Today we’re going to address one of the most common questions I hear:

How do I get my site #1 on Google?

Here’s the honest answer:  There’s no fast, cheap or easy way to do it.  And even with all the time and money in the world, there’s still no guarantee of getting that #1 spot.

Why not? Well think about Google’s business model.  They provide a free search service, the same free service that many other companies provide; so their success depends on their search being the best.  Whether it’s learning about Ralph Waldo Emerson or researching the best infant car seats, Google needs to provide the best results in order to get our traffic.  And they have.  That’s how they’ve managed to capture 86.30% of the market share (as reported by NetMarketShare, April, 2010).  Compare that to the next closest competitors, Yahoo! with 5.30% and Bing with 3.13%, and you get a sense of just how dominant Google has become.  This dominance translates into internet traffic, which in turn translates into advertising dollars for Google.

“As a business, Google generates the majority of its revenue by offering advertisers measurable, cost-effective and highly relevant advertising, so that the ads are useful to the people who see them as well as to the advertisers who run them.”  http://www.google.com/corporate/index.html

In other words, Google makes the majority of its revenue ($23.65 Billion in 2009) from advertising.  And since their advertising depends on people using their search engine, it stands to reason that the quality of Google’s search engine is the lynch pin of their entire business. That is why Google “devote[s] more engineering time to search than to any other product.“  And it’s why we’re kidding ourselves if we think we can make an unwarranted jump to the top of Google’s rankings.  If an unwarranted jump were easy, or even possible, it would compromise the integrity of Google’s search, and likewise Google’s business.

So what does this mean for us?  It means the only way to get to the top of Google is to do it legitimately, in one of 2 ways:

1. Rank in the Natural Search Results (a.k.a. organic or free search results)

The natural, organic or free search results are the ones that appear in the main body of the page.  This is Google’s bread-and-butter we’ve been discussing, and the only way to get to the top here is to be the best!

How does Google determine what the best sites are?  In 2 basic ways:

CONTENT: Google examines the content on your site for quality and relevance.  They do this via Hypertext-Matching Analysis.  “Instead of simply scanning for page-based text (which can be manipulated by site publishers through meta-tags), [Google's] technology analyzes the full content of a page and factors in fonts, subdivisions and the precise location of each word. [They] also analyze the content of neighboring web pages to ensure the results returned are the most relevant to a user’s query.”

This means Google is doing everything they can to weed out websites that manipulate content in an attempt to improve the site’s ranking, and to benefit those sites with genuine content that will be useful to an end-user.  So if you want to improve your website’s rank, make sure you put a lot of USEFUL content on your site related to the keyword phrases you want to rank for.

IN-BOUND LINKS: Google also uses PageRank Technology to assess your website’s ranking. This is a technology that “examines the link structure of the web [to] determine which pages are most important.”

In plain English this means they look at how many sites are linking to your website in a one-way fashion.  If you and I both have sites and link to each other, that is considered a “reciprocal link” and does not benefit either of us.  However if I link to your site in a one-way fashion, then that will benefit your site’s ranking.  Google thinks of this like a vote – if i’m sending people to your site then your site must provide useful information.

One additional thing to note about in-bound links: Where they come from matters. “Votes” from higher ranking sites count more than those from low or non-ranking sites.

So if you want to rank higher, make your site a terrific resource and try to get powerhouse websites in your industry to start linking to you.  Yes, easier said than done!

…Okay.  The 2nd way to get to the top of Google is

2. Rank in the Sponsored Link section

The “Sponsored Links” are the results that show up along the right hand column of a search, and sometimes at the top above the natural rankings.  (They are often lightly shaded in blue or yellow.)

The sponsored links are what they appear to be – paid advertisements. This is Google’s primary revenue stream, and it’s called AdWords.  When you launch an AdWords campaign, you will specify the keywords you want to rank for, your advertising copy, and the page users will be sent to from your ad.  You must also bid on how much money you’re willing to spend each time someone clicks on your link, your Cost-Per-Click bid.  This type of advertising is often called CPC advertising for this reason, and it functions pretty much like it sounds.  You pay each time someone CLICKS on your ad, not each time someone VIEWS your ad.  This is one of the many attractive features of CPC advertising.

In general, a higher CPC bid will lead to a higher position on the page, but not entirely.  There is one other important factor that determines your ad’s position – your Quality Score.  This is a score Google gives your ad which takes into account your ad’s quality, relevance, and performance.  Just like it’s natural search results, Google wants to provide quality and relevant advertisements to users.  So your ad’s position will depend on your CPC bid, and on your Quality Score.

(Note: I’ve simplified some things for explanation’s sake, but the process is actually pretty straight forward.  The trouble is it’s not that easy to run an effective ad-campaign, and much time and money can be lost as you learn the ropes.  We’ll cover the art of an effective CPC campaign in a later blog.  But if you’d like to try your luck now, click here to start your own AdWords campaign.)

For now that brings me to the end of my answer – How do I get my site #1 on Google?  Like I said, there is no fast, cheap and easy way to do it.  It’s going to take a lot of time, effort or money, and usually all 3.

…but it wouldn’t be like us at Blue Sky Online to leave you with such a downer.  So we wanted to offer you a suggestion of something…

You CAN DO RIGHT NOW.

That is FAST, CHEAP and EASY.

And can GENERATE NEW BUSINESS, not just additional traffic to your website.

Yelp - http://yelp.com

Yelp is a website where people can review businesses and services in their area.  From doctors to restaurants to shopping, you can find every kind of business in any area of the country on Yelp.

How can Yelp help your business right now!?  Well think about the kind of people who go on Yelp.  These are people at the last stage of the buying process.  They know what they want, they’re just looking for the best place to get it.  This is different from people who go to Google, many of whom are just doing research.

If I feel like Italian food and I’m in Santa Monica, I go to Yelp and type in “Italian food” in Santa Monica and up pop all the results.  I can categorize the results according to Best Match, Highest Rated, or Most Reviewed.  I choose Most Reviewed, and up pops Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery.  They have over 900 reviews, and an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars.  That tells me everything I need to know to make my decision, and I go there to eat right now!  (Try the Caprese with Parma Prosciutto – one of the best Italian sandwiches in all of LA!)

This is how Yelp can work for you.  With over 26 million unique visitors a month, and a dominant share of the consumer review market, Yelp can help you get new business right away.  And it’s free!  All you need are 3 things:

1. You need to list your business on Yelp. But check first because it may already be listed.  Consumers can list you without you knowing.  If you’re not already listed on Yelp, it’s free and easy to do.  Click here to get started.

2. You need to get TONS of reviews! This is a major factor for people considering your business.  More reviews means a more established business, and a more trustworthy rating.  How to get lots of reviews?  Try offering an incentive to your existing customers to write reviews of your business on Yelp. For example, if you own a new restaurant, offer patrons a coupon for 10% off their next meal if they write an honest review on Yelp.  It’s a win-win situation.

3. You need to get tons of GREAT reviews! This is the only part we can’t help you with.  But we trust you know your business, and you know how to make your customers happy.

So there you have it.  Something you can do right now, for free, that’s easy, AND it can bring you lots of new business in just a matter of days!  So get going.  And let us know how it goes for you.  We love hearing all your thoughts and feedback.  And bring on the new questions… We’re fired up to shoot more videos and answer more questions.

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IMPORTANT UPDATE: I asked for a reply from Yelp regarding this post and it turns out they “don’t encourage biz owners to ask customers for reviews.”

Here’s a quote from Yelp’s  FAQ page regarding soliciting customer reviews:

While we understand that there is a temptation to solicit reviews from your customers, it is not something we encourage. The most successful businesses on Yelp have had their reviews come organically. This is for a couple of reasons:

Potential customers can sometimes have an adverse reaction to a business that looks like it has solicited reviews. Quite often those solicited reviews will be filtered out (see above) based on the activity level of those users within the Yelp community. If you do ask your customers for reviews, please be prepared for the review number fluctuation that might follow.

Also, keep in mind — success on Yelp is primarily measured by the number of people who view your page and thus walk in the door or set an appointment, not the number of reviews you have. Yelp users are savvy: they care about quality — not quantity — when it comes to your business reviews.

You can do a few things to gently let customers know that they can feel free to review your business on Yelp:

If you’ve already been reviewed, we suggest posting some of the Yelp reviews in your store so that customers know to find you (and review you) on Yelp. Set up a Yelp for Business Owner’s account and fill out your “About this Business” section so you’ll be more discoverable on Yelp.