Getting your site to #1 on Google isn`t easy, but it is possible to do it for free. Pay per click advertising is a quick and easy way to get noticed (choose your keyword, set a high price per click and you WILL appear in the Google Ads on the results pages for the relevant search) but it is very expensive and I have known companies to go bankrupt through poor execution of PPC campaigns.
Search Engine Optimisation is the way forwards: it is a huge topic and there are umpteen companies promiting this as their main business lines, however to get you started here are 2 points to consider:
1. Content is KING
Your website should have concise content, relevant to the subject
matter. Writing in good, clear english, is a good way to achieve this
naturally. For example, on Smarter Housing, our property pages each
have a template with paragraphs referring to the property specification
/ alternative properties / links to accommodation in other areas and so
on. This regimented structure means each property page has a good
weighting of keywords without keyword spamming, which is frowned upon
by Google and other search engines. By using concise English you
naturally avoid keyword spamming as overloading of the word property,
for instance, would give a poor sentence structure.
2. You need a large number of incoming links
Ideally, you want links coming in from reputable websites. Link
farming, which involves setting up pages plastered in links to your
main site, is of no benefit in terms of
SEO.
A good link, as an example, would be one on the front page of Young
Entrepreneur if you are running a similar Entrepreneurship forum or
social networking website.
Outgoing links aren`t all bad, but you do want to keep them to a
minimum. On my sites I keep link sharing to a minimum with websites
that contain similar subject matter and are relatively established.
There are many other elements to consider, such as the coding of your
website. If you have a database driven site, for instance, you need to
make sure output is "natural" and not "dynamic". Slap
SEO in Google and you`ll be amazed how many guides there are....!
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Regards,
Adam Arnold
Smarter Group Ltd.
Founder & CEO
Encounters of an Entrepreneur
SmarterHousing
SmarterNights