Michelle in Birmingham asks:
Why is it so hard to be seen on Google? What do I have to do in order to climb up?

If anyone really knew the answer to this question and could create results every time they tried to raise someone up in the search engines, they would be insanely rich.

The truth to the matter is that you are competing against a bunch of other people for those top positions, and they all have the same question that you do. There are only so many top spots, and only a few people are going to get them.

Google’s formulas for determining who goes where are über-complicated on purpose. They are working against the porn industry which will use any methods they can to get people to their websites. By trying to stay a step or two ahead, the search engines can make sure that they are not getting inundated with adult links. They are also working against “Search Engine Optimization experts” who have ways of making sites show up in different places and different searches.

They’re also working against unscrupulous people who misrepresent their business or artificially inflate certain statistics in order to try to manipulate their placement on the search engines.

However, Google tells us what they want (and since Google is 80% of the search market, it’s more profitable to focus on what they say).

First, they want the website to accurately describe what the company does or what is found on the website. They want a doughnut shop to represent themselves as a doughnut shop, not a candy store.

Second, they want others to validate that the website represents the business. Links, social bookmarks, etc…

Third, they want to see a site that stays fresh… not a set of stale files. The simplest way to do this is with a blog… and Google has mad crush on blogs (at the time this article was written). Don’t know how to blog? Take a look at Blog Champions, a six week course that gets you off and rolling!

‘Shopping’ keywords often increase competition and businesses waste valuable time with “tire kickers” instead of buyers ready to make a purchase.

I asked Judy to bring me a list of keywords that she thought people would use to try to find her services. She brought me a list of her services and products.

“it’s a list of what I do,” she commented.

I asked her to remake the list, but this time with a different way of thinking…

“Specificaly, when someone is looking for a business like yours, what are they looking for?”

That changed her whole list.

By looking at the customer’s point of view instead of your own, you will find better keywords to use as starting points for your website.