Make My Site Number One On Google

The comment (it seems) made by all new clients is, "Oh, and by the way...I want my new site to be number one on Google." That's impossible to do for a number of reasons. Following is a discussion of the five major reasons.

  1. Slot Filled - Number one position occupied
    What most clients don't take into consideration is that the number one slot is already occupied. It would make our job quite a bit easier if there was a vacancy in the number one slot, but that just doesn't happen. The site occupying the number slot has fought (over time)to get into that position and it takes a huge effort to displace a site that has already proven worthy of that position.
  2. Trust - Old Web sites have an advantage
    It takes some time until Google shows new Web sites in the search results. Although you can submit your Web site to Google, Google will only index your Web site if other Web sites link to your site. You must earn Google's trust before your Web site will get lasting high rankings. A new Web site can get good rankings for less competitive keywords but it usually takes about 6 months to gain the minimum level of trust necessary to get high rankings.
  3. Optimization - Make it easy to parse your pages
    Make sure it's as easy as possible for search engines to index your Web pages. The better search engines can read your site's pages, the more likely it is your site's pages will be added to the index. Optimize the content of your Web pages to make sure your pages will be found for the desired keywords.
  4. Keywords and competitors - It's difficult competing against larger sites
    The keywords you target are a very important factor. The more competitive your keywords are, the longer you have to wait and the more backlinks (links from other sites INTO your site) you need. If the Web sites ranked in the top 10 results for your keyword all have hundreds of backlinks and dozens of pages then it's not likely your Web site will be able to get in the top 10 results if it only has 10 backlinks and 5 pages. Start with very targeted multiple word keyword phrases and then proceed to the more competitive keywords when your Web site has good content and inbound links.
  5. Backlinks - The better the links, the faster your site will be listed
    The more backlinks a Web site has, the quicker Google will pick up that Web site. If your Web site has great content but only a few backlinks, then it won't get high rankings. High rankings on Google takes time. You have to get good inbound links. The number of inbound links is a very important factor.

Over the years we've been belittle dozens of time by clients and potential clients because we won't guarantee them a first place ranking on Google. Often they reference receiving a very convincing phone call from a company called MainstreetHost.

MainStreetHost is a search engine submission and optimization company, specializing in Web site optimization, site rankings, Web site hosting, etc. They have a VERY convincing sales pitch which we consider "smoke and mirrors." They know the majority of site owners are not up on the latest optimization techniques.

In the past we've had over a half-dozen clients pay to have their site "optimized" by MainStreetHost. Without exception, these clients did not gain anything with regard to increasing their search engine ranking, and in a couple of cases our clients found their site "black-balled" by the major search engines, resulting in a lose of ALL ranking. A recent example of a dissatisfied client of MainStreetHost follows:

Ron,
I didn't find MainStreetHost that successful for the amount they charged. Also, I received numerous phone calls wanting to sign me up and I was already a client [of theirs]. That wasn't very encouraging. Take care and God bless.

Mary Jo H.
Owner

MainStreetHost uses some questionable tactics (at best) and at worse they're using techniques frowned upon by the "big three" search engines. For instance, the addition of bogus keyword rich links at the bottom of site pages that don't go to where the visitor is expecting but rather just take one to pages on the existing site. Check out this site's homepage for bogus links toward the bottom.

Their "proof" that your site is doing poorly is provided by a search engine position report they send. The problem is, they're searching for terms that are almost guaranteed to produce no listings for your site. To see a portion of a report recently sent to one of our clients, click HERE. In this report they were telling the innkeeper their site couldn't be found in the first 100 result pages for a search of "Inn" and a search for "Lodging". No kidding!! The truth is this client's site already has first page ranking for the keyword phrase of "Lubbock TX bed and breakfast." We don't know anyone, wanting accommodations in Lubbock TX, that would search for "Inn" with the expectations of find useable results.

Though they must have some satisfied clients somewhere, we just caution you to take time in evaluating their sales pitch prior to giving them your hard-earned money. Nuff said!

There are no shortcuts to attaining good ranking on the major search engines. You've got to be willing to invest time and a bit of money to bring your site up to a point where it is better and more informative than the current high-ranking sites.