5 Ways to Improve Your Site's Rank in Google

In April, Americans conducted a staggering 15.5 billion Web searches. Studies show that the first result receives about 40% of clicks. These days, simply creating a great website won't attract more customers to your business. Your site must also rank well in search results. Getting this to happen is called search engine optimization.

To rank well on Google and other search sites, you have to optimize your site. This requires careful work and planning, but it is an important way to attract new customers to your business.

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There's a lot to SEO, and it requires patience; it can take months to see results. It is also an ongoing process, but I have some tips to help you improve your site's rank.

Choose keywords carefully

Your keyword phrase is the search term that leads visitors to your site. You should optimize each of your pages for one and only one keyword phrase. It should be relevant to your business and the page's content.

Check the popularity of keywords with a tool like Google Adwords' Keyword Estimator. You may never get a good search ranking for extremely popular keywords. If they aren't popular enough, they aren't worth your immediate effort.

Use meta tags

Meta tags provide information about a Web page. The most important meta tag is the title tag. This tells search sites and visitors what the page is about. It should include your keyword phrase near the beginning.

Some people erroneously believe that meta keywords and meta descriptions are terribly important. Search sites don't give them much — if any — weight. Still, provide keywords and a clear, accurate description. Think of the description as a marketing tool enticing visitors to your site.

Focus on content

Content is king. Without useful content, your site will never get a good ranking. So, your content should provide value to readers. Search sites prefer frequently updated content. That's why many CEOs have taken up blogging.

Of course, you also need to use your keyword phrase within your content. There is some debate over the importance of keyword density. That's how often the phrase appears on the page. It should appear several times. Use it near the opening of the first paragraph. Also make sure it appears in bold or in a heading on the page.

Pay attention to links

Search engines see incoming links as votes for your site. Your rank will go up. So, it is important to have other sites link to yours. Network with other webmasters. Notify related sites when you post new content. Use a service like Ping-O-Matic to notify blog aggregators of new postings.

With links, reputation is important. Links from link farms or other shady sites can harm your search rank. Search sites also frown on link exchange programs. Likewise, be careful about linking to other sites. Linking to a bad one can also harm your rank.

Hire an expert carefully

There is much, much more to search engine optimization. You may not have time to learn it all. You may prefer to hire a professional. This can be expensive; some companies pay thousands a month for the service. Your actual cost will depend on your goals and your company's site.

Unscrupulous SEO practices can get you banned from search sites. So, check a company's references thoroughly. The company and its clients should be ranked in Google. Make sure you understand the company's practices.

Run from anyone promising you a top spot in Google. Avoid companies that claim a special relationship with Google. Don't hand over control of your site. Finally, submitting your site to search engines generally won't help. Companies that focus on search site submissions aren't worth your time.