I’m constantly asked by people all over ‘How do I get to the top of Google’, ‘Company X promises a front page listing’ and the likes. What are the google tricks to get you to the top? Hopefully I’m going to dispel a few tricks with business logic.

Google is a search engine, they want to make money from advertising but for this to happen, they NEED the masses to use it for searches.

What would make you choose or stop using a given search engine? The results. To maintain your loyalty, Google works hard to make sure it understands what you’ve typed into the search box, and gives you a good answer on page 1 with x million not so good ones following. (just in case) Google is a computer program and so doesn’t understand human speech as well as we, or Google execs would like, but it’s slowly getting there.

So
Fact #1: It is in Google’s best interests to produce reliable results to keep it’s audience.

If you search now for ‘Plumber in Watford’, Google will show plumbers and directories in Watford. Sometimes you’ll see other things there, these websites are strategically incorrect. This could be them trying to cheat the system or just not optimised correctly where Google thinks it’s about plumbers.

Back to fact 1, we lead on to:
Fact #2: Google continuously monitor results to create rules to filter out non-relevant results thus satisfying number 1.

Assuming you run a legitimate business, for argument’s sake and accountant in Hemel Hempstead, and I am looking for an accountant in Hemel Hempstead, it is in Google’s best interest to show your site to me. Google doesn’t care about how it looks, or how much money you spent on it, it only cares about me and satifying my needs. If it works, I will come back and become a loyal searcher, which is exactly what Google wants.

Fact #3: Google isn’t there to penalise people not able or willing to spend money on SEO, it’s best interests are with the searcher.

Some sites appear higher in Google than others, this is because Google believes that they are more helpful. Old sites designed and forgotten in 1995 are unlikely to be in the top 10 so it needs to know that you’re still in business and that you can help me. Don’t be clever and skirt around the issue of what you do. I am a web designer, fact. I could call myself a ‘brand archetect’ or a ‘e-makeover expert’ to differentiate myself, but that’s not what my prospects will be searching for. It is getting better and understanding, but it’s not quite there. For example if I add ‘That let the cat out of the bag’, Google would have to understand that I am talking about trouble, I am not a vet, I don’t agree with animal cruelty, I do not rescue kittens from bags (although have been known to.)

Fact #4: Google makes no assumptions, it only knows what you tell it, word for word.

I will expand on that last one, Google also knows what other people say about you, but that’s for another blog.

So forget Google as the enemy, it isn’t. It wants to help searchers find what they are looking for so they come back time and time again and hopefully click on a few adverts making Google a small profit for it’s efforts. Google is a business and while there are ways of ‘tricking’ it or tweaking things, if Google doesn’t believe you can help solve a given problem, you won’t be shown in the golden position 1.

Fact #5: Google are constantly improving, there are ways to slip through the net, but these will be quickly filtered out and you could be penalised.

So don’t try fooling Google by adding 100 links to the bottom of the page going to the same place, or 15 identical pages with the place names replaced unless there is a genuine reason for doing so. Continue to write copy for your readers, not Google, but just dumb it down a little so it all makes sense to a robot. Tricks like these will only work for a short time, once Google find a way to filter it out, you’ll be dropped like a hot potato.

Likewise if you do operate in several areas, by all means do have separate pages for each area, but don’t over-link them, stay logical. Remember that EVERY page is your home page. When someone clicks through, they won’t necessarily go to page 1, they could land anywhere and need to know in an instant that they’re in the right place.

Google isn’t your enemy, it is a money making business. If you understand business, think like them and you’ll already understand.