SEO (search engine optimization) is a series of steps a website owner takes to achieve top rankings in Google for specific keyword phrases.
It used to be where you could simply stuff your meta tags with keyword phrases, buy a few high quality links, and you’d soon see your website at the top.
That’s no longer case!
Primarily because Google (and their search algorithm) has gotten smart about what is, and more importantly what isn’t, a high quality website.
Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt recently made a keen observation about the web. He said, and I quote, “The Internet one big cess pool!”
Meaning, the web is full of garbage websites, spam, and massive amounts of content that provides absolutely no value to anyone other than the site owners who are trying to make a buck.
Google is all about customer satisfaction!
You, the person using Google, are Google’s customer. And they want, no need, to make sure that you have a great experience while using their product. Because just like any other business, if you aren’t satisfied, you aren’t coming back.
And if, when you search, you get nothing but garbage, spammy sites that provide no value, then in the search engine world, you’re an unsatisfied customer.
Google’s Fix To The “Cess Pool” Problem
Again, Google wants everyone to be a happy customer. So they needed to find a way to filter out the garbage and bring the high quality content to the top.
Backlinks used to be the answer, until SEO types started spamming this system by buying links, or building a bunch of irrelevant links in mass.
So the answer to the cess pool problem is “brand”!
If you have a strong brand, one that people are talking about and excited about sharing with others, then from Google’s perspective a few key actions will be the results:
1) Growing traffic to your website
2) Natural backlink growth (growth in pace, quality, and association)
3) Your site, and your name, will be talked about in other places on the web
4) Higher quality sites than yours will share information about you
These are some of the variables that Google considers a strong brand.
If you have a strong brand for particular keyword phrases, then Google will rank in the search results accordingly.
If you have an unnatural portfolio of backlinks, and no one else is talking about you but you, then Google isn’t going to give you top rankings.
How to build a strong online brand for top rankings in Google
The process to achieving top rankings in Google then is to focus on building your brand online!
And one of the best ways to build a strong online brand, and get others talking about you, it to join conversations that are already taking place on the web.
Social media is where these conversations are happening.
Tools such as blogging, Facebook, and Twitter all provide powerful platforms for building your brand.
And of those 3, blogging is where you, as a business, need to get started.
Blogging for your business is the best way to start reaching an online audience that’s already seeking out, or interested in, your type of industry.
Sharing news, information, tips, and your story, will attract an audience, and this growing audience of followers will began sharing your story with others.
As this process of you sharing information, and attracting others who will then share your story with their audience, is how your brand is built on the web and how Google will begin to attribute authority to your website.
From Google’s perspective, a strong brand means authority, and authority is your ticket to top rankings!
The more authority you build, the higher your rankings will grow and the more people you’ll connect with.
It’s a “branding cycle” of authority both in the positive and the negative.
If your brand is dying, so will your rankings.
If your brand is growing, so will your rankings.
The take away
Start today with blog for your business. Share your story online and start attracting a high quality audience of followers.
These followers will ultimately be your strongest advocates, your best customers, and will be the fuel that drives your rankings in Google straight to the top!