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Hi everyone!  Would appreciate you helping me out with a little advice. 

I`ve finally got my company Uglys back in the top 5 ranking on ALL major search engines.  How the heck did that happen?  Was it just dumb luck? I`m not even done redesigning the site!

I enjoyed holding one of the top 5 rankings in `98 `99 and 2000 but then for some reason Uglys.com got buried in the search engines for years by other Ugly companies.  Redesigning the site over the years didn`t seem to help much.  Then with some new design ideas I did a partial redesign about three weeks ago and now BOOM!  There we are in the top 5 again!

With just the word "Uglys" I rank #4 on Yahoo, #5 on Google and #5 on AOL.  I hold the #1 position on ALL major search engines with "Uglys Hot Dogs", "Uglys Dogs".  I know the name is unique but you`d be surprised how many other uglys have been ranked hundreds of listings ahead of my Uglys.com.  Weird thing is... put in the apostrophe (Ugly`s) and I disappear back into the bowels of the search engine! 

Does anyone have any advice on how I get Ugly`s with the apostrophe in the top 5 as well?  Would love to get my other site PackedWarehouse.com in the top 5 too.  Can you help me figure out what I`ve done?

Until then.... I`m doing the happy dance!

MiteyMite,

Our resident Search Engine expert, Chuck, is on a well deserved vacation for a few weeks.

However, I can offer my limited insight.  I do know that search engines frequently tweak their search algorithm to better optimize their searches and to filter out spamming techniques employed by some sites.  Tweaks like this could result in a dramatic change in ranking.

Another factor that positively affects your ranking is if very high-traffic and popular sites and/or many other sites in general link to your website for a keyword...such as "Uglys Dogs".  Search engines are basing their ranking more and more off of other sites linking to you. 

One screaming example of the above ranking method is seen if you type "failure" into Google.  The number one result is the President`s biography.  Now, nowhere in his bio does the word "failure" occur...but so many people have linked to that page using that keyword that Google ranked it #1.  (this is known as a Google bomb) What`s funny, is that the #4 result for "failure" is Michael Moore`s biography, which was a reaction from the opposite side of the political spectrum. 

One third reason could be that some of your competitors were dropped (obviously) from the higher ranking because of attempting to spam the system.

If the great ranking happened overnight...it was probably due to an algorithm change.

Perhaps Chuck can provide some more insight when he gets back from the beach!

-------------------------

Brian Cleveland,
Web Producer,
StartupNation

As a human bean learning so "see" things from a machine perspective, I looked at your home page. Everywhere I looked, what totally jumped out at me was "Chicago hot dogs" "Authentic chicago hot dog."

Now think about how many people in the world know about Chicago hot dogs, and how any time anyone broadcasts any kind of baseball game involving hot dogs, someone mentions Chicago-style hot dogs! LOL! How many people have the option of using those words legitimately as often as you?

My only suggestion would be to also remember the South Side, and Maxwell Street. I`m sure you could come up with some content that would "push" or "stuff" those terms together with hot dogs, right?

Now all you have to do is also include stuff for cookery-type people. So have some SEO content that includes "pickles, relish, ketsup, ketchup, catsup, onions, mustard, pickels, cole slaw, coleslaw, buns, hot dog buns, hot dog stand, baseball, Cubs, Sox" and others.

Note that you want to include at least ONE instance of each typical misspelling so that you`ll even be shown when Google offers, "Did you mean ketchup?" if someone types in "ketsup."

"Everyone knows there`s nothing better than an authentic, Chicago-style hot dog. That means mustard, relish, ketchup, onions, and a hot dog bun. Nobody in Chicago would EVER put baked beans or coleslaw, cabbage or pancake syrup on an authentic Chicago hot dog!

"Down on the South side, there may be one Sox fan who might put ketchup and mustard only on a hot dog, but Cubs fans? No way! So what exactly makes Ugly`s the world`s best place for an authentic Chicago-style hot dog? We live here! It`s as simple as that. We love baseball, Da Bears, football, basketball, Da Bulls, and everything about Chicago."

You`re not spamming in the above, but you`re including words that really have nothing to do with Ugly`s. See? It`s only to get that SEO happenin`. "NOT" statements are valid, which is why you can say you do "not" use pancake syrup and wet tar on a hot dog. The SE couldn`t care less, it`ll simply index your site for anyone who searches "wet tar" on Google. LOL! It`s a very cool game!

:-)
craig