How soon will I be #1 in Google?

I get this question fairly regularly, and I wish I had a switch I could flip that would allow me to give a date for that. (I’m pretty sure I’d make a lot more money if I could.) But this is not something you can predict or guarantee for organic rankings. To increase your rank in the search engines, there are many factors that influence your standing and some of those you can control and some of those you can’t.

Within your Control

The search engines, and we talk about Google in particular because 80% of searchers are using Google, have an algorithm that determines rank. And yes, they change the algorithm a couple of times a year, but if you pay attention and follow the rules, you can get a more favorable rank. Here are some of the things you need to make sure your website is doing.

• Your site needs to have quality content. Content is king. I say this over and over and over. You need solid, quality content in order to rank and rank well. For best results, update it regularly with a blog. Google loves blogs. Write good content, and write it for people, not search engines.
• Organize your content. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, break your content into multiple, organized pages so that similar content is placed together.
• Have a domain name that uses your keyword phrase. Want users to find you for the phrase “yoga candy” then your domain should be yogacandy.com. I don’t know what yoga candy is, that’s just an example. 🙂
• Your website needs to be mobile-friendly. Last April we had “Mobile-Geddon” – the date that Google started using mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor. It’s import because around 30% or more (really depends on your target audience) are going to be searching for you on their phone. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, there’s a good chance it won’t come up in their mobile search results.
• Have a sitemap, both XML and HTML. A sitemap is basically just a list of pages and posts in your site. An XML sitemap is one you submit to the search engines so they can properly find all your content. An HTML sitemap is for your users to find your content. Having the HTML sitemap was a new change in the algorithm this year.
• Use Google Webmaster Tools. You can submit your site to Google as well as that XML sitemap to get better indexing, because then Google knows where all your stuff is.
• Get on Google Plus and Google Local if you are a local business. All these different parts combine to form your online reputation.
• Put some videos on YouTube. Google owns YouTube and people love videos.
• Have a fast site. Google doesn’t like slow websites.
• Encrypt your site. Google now uses SSL as a ranking factor. It’s not that hard and not that expensive but people always seem to dismiss this idea.

Is this all your site needs to do to rank? No, this is just a selection of the things I’ve found to be most important. These are things I would suggest anyone do for their website to see results.

Outside your Control

• Your competition. It’s a lot easier to rank for something you have no competition for. Imaging trying to get #1 for the search phrase “contractor” or “pants.” It would be really, really hard to break into those results.
• Time. Domain and website age plays a role, and you can’t go back in time and make your site older. We’ve been publishing content on our site for over ten years, and it pays off well for us, but we didn’t get here in 2006. SEO takes time to build.
• Location & Browser History. Did you know that your search results are tailored to you specifically? If I’m in Indiana and I search for “web design” and someone in California does the exact same search, we’re going to see different results. Results will not only differ from various locations, but according to what you’ve searched for and viewed previously. For example, if I search for “web design” my own site will come up much higher for me than others because I visit this site a lot. You can’t use what you see in the search results as a metric for how your site is doing, because it’s different for everyone.

Keep in mind that none of this addresses user conversion, which is whether the person who visits your site does your desired action. That’s another ballgame altogether, and an important one.

Nobody can guarantee you a #1 ranking organically, and no reputable company will make that promise. If someone guarantees you a particular rank, and in a particular time frame, then I would run, and run fast, away. Many companies that make these promises are deceitful and will use black hat techniques to achieve that rank, which could ultimately get you blacklisted in Google. It’s hard to recover from something like that.