The document outlines the top 10 ways to be found on Google according to the author. They are: 1) site age, 2) link structure, 3) content is king which involves keyword research, 4) content age, 5) site performance, 6) internal links, 7) external links, 8) trust, 9) speed, and 10) local search which involves claiming and optimizing local listings. The author provides tips for optimizing websites in each of these areas to improve search engine rankings.

1. Top Ten Ways
to be Found on Google
James Ruppel
631-615-2983
jruppel@wsidigitalmarketer.com
http://jruppel.wsidigitalmarketer.com

2. State of Internet Marketing
• 100s or more pieces ranked by Google to
determine position on Results Page
• My personal Top 10 for business
• Help inform your Internet Marketing Strategy

3. #1 Site Age
• Google respects older sites
• Shows business is established
• It’s a Trust thing
• Can’t change your site age
• Think 2x before scrapping old URL
• If you do, be sure to re-direct old URLs to new
site

4. #2 Link Structure
• Use your keywords in your URL
• URLs should make sense to a human
• If they make sense to human, they’ll make
sense to the search engine spiders/bots
• Scrap random characters in URLs
– http://www.MyBusiness.com/shoes
– NOT http://www.MyBusiness.com/9876ZYX_WTF

5. #3 Content is King (1)
• Search Engines index words
• More is better – to a point
• Write for your target market
• Don’t write for Search Engines
• Don’t “keyword stuff”
• One or two keyword phrases per page
• Make it engaging for your target audience/s
– Answer the questions they went online for

6. Content is King (2)
• Start with Keyword Research
• What words are your prospects typing into the
search engines?
• Use keywords in
– Metadata
– URLs
– Headings
– Internal links
– Alt. Text

7. Content is King (3)
• Beware of “cool” stuff
• Search Engines read text
– Make sure pictures have
alternate text for search engines
– Use captions to describe photos for both visitors
and search engines
– Use Flash sparingly
• Flash is “cool” but unless it serves a purpose,
it’s just “window dressing”

8. #4. Content Age
• Google likes age on a site,
but not in Content
• Old content is “stale”
• Indicates outdated content to search engines
• Could indicate a site for a business that
doesn’t exist any longer
• Fresh, current content is critical for visitors
AND search engines

9. #5. Site Performance
• Search engines look at what visitors
• Visitors who leave quickly,
or “bounce”, are not finding
relevant information on your site
• Search engines will “penalize”
your site for poor visitor performance
• Engage your visitor with your content, answer
their questions and move them through your
site with compelling conversion architecture

10. #6. Internal Links
• Tell your visitor where to go with
internal links between pages
– Lead them on an information journey to
get them to do what you want them to do
• Purchase a product, fill out a form, call you, etc.
• Tell the search engine what keywords are
important with internal links
• Don’t link “click here”. Nobody is searching for
“click here” (are you listening Adobe?)

11. #7. External Links
• It’s a popularity contest
– Hang out with the popular crowd
• Seek out links from other, popular sites
• Sites should be logically related in some way
– A women’s shoe store and a gas station have little
in common and are not likely a relevant link
• The more popular a site that links to you is,
the more “link juice” they will pass on to you
• Reciprocal linking is “out”

12. #8. Trust
• It all comes down to Trust
• Visitors are looking for
reasons to trust you
• Search engines are looking for reasons to trust
• Prove you’re not using “black hat” techniques
• Don’t try to “game” the system
• Include confidence builders
– Address, phone, email, testimonials, third-party
emblems that your target market trust

13. #9. Speed (1)
• Google loves Speed
– It even puts the speed it returns results right at
the top of the search engine results page (next to
the number of results it returned)
• We’re all impatient
• If your site loads slowly, you’ll be penalized by
search engines AND visitors

14. Speed (2)
• Speed up your site
• Get a fast host
• Simplify your site
• Get rid of speed hogging large elements
• Use Cascading Style Sheets
• Remove anything your don’t really need
• Avoid nested tables
• Don’t over-use Flash

15. #10. Local Search (1)
• Google placing greater emphasis on Local
Search Results
• Helps local business compete with the big
boys
• Use geo-modifiers to improve your local
search results
– City, State modifiers
– Anything a searcher might use
• “Cheapest Big Screen TVs on Long Island, NY”

16. #10. Local Search (2)
• Claim and Optimize your local “Places”
– Google Places, Bing and Yahoo local, etc.
– Ensure information is accurate
– Add Photos, Videos
– Get customers to add positive reviews
• Claim your directory listings
– Search for your business to see what listings are
out there
– Claim them, verify the information

17. #10. Local Search (3)
• Accuracy is Critical!
• Make sure every one of your listings has
exactly the same information in exactly the
same format
– It makes a difference if one listing has your
address as “Street” and another has it as “St.”
– Make sure all the phone numbers are the same
– Be vigilant

18. • Read the full article here
• http://jruppel.wsi
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