Getting to page one of Google used to be hard. Back in the early days, you would have to hire an SEO expert to do their tricks on your site, and then you would be lucky to have one listing on page one. Now with the advent of Social Media, getting to page one of Google has become easy as 1, 2 , 3. Here are the 3 keys to getting great ranking.

Step 1: Choose your Magical Keywords

Start by making a list of words that resonate with you, that mean something, that sing to your soul. These are your “Tick Words” – They reflect what makes you tick. Then make a list of words that represent your products and services, and the outcomes of your offerings. These are your “Offering Words”. Visit the Google Keyword Tool (Search “Keyword Tool” at Google.com) and enter your words to see how often these words are being searched and note the most popular ones. Then create your keyword phrases with a combination of Tick and Offering Words, using the ones most commonly searched. These are your “Magical Keywords” that will attract your perfect customers. Create “long tail” phrases of 5 to 7 words for which we will optimize your site and social networks.

Step 2: Optimize Your Website

Optimizing your site is not as mysterious as it may seem at first blush. All you have to do is make sure your Choose your favorite 5 – 7 Keyword Phrase and populate your site with this phrase. If you don’t have a site, create a blogsite on WordPress.com to get started. Include your phrase in the following places on your site. Always remember: Google ranks pages, not websites. Each individual page needs to rank and stand on its own, so make sure each page is optimized for your keyword phrase/s.

URL or ‘web address’ ie

http://www.yourkeywordphrase.com/

Page Name ie yourkeywordphrase.html
Page Title Tag
Headline and Subheads (H1, H2, etc in your CSS Style Sheet)
Links
Image Alt Tags
META Tags in the page coding
Labels and/or Tags on your blog posts

Step 3: Create Powerful Back Links

The secret ingredient to great Google ranking made easy are Social networks: The most powerful way to get to page one of Google is to create pages on high-ranking social networks and bookmarking sites that link back to your site using your keyword phrase. Make sure to sprinkle your keywords and keyword variations throughout the title, description, web address, headlines, and content of your pages. The best sites I use for this are:

Squidoo.com
HubPages.com
Digg.com
Delicious.com
Facebook.com (fan page)
Wordpress.com (new one page blog per key word phrase)
Blogspot.com (new one page blog per key word phrase)

Once you have gotten several properties to page one for your keyword phrase, then create new keyword phrases and new properties to link back to your site. Finally, if this seems either too complicated or too time-consuming to do yourself, hiring someone to do it for you is a good idea. Usually, one good new customer attracted online can pay for having these services done for you, so get optimizing!

Graphic Girlz provides all the services listed above. For a complimentary Search Engine Optimization Assessment, please contact Julia Stege at (707) 823-3316 to schedule.

photo credit: Suat Eman

Getting to page one of Google used to be hard.  Back in the early days, you would have to hire an SEO expert to do their tricks on your site, and then you would be lucky to have one listing on page one.  Now with the advent of Social Media, getting to page one of Google has become easy as 1, 2 , 3.  Here are the 3 keys to getting great ranking.

Step 1:  Choose your Magical Keywords

Start by making a list of words that resonate with you, that mean something, that sing to your soul.  These are your "Tick Words" - They reflect what makes you tick.  Then make a list of words that represent your products and services, and the outcomes of your offerings.  These are your "Offering Words".  Visit the Google Keyword Tool (Search "Keyword Tool" at Google.com) and enter your words to see how often these words are being searched and note the most popular ones.  Then  create your keyword phrases with a combination of Tick and Offering Words, using the ones most commonly searched. These are your "Magical Keywords" that will attract your perfect customers.  Create "long tail" phrases of 5 to 7 words for which we will optimize your site and social networks.

Step 2:  Optimize Your Website

Optimizing your site is not as mysterious as it may seem at first blush.  All you have to do is make sure your Choose your favorite 5 - 7 Keyword Phrase and populate your site with this phrase. If you don't have a site, create a blogsite on Wordpress.com to get started. Include your phrase in the following places on your site.  Always remember: Google ranks pages, not websites. Each individual page needs to rank and stand on its own, so make sure each page is optimized for your keyword phrase/s.

URL or 'web address' ie http://www.yourkeywordphrase.com/
Page Name ie yourkeywordphrase.html
Page Title Tag
Headline and Subheads (H1, H2, etc in your CSS Style Sheet)
Links
Image Alt Tags
META Tags in the page coding
Labels and/or Tags on your blog posts

Step 3: Create Powerful Back Links

 The secret ingredient to great Google ranking made easy are Social networks: The most powerful way to get to page one of Google is to create pages on high-ranking social networks and bookmarking sites that link back to your site using your keyword phrase.  Make sure to sprinkle your keywords and keyword variations throughout the title, description, web address, headlines, and content of your pages.  The best sites I use for this are:

Squidoo.com
HubPages.com
Digg.com
Delicious.com
Facebook.com (fan page)
Wordpress.com (new one page blog per key word phrase)
Blogspot.com (new one page blog per key word phrase)

Once you have gotten several properties to page one for your keyword phrase, then create new keyword phrases and new properties to link back to your site.   Finally, if this seems either too complicated or too time-consuming to do yourself, hiring someone to do it for you is a good idea.  Usually, one good new customer attracted online can pay for having these services done for you, so get optimizing!

Graphic Girlz provides all the services listed above.  For a complimentary Search Engine Optimization Assessment, please contact Julia Stege at (707) 823-3316 to schedule.

Part 2 in a 3 Part Series on Blogging

I just learned that over 20% of the world’s population is now online according to the latest report from Internet World Stats. This is a growing potential customer base we can’t really afford to ignore. With the availability of free blogs and social networks, everyday entrepreneurs can speak to a wider base, amplifying our message to a national or even international audience while capturing better placement on the search engines. Gone are the days when only the technically adept could contribute new content to sites on a regular basis and get to page one of Google.

What New Content?

There’s the rub. Many of us have started a blog but only have one or two posts on it. We get to a point where we don’t know what to blog about. Here are some tips on creating blog content that helps you keep current customers interested, improve your search engine ranking, and help you attract more perfect customers.

What Do YOU Care About?

The Law of Attraction says that “like attracts like” so the subjects that interest you are likely to interest your perfect customers. You have access to knowledge that fascinates you and also will captivate your customers. Just sharing authentically about your passions and interests will grab their attention and offer true value.

Answer the following questions and see how many blog post ideas you can create.

1) What resources have you discovered that can benefit your customers?
2) What tips can you offer people that will make a difference?
3) What current events or news items are pertinent to your peeps?
4) What challenges have you faced and what have you learned from them?
5) What marketing messages do you want to promote?
6) What humorous antidotes to today’s reality can you share?
7) What interesting adventures have you taken recently?
8) What subjects are your customers searching about now?

Write down all the ideas you come up with and refer to them when you are looking for a new blog topic. How often you blog is up to you, what is sustainable for you. Consistency is key and if you’re offering good value on your blog, you’ll be rewarded by your expanding customer base.

Some Keyword Considerations

As you create your blog posts, make sure you consciously and consistently use the keywords and phrases you want to be found by AND that express your true purpose. I call these Magical Keywords and they empower logic with attraction.

It’s most important to use your keywords in the title, headlines, subheads and links on your posts and web pages. And if you submit your blog post to a variety of sites, you will be more likely to appear in searches for those phrases.