Does Your Site Deserve a Top Ten Search Engine Ranking?
By Donald Nelson, copyright 2005
"Can you get my site a top ten ranking in Google?" Many people
ask this question to search engine optimization professionals,
but how many people have ever asked them selves whether their
site "deserves" a top ten ranking in the leading search engines?
Look at it from the point of view of the search engines and the
users of the search engines. The search engines are trying to
offer the best possible matches for queries that people make, and
the searchers want to see the most relevant sites in the first
page of results. So, is your website really among the ten best in
your field? Before you answer the question here are a few things
to consider.
1. Are you an industry leader? Be Realistic. If you are a one-man
or one-woman outfit working from a computer in your basement, you
may not be able to provide the same services, information and
products as competitors who have larger, more-experienced and
better equipped staff.
Although, the search engine robots do not "know" that you are a
new start-up operation, the differences between industry leaders
and beginners is usually reflected in some of the parameters that
search engines measure, and more often than not, the well
established firms wind up at the top of the heap.
2. Does Your Site Look Good? While robotic search engines can't
tell whether a site is pleasing to the eye, the human editors who
decide which sites get listed in directories, such as the Open
Directory Project, are definitely influenced by a site's design.
If you want to compete with the leaders in your field, your site
will have to measure up to the standards set by professionally
designed sites.
3. Is Your Site Content-Rich? This is one of the factors that
separate the top sites from the others. If you offering ten gift
baskets for sale, while your competitor has two hundred items on
display, then his or her site will have more references and links
with the keywords "gift baskets" and this will certainly be
reflected in search engine rankings.
If your competitors have pages and pages of information, articles
and reviews about their products, while you have a skimpy
brochure-like website, then which sites do you think will have
the advantage in the rankings?
4. Is Your Website an "Authority" Site? An authority site is a
site that is recognized as an important source of information in
a particular field. It is often mentioned, and linked to by other
sites. Such a site does not have to go out and search for links.
The websites of the World Bank, United Nations, American Cancer
Society and Greenpeace are examples. You don't have to be this
famous to be an authority site, but you should have an
industry-wide reputation for excellence.
5. Have You Been Around a Long time? A site that has been on the
web since 1996 usually has an advantage in search engine rankings
over a start-up. A site that has been on the web for many years
will have acquired more links and will probably have built up
rich content, and this will usually give it a better placement in
search engine rankings. You can check out your competitors by
doing a "whois" search and see when their website was launched.
The whois searches can be conducted from the websites of the
large domain-name registrars like GoDaddy, Directnic and others.
I haven't written this to discourage anyone from entering the
Internet or with purpose of asking the small sites to fold up and
let the big guys monopolize the web. Despite the obstacles, the
Internet offers a tremendous opportunity for anyone wishing to
spread ideas or do business, and, if you "pay your dues" and work
skillfully, the day will come when your website will be among the
top sites in your field.
Donald Nelson is a web developer, editor and social worker. He
has been working on the Internet since 1995, and is currently the
director of A1-Optimization (http://www.a1-optimization.com), a
firm providing low cost search engine optimization, submission
and web promotion services.
"Can you get my site a top ten ranking in Google?" Many people
ask this question to search engine optimization professionals,
but how many people have ever asked them selves whether their
site "deserves" a top ten ranking in the leading search engines?
Look at it from the point of view of the search engines and the
users of the search engines. The search engines are trying to
offer the best possible matches for queries that people make, and
the searchers want to see the most relevant sites in the first
page of results. So, is your website really among the ten best in
your field? Before you answer the question here are a few things
to consider.
1. Are you an industry leader? Be Realistic. If you are a one-man
or one-woman outfit working from a computer in your basement, you
may not be able to provide the same services, information and
products as competitors who have larger, more-experienced and
better equipped staff.
Although, the search engine robots do not "know" that you are a
new start-up operation, the differences between industry leaders
and beginners is usually reflected in some of the parameters that
search engines measure, and more often than not, the well
established firms wind up at the top of the heap.
2. Does Your Site Look Good? While robotic search engines can't
tell whether a site is pleasing to the eye, the human editors who
decide which sites get listed in directories, such as the Open
Directory Project, are definitely influenced by a site's design.
If you want to compete with the leaders in your field, your site
will have to measure up to the standards set by professionally
designed sites.
3. Is Your Site Content-Rich? This is one of the factors that
separate the top sites from the others. If you offering ten gift
baskets for sale, while your competitor has two hundred items on
display, then his or her site will have more references and links
with the keywords "gift baskets" and this will certainly be
reflected in search engine rankings.
If your competitors have pages and pages of information, articles
and reviews about their products, while you have a skimpy
brochure-like website, then which sites do you think will have
the advantage in the rankings?
4. Is Your Website an "Authority" Site? An authority site is a
site that is recognized as an important source of information in
a particular field. It is often mentioned, and linked to by other
sites. Such a site does not have to go out and search for links.
The websites of the World Bank, United Nations, American Cancer
Society and Greenpeace are examples. You don't have to be this
famous to be an authority site, but you should have an
industry-wide reputation for excellence.
5. Have You Been Around a Long time? A site that has been on the
web since 1996 usually has an advantage in search engine rankings
over a start-up. A site that has been on the web for many years
will have acquired more links and will probably have built up
rich content, and this will usually give it a better placement in
search engine rankings. You can check out your competitors by
doing a "whois" search and see when their website was launched.
The whois searches can be conducted from the websites of the
large domain-name registrars like GoDaddy, Directnic and others.
I haven't written this to discourage anyone from entering the
Internet or with purpose of asking the small sites to fold up and
let the big guys monopolize the web. Despite the obstacles, the
Internet offers a tremendous opportunity for anyone wishing to
spread ideas or do business, and, if you "pay your dues" and work
skillfully, the day will come when your website will be among the
top sites in your field.
Donald Nelson is a web developer, editor and social worker. He
has been working on the Internet since 1995, and is currently the
director of A1-Optimization (http://www.a1-optimization.com), a
firm providing low cost search engine optimization, submission
and web promotion services.
