The Secret to High Natural Rankings at the Search Engines

Friends, family, business acquaintances, friends-of-friends, .et .al are constantly asking me (and I assume other ecommerce merchants and marketers get like queries), “What’s the trick that gets my business web site highly ranked at Google (or any other search engine)?” Today I am going to reveal this secret to the world. (And from now on I will simply forward this article to all who ask me this question.)

There are three steps and they must be executed in this order:

1. Be a good business. This step has nothing to do with computers or new technology. It has everything to do with good products, competitive prices, responding to the needs of your customers, good communication with customers/employees/vendors, flexibility, treating employees well (among other reasons, as a model for how you want your staff to treat your customers), fair policies, and the myriad of product and service issues that make a good business apparent to all who visit it (on or off line). This is the most important step. Your ultimate objective will fail, if this step is not followed.

2. Create a good web site. This step has nothing to do with directly striving to optimize your site for the search engines (SEO). It has everything to do with building a site that is attractive, easy to navigate, loads quickly, is free of irrelevant ads/banners/pop-ups (and like garbage), contains lots of good general information relevant to your product and expertise, etc. This site includes good images, good product descriptions, a good site search tool, an easy to use shopping cart, options for the customer to purchase from or communicate with the merchant in the way that he/she prefers (e.g. online, via telephone, fax, mail), etc. This site reflects and reinforces the fact that number one is in place.

3. Do nothing, be patient, and continue to improve #1 and #2. Here’s why: The search engines (Google and Yahoo for example) are in the business of returning good, relevant search results to their site visitors. In other words, the business of being a good search engine is to execute “#1” and “#2” above. In the arena of ecommerce, the search engine business succeeds when it helps its visitors find good merchants with good sites. Their formula for doing this successfully is improving all the time. [Trying to crack the algorithm is waste of time anyway; you might as well be trying to get into Fort Knox.] More importantly, this formula is predicated on how successfully an ecommerce site is being appreciated by the Internet audience. Examples include how many “good quality” links are there to your site (good quality means links from other good businesses and good sites). Or, how many search engine visitors click through to your site when your link is returned on a page along with your competitors (for example: the Google visitor searches “cat t-shirts for sale.” Ten merchants line up on the Google page returned for this search criteria, each with two lines of text. Visitors like your two lines of text better than the other ones and therefore click through to your site more than to your competitors’ sites. This “vote” likely raises your ranking.) The search engine is looking for the same thing a customer is looking for i.e. good businesses [#1] with good sites [#2]. If you are not this, you may be able to trick the results for a while, but the formula will change eventually and weed you out. There is a lot more to the formula, but I think you get my point-don’t bother all that much with it per se. Instead, work at being a better business and making a better site; that’s the means to accomplish the ends.

There you have it, three steps for achieving good natural search engine rankings (that in fact are implemented in two steps). Not incidentally, the strategy for ecommerce success is the same.

Here’s to More Good Businesses in the World!

Fred Belinsky
www.VillageHatShop.com
www.Berets.com
www.JaxonHats.com

Comments

[Georgette]

I would also add that a good emerchant does not charge outlandish shipping costs. This is one of the main reasons that I choose not to shop on certain sites.

[Bradley Steffens]

Of course those 13,993 inlinks aren't hurting, either.

[Scott Andrews]

I disagree with this article. How many good companies don't even have a proper website? How many good websites, as great as they may be, never get enough traffic to stay in business? Since when is "doing nothing" a recipe for success? Why is your blog getting better Google PR than your business website? Why are many crappy, one page letter sites getting more traffic than either of your sites?

Answer: Because they have good SEO, great backlinks, strong affiliate partners, and good PR outside of the web into their website. These are all more true reasons for how and why a website can build traffic to their site.

While I don't disagree in the merits of growing a good business and building a good website, these are not enough to get traffic to a site.

If someone really needs help with growing traffic, they ought to contact an expert in building traffic (hint, hint). Spend a little money and you can significantly boost your traffic. I know, because I'm doing it.

Thanks and happy hat-selling,
Scott

[Fred]

Scott -

Thanks for your reply. It's true that when I wrote "do nothing", I was being a bit flippant so as to make a point (I quickly add "continue to improve ..."). But I stand by my overarching point. You can bring all the traffic in the world to a site with good SEO, links, affilate programs, etc. and if that traffic does not stick, does not convert, customer does not keep the merchandise reather than returning it, etc. etc., then it is all a waste of money and time on the part of the marketing campaign. And I continue to stand by my underlying point that the turtle beats the hare in this game - the search engines will ultimatlely find the better businesses. However, I do concede that marketing can be effective if these mandatory prerequisites are in place. That - I assume - is your business. But how many businesses have you tried to help that are helpless? Thanks for your posting.

Best of luck,

- Fred