resource. It also greatly helps if you mirror your link growth with content and page growth. If you implement a strategy that creates new links and new content, you will help establish your site as a powerful source in its field.
If your competitor is outranking you, it’s time you start demonstrating to the engines that your site is more useful than the competition. Add more content – and get more links. You’ll find that even small changes can make a significant difference to your search placement. In fact, with the right type of online growth, you should see your site begin to change it’s positioning in as little as 45 days.
Thinking like a search engine isn’t tricky at all. It’s the best way to naturally improve your search presence. And, hopefully, provide a better online resource for your customers.
posted by Patrick Knauer at
3:06 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home