King + Queen = Royal Success
by Shawn Campbell
Ever wonder how or why your competitor gets better search engine rankings than you do? Does he know something you don't? Well, maybe he actually does…And that's where I come in. I'm here to unveil the secret tricks of the trade that may be giving your competitor that much-needed edge in search engine rankings and to show you how you can reclaim your position without skipping a beat. Quite simply, I am going to give you the key to unlocking the secret chest of information that your competition is using to get better rankings.It is not that difficult. There are two main criteria to getting good rankings:
1. Content (which is king)
2. Linking (which is queen)
Content is King
Content is easily viewable and just as easy to measure. It basically includes what you see on the site: the text. If your competition has more text than you, consider increasing yours; if he has more keywords, consider increasing yours; if he has bigger headers, consider increasing yours. By all means, I am not saying to make a carbon copy of his site, but do look at the "on the site" factors that you are lacking and evaluate whether to increase them on your site. A note of caution - make sure that any changes you make actually improves the site and increases its value for your customers. In other words, don't sacrifice quality for quantity unless you believe that the added text actually serves to better the overall look, feel and quality of your site.
Some ideas to increase quality/quantity of content:
- Write a monthly article about your topic
- Write a page about your keyphrase/product/service
- If your headers don't have your keyphrase in them, then be sure to add it
- Make sure the titles on all your pages relate to the content of the page
- Write, write, write (and then write some more!).
Linking is QueenLinking requires more research. Look up your competitions site on Google by typing in: link: http://www.competitorsdomain.com/ into the search box (replace competitorsdomain with the URL of your competitor). Now the search results you will be looking at is a list of all the sites that are linking to your competitor. Go through that list, and for each site, figure out how he got that link. Some links might be paid for, some might be link exchanges, some might be directories like dmoz.org or Yahoo, and others might be references or testimonials. Make a spreadsheet with each site linking to your competition, and jot down how he got the link. Then, for each site that is appropriate, get it to link to you. Remember to stay away from link farms and low quality links. Link farms are sites that have nothing but links. Low quality links are sites with little to no content. These sites will often try to exchange links with you: Don't do it! Only link to a site if it will enhance the user experience of your clients.
For more about linking, see my article entitled Linking is Queen
(http://www.redcarpetweb.com/promotion/0409.html#feature)
Royal Success
Getting links takes time and patience, and writing is not usually done overnight. To top it off, once these projects are done, you then have to wait for the search engines to discover and re-evaluate your site. Both the link campaign and the writing projects should be something done on a regular basis, not as a one-shot injection. Try to create new pages every month, and to get some links every month. That way your site will make the gradual climb to the top. And who doesn't want that?
Shawn Campbell
Shawn Campbell is the co-founder and Chief Search Engine Optimizer at Red Carpet Web Promotion, Inc.
www.redcarpetweb.com
| DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware. |
More Website Content Articles
More By Developer Shed
 developerWorks - FREE Tools!
|
Hear how IBM Rational Project and Portfolio Management integrated solutions help teams put the right tools and processes in place to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of project teams and ensure that the business vision is being executed correctly. Learn how to automate and integrate requirements prioritization, top-down project planning, communications and controls, and methodology deployment to keep your scope, costs, and schedules under control. Tackle with an end-to-end approach the management of scope and scope changes, usage of methodology to control and empower project teams, and optimization of resources to align activity costs with the overall project plan.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Join this Rational Talks to You teleconference, featuring Paul Boustany and Mark Krasovich, to speak to the experts about becoming a Rational ClearCase power user. Get a chance to ask your questions and learn tips and tricks for using Rational ClearCase in Agile development
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
This whitepaper presents the benefits of successfully introducing static analysis into your organization using IBM Rational Software Analyzer. Additionally, it identifies some common pitfalls that can hinder the effective use of static analysis tooling as well as presents 10 simple strategies designed to help you quickly realize the value of static analysis using Rational Software Analyzer.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
This tutorial shows new users of IBM WebSphere Business Monitor Version 6.0.2 how to perform the "Hello World" equivalent for monitoring business process applications. It is intended to help you get familiar with the capabilities of the product.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Rational Build Forge Express Edition is an automation framework that packages the latest enterprise-grade technologies into a reliable, flexible and robust configuration designed and priced specifically for small to midsize businesses. The new Rational Build Forge Express eKit provides you with valuable resources – including a case study, podcast, demo, and articles – to help you increase staff productivity, compress development cycles and deliver better software, fast.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Get a free trial download of the latest version of IBM Rational Functional Tester V7.0.1. Rational Functional Tester is an automated functional and regression testing solution for QA teams concerned with the quality of their Java, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, and Web-based applications.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
Visit IBM developerWorks to try the IBM SOA Sandbox for process. The SOA Sandbox for process focuses on providing a trial environment with the necessary tooling and components required to gain a better understanding of business processes and how to best improve existing business processes to derive value quickly.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
In this webcast, IBM Rational will discuss the importance of Web application security and will share techniques and best practices to introduce application security testing into current QA processes including: understanding common security vulnerabilities and techniques to integrate security testing with defect tracking and remediation systems in an effort to safeguard sensitive online information.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
The discipline of assembling and delivering software is maturing beyond standard developer-centric compile/test software builds. The end-to-end software development lifecycle is emerging as the new focus moves “Beyond the Build.” Join this on demand webcast to learn about methods for streamlining software delivery and key capabilities of the IBM Rational Build Forge framework for automating build and release management in environments of any size.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
WebSphere Process Server delivers a unique integration framework that simplifies existing IT resources. Often, as IT assets grow to support business demand, so too does their complexity and manageability. In this webcast, we’ll discuss how WebSphere Process Server helps deliver an SOA infrastructure that provides a common model to orchestrate, mediate, connect, map, and execute the underlying IT functions. Discover how WebSphere Process Server simplifies integration of business processes by leveraging existing IT assets as reusable services without the complexities of traditional integration methodologies.
FREE! Go There Now!
|
|
|
|
All FREE IBM® developerWorks Tools!
|
