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Experimenting with SEO

Oct 13
2012

Have you ever wondered how Google decides the order for their search results? How some sites make it to the top while others stay hidden in the Internet abyss? The truth is there are thousands of factors that come into play for Google’s PR (Page Rank) algorithms.

I’m Brett Miller. You may have a few friends named Brett and I’m willing to bet you know many Millers. If you search “Brett Miller” on Google you’ll be left with an incredible 18 MILLION results! How do you get listed with that kind of competition?

Which brings me to this experiment. Because my name is insanely common it seems like the perfect variable for a search engine ranking experiment. First we need to take a look at what steps are involved with SEO.

Step 1: Keyword Optimization

Begin by building a site optimized for your keywords. Use tools like Adwords or Market Samurai to find popular words or phrases with minimal competition. I don’t really have a choice in this case and changing my name is not an option. Try to get your keyword in the URL. Make sure your meta description contains your keyword and try to use it in your H1 tags, H2 tags, 1st paragraph etc. DON’T OVERUSE KEYWORDS. Google will punish you for spamming.

Step 2: Content

Although this article may seem self-serving, I’m trying to add value by providing a lesson. If you produce garbage content viewers won’t link back to it. It’s that easy! Your posts, videos and more should be well put together and relevant. That goes for guest posts, marketing, tweets and anything connecting back to your site or brand.

Step 3: Social Media

Google released a major update to their algorithms in July of 2012 which punished spammers and highlighted social media. I suspect this has something to do with Google+. Make sure to have a brand presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. Take advantage of linking back to you site.

Step 4: Backlinks Are Critical

Let’s review the point of this article. Backlinks are links from other sites pointing to your site. Ideally those sites are relevant to your site and the hyperlinks contain your keywords. The more relevant links on the web, the higher your page ranking. The bottom of this article will contain backlinks to my personal website. I’m currently ranked 1 on Bing and Yahoo, but 12 on Google. I plan on submitting versions this to article to a few directories and waiting a few weeks to see what happens. Wish me luck and check back for the posted results!

Learn more about Brett Miller, then visit Brett Miller’s marketing site on how to choose the best Web Marketing Strategy for your needs.

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