The Ultimate Google Ranking Strategy

I have used the described strategies to rank many e-commerce websites and sites for local businesses. What’s really cool is that often I would not only rank the website as #1 on Google, I would also grab 4-5 spots on the first page of Google. Do you want to grab 50+% of the front page of Google?

Six years ago I didn’t know anything about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) or Internet Marketing for that matter, however I’ve been able to get great Google rankings over and over again, using different strategies and constantly staying up to date with Google’s updates.

We have all heard of Panda and Penguin updates, some of my sites went down the rankings but some actually got a better positioning. Fortunately I have been able to track and understand what has worked with Google and what hasn’t.

Warning!

This is not a quick guide to success. The strategies I use take a lot of time and patience, that’s because I am not seeking to earn a few easy bucks but rather build a long lasting, successful business.

1. Building an Online Identity

The very first thing I do when I build a new website is creating a new online identity. I would often create a new user, this makes it a lot easier to keep things organized. If you connect all of your websites to the same Google account – you’ll create a big mess. You can use the same name and photo but do create a new account for every new niche/business.

I would highly suggest creating a spreadsheet in Excel to keep track of all the sites, usernames and passwords we will be using.

To create the new identity we use Google. We would create a new Gmail, Google+ and Youtube accounts. I use my keyword phrase/company name whenever possible. For the sake of this tutorial we’ll chose a niche, let’s say Making Money Online, with our main keyword phrase: Make Money Online.

So, I would come up with a pen name like Alex Affiliate (you can use your real name), then create a few profiles:

• makemoneyonline @ gmail.com
• Make Money Online youtube channel
• Make Money Online Google + page

Once you’ve got your Google accounts set-up it’s important to do the Google authorship for your site. This is when you connect your site to your Google+ account and your picture shows up in Google search results. This adds credibility to your readers and Google itself:

2. Social Profiles

Second step of this strategy – social profiles.
Google loves social networks and they love it when you are active on these networks. I recently posted about Youtube giving us hints on which social networks are the most important. Social profiles are great because they give you “natural backlinks”. Links from these profiles will never be considered as spam or black hat simply because it only makes sense to have social profiles around your business. When you create a new blog post on your site or a new promotion – share it on your social profiles. This will bring traffic, backlinks and activity.

Here is the list of the most important social sites to use:

•     Gmail/Google+/Youtube – already created in the previous step.
•     Facebook. Make sure to create a FAN page and not a “personal profile” or a group.
•     Twitter
•     LinkedIn (company page)
•     Skyrock.com – French Social Network, available in English
•     VK.com – Russian equivalent of Facebook, available in English
•     Pinterest
•     DevianArt
•     Delicious
•     Gravatar

Try to use your keyword phrase/company name as username or/and page name on all of the social profiles. Each site offers a field where you could enter your website URL – please do so. Once the profiles are set-up you should also interlink them. For instance you can add the URLs of your social profiles on your G+ page, Youtube channel and Gravatar. In your Gravatar profile you can add “Verified Services” and “websites”. The process is very simple within Google+ and Youtube.

3. Creating Web 2.0 Properties

This step is a bit tricky because many Web 2.0 sites gain and lose authority in Google’s eyes. Few years ago Squidoo and HubPages were very popular and would offer great rankings and backlinks however these sites got so much spam that Google had to dismiss them, in a way. They are slowly re-gaining popularity and I would suggest creating a profile there as well, however there are other Web 2.0 sites that have never failed and probably never will: the blogging platforms.

Once again, it is important to remember to create unique, high quality content.

Here is the list of the blogging platforms I use and like:

•     WordPress.com – a free wordpress blog is not only great for getting a backlink to your site but these blogs tend to rank high in the SERPs.
•     Blogger.com – Owned and praised by Google, just like WordPress.com Blogger blogs often rank high in the search engine results.
•     SiteRubix – You can build a free site and also have people helping you as you go.
•     Blog.com
•     LiveJournal
•     Tumblr
•     my.Opera.com
•     Weebly.com
•     Squidoo.com
•     HubPages
•     Webs.com
•     Tripod.com

Some of these blogs will let you add a “website” link in the profile information, however you will need to create blog posts. Try to post at least once a month on these platforms, search engines love fresh content. Every time you create a new blog post you can link back to your main website. When I do this I vary my anchor text; Keyword Phrase, Click Here, Official Website, Click to Visit and so on. Make it natural and don’t keyword spam, use your logic.

I know I am repeating myself but the point here is not to simple create some spammy pages but rather create great value for the visitors.

4. File Sharing, Video Sharing

Yet another place to get high quality links back to your sites.

You can create more content in PDF, Audio and Video formats then share them all over the web, for free. Of course linking back to your main site.

For instance you can create a step-by-step guide to “Making Money With Blogs” and share this guide on Scribd, Slideshare, PdfCast.org and other Free PDF sites.

You can also create videos with tips, tricks, news, reviews, etc. and post the videos not only on Youtube but also on Vimeo, DailyMotion, MetaCafe, Viddler and others. Most of these sites will allow you to add your URL in the video descriptions and although most of the time this link is a nofollow it still counts. Google likes these sites so the links from them do matter. You do not need to panic if you can’t create a cool video, just visit Fiverr.com and find someone who’ll do a good job for $5, that’s what I do.

You can go a bit deeper and share photos, powerPoint presentation and so on.

Do you have more free time? Why not start a podcast on iTunes? This helps as well.

5. Article Marketing never gets old.

Article Marketing still works well, even in 2013. You have probably read that a million times but your articles also need to be of quality. Write articles for readers and not for bots. Forget keyword staffing, provide good, useful information. When I link from an article I usually make one link go to my main site and a second link goes to one of my blogs.
I would recommend sticking to the most popular article directories;

•     Street Articles
•     EzineArticles
•     GoArticles
•     ArticleBase

You can find thousands of other directories however many small directories aren’t trusted, often go down or completely disappear – concentrate on the proven sites.

Remember that although the articles directories are important – you should concentrate on creating amazing content and posting it on your own website. Search Engines really appreciate this.

Well, this is the end of this tutorial.
Please make sure you keep a spreadsheet with all of the usernames, passwords and created URLs.

I have been using parts of this strategy for the past 6 years and these are the things that have always worked and keep on bringing great results. I have paid for mass link building, article marketing software and many other things but most of these gray hat/black hat techniques are shortly lived, always fail and simply aren’t worth the effort or the time. When you build an online business – treat is as a business. Think LONG TERM. Provide quality and it will pay off 🙂

Now, I have probably missed a few things or wasn’t clear on something so do not hesitate to post your questions here and I will do my best to answer all of them.

To our success,

Alex

[this content was originally published it in my Wealthy Affiliate Training]