Three Ways to be on Page One of Google

If you want your local business to be on Page One of Google , you should know the three main ways to be on Page One, and have three strategies to get there.  If all three strategies work, your business can be listed on Page One of Google Three Times .  Since there are usually only 20 spots on Page One, your business would own 15 % of the page!

1. SEO – Appearing in the “Natural” Results Section

The first strategy is SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.  This is the art / science of convincing Google that your website is the most relevant website for a particular set of search terms.  With a good SEO strategy, your business can be in the “Organic” or “Natural” results section of Google’s Search Results Page.  For a local business, the first step is to know what to optimize for.  In most cases, it would be the combination of the phrase that best describes your product or service and the city and state your are located.  Keep an eye out for my next post on how to identify good phrases for your business.  After identifying the right keywords to optimize for, the next step is to change your title tags, meta descriptions, headlines, copy and perhaps your URL’s to contain those keywords you are trying to optimize for.  There are numerous other methods for climbing the page ranks, so we always recommend hiring an experienced SEO expert to this for you.

2 – Google Places (now called “Google + Local”) – Appearing in the Map Section

If you enter a locally oriented phrase into Google’s Search Engine, Google will typically display a map of that local area with “pins” that show the location of the business you are searching for.  These “pins” are typically linked to a Google Places Page.  If you don’t have a Google Places Page set-up for your company, then just do it.  Here’s a guide to Google Places.  The trick to being on Page One of Google is to set-up one of your Categories as a pre-defined Google Category, then set the other four available Categories to match your targeted keywords on your website.  (Again, keep an eye out for my next post on how to find your ideal Keywords.)  You should also make sure your company’s description has your target keywords as well.

3 – Google Pay-Per-Click – Appearing in the “Sponsored Links” or “Ads” Section

This is the fastest and most reliable way to be on Page One of Google.  However, it’s also the most expensive.  Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is exactly what it says – you pay every time someone clicks on your ad.  It is also the most effective.  Why?  Because SEO and Google Places can only be optimized for a handful of keyword phrases.  If you offer many different services, it’s nearly impossible to be on Page One of Google for them all.  PPC is the best way to make sure someone looking for any of your services finds you.  The other reason it is the most effective is you can also go very broad with your keyword phrases.  It’s fairly easy to optimize a website or a Google Places Page for a term like “pizza delivery Anytown, VA”, but not so easy for a local company to get the phrase “pizza delivery”.  With PPC, you can bid on the term “pizza delivery” and be on Page One.

If you have an online marketing consultant tell you one of these methods is better than the other – run.  If someone enters a search term related to your business into Google, wouldn’t you want to be on Page One as many times as possible?  For the right keyword phrases, I always recommend trying to be on Page One of Google as many times as you possibly can.

I hope this helps – if it does, please leave a reply below, or click the “Like” button below.

The post Three Ways to be on Page One of Google appeared first on Third Marble Marketing.