I have a work-related question. I know Google keeps their ranking algorhythm locked in some vault somewhere, but does anyone have any tips for getting something bumped up as a search result on Google? I know links are important, hits and so forth. I am hoping to bump my work site up, if anyone knows how or, in a true act of generosity, wants to link to us on their site. Do links / clicks from a message board help? The program I am working on is the Death Notification and Survivor Care program, a non-profit research-based training/support program for Death Notifiers -- the guys in the military/police who tap on the door of the widow / widower / parent / whathaveyou and tell them their loved one has been killed. The military actually does quite a good job of taking this seriously, so props to them. Also, we are creating diagnostic, therapeutic, support and logistical tools for the survivors in the following days and months. It's a good program, but the website needs to be up on google when someone types in "Death Notification." All tips / links / clicks are greatly appreciated. Death Notification and Survivor Care Program Thanks to all cbfc
For something that specific, Google AdWords (those advertisements that pop up on the side of the page) would probably be your best bet. They are surprisingly cheap. Nobody else has taken your words, so you would be guaranteed being in the top spot (for now). https://adwords.google.com/select/?hl=en In the Google AdWords program, the cost of your campaigns really depends on you -- how much you are willing to pay and how well you know your audience. It all boils down to knowing your own goals and letting us know what they are. Set your own limits: There is a $5.00 activation fee for Google AdWords. After that, you tell us how much you are willing to pay per click and per day. You can choose a maximum cost-per-click (CPC) from $0.05 - $50 and set a daily budget as low as 5 cents or as high as you want.
Our company has a guy that handles this thing specifically. There are a lot of variables that go into it, but a few keys: Page Titles The info in page titles is one of the big keys. However, be careful, because they are beginning to de-list sites that have misleading titles or do not contain the company name. Interesting Unique Pages The more pages on your site with unique or interesting textual information, the better. However, this does NOT include blogs. Most blogs are being, if not de-listed, ranked lower because they change so often. Having a lot of site pages with interesting and pertinent information is important. Make sure the pages are fresh and regularly updated. Heirarchical Site Architecture Sites are ranked better if they are organized by heirarchy - front page at the top, sections next, individual section pages next - like a pyramid. They are easier for Google and other engines to spider. No Intro Pages This includes Flash intros. Search engines won't dig beyond a couple layers in your site, so putting up an intro page just reduces one layer. Also, most visitors HATE them. Text Friendly Your page should be able to be searched and indexed by a text-only browser. This means there needs to be navigation somewhere that can be spidered. As cool as Flash navigation is, if you don't have an image or text link that is coded - i.e a href="sitename.com" - the site cannot be spidered. Use a Site Map If you do have quite a few pages on your site, a site map can be extremely helpful to spiders. It allows them to find pages deep within the site without searching for them. Dynamic Pages Don't Index Well Pages that are dynamically generated using Cold Fusion, ASP, PHP, JSP, etc do not index well because the url line is often populated with characters Google doesn't recognize well - ? , &, = , etc. I know Google has tried to work to improve this, but it is still an issue. Cross-Platform/Browser Compatible Google is now putting a premium on sites that are cross platform and cross browser compatible. If your site doesn't work in Netscape or Safari, it might not get indexed. No separate domain names If you have domain names that point at a specific folder or page on your site, make sure that those pages are also linked from the front page of the main site. If you don't, sometimes both domain names will be de-listed. Industry-related links The more links you have on websites related to your particular industry or area of interest, the better. But, be careful. Reciprocal links are not given much consideration because people often just create a "link farm" with hundreds of links meant to increase placement. Also, if the site linking to you is caught trying to do that or busted for spamming, you might get de-listed right along with them. Those are a few of the things I know and things mentioned in recent interviews with Google marketing folks. They have been changing them lately, but the new basics should be out the first of the year. When in doubt, hire someone to take care of it for you. There are some great SEO's out there (search engine optimizers) that can help out.
