How to Get High in the Search Engines

Are you looking for more traffic to your site so you can make more sales? One of the best ways to do that is to get your site high in the search engines, like Google, Yahoo or MSN. But you may say, “I’m just a little website and there are mega-websites that are much bigger than me. I can’t imagine getting a higher rank than those sites.”

Believe it or not, you can outrank the big boys. We sell a book called A Thomas Jefferson Education. Somebody else is ranked number one for the term, “thomas jefferson education”. As I write this, our site is third, which puts us on the first page of Google. Not only are we on the first page of Google for that keyword phrase, we’re one of two sites on Google’s first page that sells the book.

What does that mean? We get most of the book sales. We even outrank the publisher of Thomas Jefferson Education. I should tell you that Amazon ranks on that page, but that doesn’t matter at this time because they only have used copies for sale.

My students often ask me what’s the formula Google uses so I can get ranked high? Now, do you think Google is going to share that proprietary information. No way, that’s top top secret.

If you see an e-book saying, “Everything you need to know about getting ranked in search engines”, you ought to be cautious. That author should qualify it because nobody knows everything about Google, except the Google top execs. And I bet they don’t even know because it’s so complicated.

There are a lot of people who are sharp in this arena and know a lot about it. But in the end, Google guards their secrets, just like Kentucky Fried Chicken guards its recipe.

So what can you be doing to rise in the search engines? Getting backward links is absolutely necessary. Backward links are links that point to your website from other websites. So, when someone puts a hyperlink on their site that points to your site, they are giving you a “backward link” and Google loves backward links.

Backward links tell Google that what your site is about. If I’m about butterflies and another site links to mine with the keyword, “butterflies”, Google starts to believe I’m about butterflies. The more backward links I have, the higher Google ranks my site.

How do you get backward links?

1. Trade Links – Ask other similar websites to put your link on their site. When they do so, you put a link on your site.

2. Press Releases – Submit an online press release about something happening in your company. Be sure to include a link to your site. When news sites pick up your press release, they will publish your link along with your press release. A free press release site is Free Press Release

3. Articles – Write an article about your niche and include a bio with a link to your site. Submit your article to online article directories. Ezine publishers are lazy so they look in these directories for content they can use in their newsletters. When they publish your article, you have a backward link. Here’s a link to get started publishing your articles: Ezine Articles

To me, the easiest way to get backward links is submitting articles. Take a few minutes this week and write a 300-400 word article. Submit it to ten article directories and you should have backward links coming to your site over the next few weeks.

Want to know exactly how to send those articles the right way? Grab a copy of our Online Marketing Tool Kit today.

© Stephen Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.

Stephen Beck teaches 7 simple steps to starting a home business. For a free CD explaining those steps, visit Work at Home right now.