How to rank in Google without having to be a code monkey
It’s always the same. Unless you love an underdog story, and wasting time, you will always click on the first, second or third Google search result that pops up in 0.45 seconds. Very rarely do you scroll all the way to the bottom and then hit the next page, right? Let’s not get into how it’s the curse of the modern generation to be quite so impatient, but instead focus on how your customers behave. That 0.45 seconds it has taken Google to fetch those results were largely wasted as far as the searcher is concerned, because they will only consider the top results. Therefore if you are looking to be ‘heard’ amongst all the digital marketing noise then it is essential you know how to rank in Google.
Google rankings are a mystery to most casual observers and it begs a few questions.
- Have brands paid to have their website pop up first?
- Is it dictated by how many views the site has?
- Is it related to how closely the phrase typed in, appears on the sites listed?
- Is there some inordinately complicated algorithm that determines the order in which the results appear?
The answer to all of those is Yes. But the good news is that getting a site to the top of the rankings is not nearly as complicated as writing that algorithm, and you won’t need a degree in computer science, or to live at home with your parents well into your thirties to be able to do it.
The fabulous truth is that to rank in Google you don’t have to be a code monkey. You just need to understand how to name a site, configure and theme the site, create targeted content and engage properly with Google. Whilst that sounds like it’s on the weird side of the code monkey spectrum, it’s not. It simply requires you to have an understanding of how Google categorises websites according to their name and what’s in them, and then to use that knowledge to your advantage. After all, most small businesses, and even medium and big businesses don’t have that simple knowledge. It’s like wearing a pair of x-ray glasses to a game of poker. The odds of coming out on top will be heavily stacked in your favour.
For instance if we were to put in to Google “plumber near me” you will usually get a series of paid ads at the top. You will see a little ‘Ad’ in a box at the start of the web URL. So with question one above, you nailed it. Google adwords has catapulted those sites to the top of the list, but for a fee of course. Depending on the keywords you’re using these ads could cost the advertiser somewhere north of $10 a click. That’s great if the product is high value and you can make it back with the occasional purchase, but it’s a balancing act, trying to ensure you get the conversion rate up in order to cover the ad spend. Businesses can easily lose money by paying for advertising like this.
However you will be relieved to know that it’s not necessary to pay for expensive adwords in exchange for potential customers to see your site at the top of the results page. You can rank in Google by using the same tactics as those sites just below the ads, without needing to use coding or to pay heavily for the privilege. Instead of using adwords those sites are using keywords, which will probably have been entered into Google by the searcher. By knowing those keywords and using them in your site, and by telling Google where you are in the world, you make it easy for Google to put you at the top of the search results. Now imagine that Google can speak (to itself), and then imagine this monologue in its search engine…
The searcher is looking for a plumber and I can see from their IP address that they’re in Beaverton…whoa whoa whoa sweet child o’ mine, here’s a site that is called Beaverton plumbers and is registered in Google Maps in Beaverton. Send that one straight to the top!
All that happened in a lot less than 0.45 seconds. Google talks fast. And that is how you managed to rank in Google without having to be a code monkey; by applying some simple knowledge of the process when building your site.
If that still sounds a little intimidating, because for a start how do you register a business in Google Maps? Maybe you’re wondering how you’re going to get that simple knowledge? Well don’t you worry, because at Social Media Mafia that’s what we do. We are a family of social media consultants sharing the love and changing lives with our programs. Changing your life and the ranking of your site will take a little longer than 0.45 seconds, but this kind of result is well worth waiting for…