The Truth About Free Search Engine Rankings

You’ve heard that phrase “there’s no such thing as a free lunch?” Boy, does that apply to search engines! Yes, the “free” listings don’t cost you anything like PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising does. But don’t kid yourself, there will be costs if you are serious about being listed on the top page ahead of the tens of thousands or hundred of thousands of other sites fighting for the same rankings.

Before we continue; keep the following in mind. If hundreds of thousands of sites all want to pull on the top page for the very same terms you do, and if that’s not good enough, all your competitors also want to be in the top 5 or top 3 for those terms, it is clear that not everyone can attain those positions. There are only 5 positions in the top 5 — that means only 5 sites can make the cut. Each site probably desires those positions as much as their competitors — but desire aside, what makes the difference?

There are many great resources online that guide site owners on the reality of what is required to attain top page rankings in the free SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) on sites such as Google and Yahoo. Unfortunately, many ignore this reality to assume that they can tweak this, or do that, not spend any time or money and the rankings will happen just because they want them to.

They simply won’t. Free rankings on the top page, top 10, top 5, top 3 are very difficult to attain. You have to take a serious look at the situation and consider “what makes my site so much better than the multitude of competitors for the same term that I warrant being above all the rest?” If you don’t have an realistic answer to that question, you don’t deserve top rankings.

Top rankings cannot be demanded — they have to be earned! To think that you can state, I want to be top 5 — “make it so” without realizing that as a site owner there are things you have to do and consider, consistently and for the long haul, to put it nicely, is wishful thinking at best.

Each search site, such as Google, Yahoo and MSN all have their own proprietary algorithm that takes many factors into consideration when determining how to rank a site. Albeit none are perfect, these algorithms are constantly evolving and changing all to offer the searcher the most relevant results based on a the search criteria used. That’s your mission; to be the most relevant for the terms you want to rank for.

Remember these are just computers talking to computers. The algorithm only has the content of your site to go on and the ability to know your link status throughout the network form quality “authority” sites. Even still, as complicated as these algorithms are — to get good rankings over the long haul is pretty black and white.

1. ADD VALUABLE CONTENT: You must continually grow your site with relevant useful information of value to your site visitors that also is worth linking to. Link exchanges and link farms are pretty much ignored when done between sites that have no commonality or synergy. Search engines know that anyone can exchange links — that doesn’t indicate quality or value. You want to encourage one-way links in to your site — that is a vote of confidence that you have a good site and information.
2. LESS IS MORE: You simply cannot cover all your keyword phrases on your top page or any page within your site (or in some cases with one site) for that matter and expect to pull on the top page. The more you are about, the less you are about any one thing. Search engines will list the most relevant site related to the term searched for. You need to have detailed concentrated pages about individual topics to accomplish this. You have to be ûber-niche!
3. LONGEVITY: Sites that have been online longer and updated more often will pull higher than those just launched or rarely updated.

With the free SERPs you can’t “buy” your way into the top rankings. Unless you take the above issues into consideration and have a long-term plan, you will most likely never enjoy top rankings.

So what is a web site owner to do? Work hard at continually making your site the best it can be within its competitive market for your target customer. Add articles, a Blog, directory, forums — the more the better. Strive to be the one-stop-shop for your target market!

By having this approach, you not only make your site visitors happy but you give the search engines exactly what they need to rank you accordingly.