***Be sure to read How To Improve Google Search Engine Ranking And Increase Traffic Generation Part 1***
Now let’s address some of the myths on how to improve Google search engine ranking and generate more traffic:
Google search engine ranking myth #1:
If an SEO expert approaches you saying that he can guarantee you will get the top search engine ranking for your chosen keyword, laugh in his face (or at least your computer screen).
I doubt it that any SEO expert owns search engines, has control over them, thus he can’t guarantee any result.
He can however assure you that he will use all his expertise to try to increase your traffic generation through top Google search engine ranking.
Google search engine ranking myth #2:
Pay $100 and some SEO expert will get you 100 links to PR 5-8 pages.
Impossible! It costs an arm and a leg to get links to high-ranking pages, $50/month and up.
Actually, there are only six ways I know of (let me know if I missed something in comments) to get links to high-PR pages:
- Buy them (very expensive - you will pay around $20 per year per link for PR2 links! - on 100 links that is $2,000 per year!)
- Talk them into putting a link on their site for free (!).
- Get them to enroll in your affiliate program.
- Provide them with unique content that they WANT to put on their sites.
- Put them on low PR pages and wait for the PR to rise.
- Have such a fantastic site that people voluntarily put links up and tell others about you.
Google search engine traffic generation myth #3:
You can check the amount of links going to your or any website by using link:website in Google or Yahoo.
Actually this command is broken and does not produce meaningful results.
Let’s test it: I checked on Brad Fallon’s site (the founder of StomperNet) by typing in link:myweddingfavors.com.
As of the time of this writing I got 180 links with Google and 508 with Yahoo. Which one do you think is more accurate? Take your pick.
You see the problem is that search engines don’t want you to know how many links you have going to your site.
Why not? Because the only reason you would need to know how many links you have is if you are doing SEO and search engines are at war with SEO traffic generation.
However, here is a Google hack that reveals the real story: type in to your browser the following search phrase, substituting your domain name details of course (Note that the first one does NOT include the dot com at the end).
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=.yourdomain.+-+www.yourdomain.com
So, what’s the best search engine ranking traffic generation strategy?
Have patience. Optimize your site. Make sure your code is clean. Double-check your meta tags, titles, and site content – it should be consistent with your theme.
Now become a content-generating factory.
Be consistent.
Post several times a week, every day would be even better.
Post articles to directories.
Do videos.
Write press releases.
Soon you’ll have hundreds of pages of great content and thousands of links pointing to them.
And – voila! Gradually you will climb Google search engine ranking up and up and up.
Once you have a bunch of good content on your site, start submitting it to website directories, like DMOZ and such.
Make sure you have TONS of GREAT content FIRST though or you will be wasting your effort.
Well, here ya go, kids. My list of Do’s and Don’t’s when it comes down to Google or any other search engine ranking.
I am looking for tips to add to my Google search engine traffic generation list!
Get those brain cells going and add some in the comments below.
Your are right: you don’t have to comment or retweet, but would it help if I told you it would be much appreciated? 
PS For more no-nonsense marketing training and tips from Ana, fill out this short spam-free form:
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post Ana! Look at you go girl!
Here is my golden nugget…. it’s call Traffic Swarm but I use it differently than most ; )
Traffic Swarm allows you to advertise up to 10 URL’s for free. When you add one of your URL’s you will need to give it a title. (This is where the magic happens) Title your URL a keyword phrase that your prospects would use to search for you on the internet. Don’t use a keyword like “vacations”. Use a long-tail keyword phrase that still gets a lot of searches like “tropical beach vacations”.
I was able to jump to the first page of Google within 2 short months using this strategy. To test this strategy join through my affiliate link attached to my picture. I do recommend the $30/mo upgrade as the 2500 page views had a lot to do with my results.
See you on the top of Google!
Christine McIvor
http://www.christinemcivor.com
Thanks for the tip, Christine. I checked out Traffic Swarm - I understand how it works now. I don’t think that the hope is that somebody will actually end up being a customer through the system; rather your goal is to purely generate traffic to your site thus increasing Alexa and hopefully Google rankings.
Ana
Great article. Now I am off to read part one. I do love SEO and study it every week and just finished a class in SEO at college. I like to read up on Matt Cutts, Jerry West and Dan Thies theories and visit the top SEO blogs to try to keep up. One important thing to do is to continue to add incoming links. Blogs with comment luv and keyword luv are a good place to start.
I also like to watch my Google analytics to see what keywords people arrive at my site for and how long they stay (bounce rate). I have one term that brings in visitors, yet they do not stay so I need to decide if to improve the post or what to do about it because a high bounce rate is not good for your site.
Wow, Clay, thanks for stopping by and giving such a great and to the point advice. I need to get into the habit of checking Google Analytics more often.
Ana
Well now that I found at least part two of the article, I would like to address two subjects in this single post. First, I believe it was in part 1 where there was a classification used to describe SEO it was broken down by the author as simply being just “Black Hat” and “White Hat” techniques.
I would however submit there is a third “Gray Hat”, for those not familiar with this term, it simply implies that while the techniques are not explicitly prohibited (in this case by a search engine) thus if you use “Gray Hat” strategies you won't get penalized, it's not exactly endorsed neither.
A couple of examples of “Gray Hat” SEO would be the utilization of metadata in video files, to help them rank higher in both YouTube via it's search feature and Google's search engine results page. This would be considered “Gray Hat” because Google doesn't come right out and say that his practice is unacceptable (or acceptable for that matter) and not many people would think of leveraging the technique unless they have this insatiable appetite for thinking outside of the box like I do.
The second example of “Gray Hat” SEO would be to leverage Google to sought out government or university URL's that are tied to a blog or other type of social media usage, after verifying that the blog in question doesn't leverage the “No Follow” tag (some do some don't) begin to participate in conversations held on these sites (It's really to your best interest to engage rather than SPAM) and if you are contributing good content, or a good debate on the topic discussed most web masters are not opposed to allow you to leverage a signature file at the end of your posts, which in most cases contains a link back to your website. Since both government and university sites are considered highly authoritative in nature, Google usually assigns them with a higher PR (Page Rank) value. Now while PR is no substitute for nor should it be confused with actual page views, gaining a link back to your website from theirs benefits you a great deal.
Again, not explicitly prohibited but not widely suggested, so there you have it my take on Gray Hat SEO. The second point I want to point out, is something that was discussed in part 2 of this article specifically this point that was made:
“If an SEO expert approaches you saying that he can guarantee you will get the top ranking for your chosen keyword, laugh in his face”
Actually now that Google has implemented real time search with it's partnership with Twitter it's a lot easier to get a top ranking on Google's search engine results page, granite it's not an actual organic ranking just some more interesting out of the box, “Gray Hat” SEO marketing.
Extremely interesting points, Bill. Something that I have never used in my SEO practices, but certainly would love to test.
Ana
Some great ideas above.
SEO all comes down to ranking for the right keywords that convert. It is not the volume but the quality of traffic that matters.
I like Ana’s tip “become a content-generating factory”
My tip would be to write good content and engage your niche contemporaries by commenting on their content.
Which is exactly what Ana is doing
Well, thank you, Peter. Many marketers are still looking for that “big” secret that will get them on the first page of Google.
The secret is in the basics though. Generating content and, yes, commenting on other people’s content are a good start.
Thanks, Ana! Great advice!
My husband has paid hundreds of dollars to get his sites ranked higher. All B.S. Well, you live and learn
By the way, I tried the hack but it didn’t work. Maybe I typed it in wrong.
Have a great week!
Ilka
I know, there is nothing “SEO pros” can do for us that we cannot do ourselves:).
I will check the command - maybe Google changed something… again.
Thank you for the great tips and myth busters! I will definitly use the tips to my advantage.
Well researched and relevant content as always Ana have retweeted
Cheers Kiaran
Spreading the word is always appreciated, Kiaran!
Ana