Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is one of the most sought after forms of online marketing. Seen as the “ultimate goal” for any website, attainment of high natural rankings in the search engines is the holy grail for website owners and online businesses.

Two main reasons why high natural placement in the search engines’ results pages continues to be so desired are:

(1) People are more likely to click on the natural results versus the Sponsored Links

(2) Natural / Organic results to do not run on the Cost Per Click / Pay Per Click model that Paid Search marketing does so the natural results basically get traffic over time that does not accrue per click costs

These two reasons continue to fuel search engine marketers and website owners to really focus their time and/or money on establishing these high natural placements as soon as possible. One major caveat to these results though is that all marketers / website owners are at the mercy of the search engines in regards to when and if their site(s) will ever rank on the coveted first page of their results.

To help you better understand what you need to do to hopefully get your site ranked on the coveted first page of the search engines, here is a list of the four main things that search engines look for:

1) Do you have a well developed site?
The easier it is for the search engines to go through the coding of your site the better your chances become of getting your site ranked

2) How long has your site been online?
The longer your site has been online the more likely it is to gain credibility and legitimacy with the search engines. In addition to this, older sites are also more likely to have accrued more backlinks than most new sites. Backlinks are extremely important as discussed below.

3) Does your site have a lot of really good quality, relevant content?
If your site is not the best resource in terms of informational text than the other sites out there then the chances of the search engines thinking your site should be ranked higher is highly unlikely. You need content that is interesting, unique, authentic, viral and relevant to what you are trying to rank for.

4) How many backlinks does your site have?
Link popularity is extremely important as the search engines use this to determine how popular your site is in the eyes of other websites online. The more links you have pointing to your site from others, preferably without you having to reciprocate with a link, the higher your chances become of getting a first page placement in the natural results. 

These main four factors have been, and will continue to be, the pillars for a site that ranks high in the natural results on search engine results pages. Get started on what you can, whether it be content or getting people to link to you, and you will be that much closer to those coveted first page organic listings. Keep in mind though that if you’re not constantly doing something to achieve high natural placement then you can guarantee that someone else is so don’t get lazy or cheap on this form of marketing because you will miss out on a huge opportunity.