How to Get Top Search Engine Ranking

In 2003 when eBizVisibility's president Valerie McCord was researching how to get websites top organic search engine ranking, a friend asked, "It's only those who pay a lot who get to the top, right?". "Well, no and yes, it depends, define pay?", Valerie replied.

For organic search engine results it's not based on advertising cost, it's based on developing a website correctly, targeting it to the right audience and linking it correctly around the Internet. That's all part of Website Optimization and that's what will improve search engine ranking to get websites at the top of the search engines.

Is there a cost involved? Yes. Somebody has to do the work, so there is at least a human-resource cost. There is also a cost for links from referral sites and directory listings, and submission fees for some engines. But do you directly pay the search engine, like Google, for top search engine ranking in organic results? No.

So how does it work? Why do some websites rank high in the search engines? Why might yours be coming up low in the search results? How can your website get on page 1 of Google or Bing? It's all about algorithms.

Background on Search Engine Ranking

Broadly speaking, the intent of a search engine is to return to a searcher links to information on the Internet that match what the searcher is looking for. The search engine makes an educated "guess" based on the search term the searcher typed into the search box. The more specific the term, the more relevant the search results returned become.

In order to fulfill its purpose to the searcher, the search engine has an application, called a spider or crawler, that walks from page to page through the Web and stores information about every page it finds from one page to the next. It stores all of this information in what is called the search engine's index, which is a huge database of information.

When the searcher visits the search engine, like Google, and runs a search for "vermont ski packages" for instance, Google will search its index and retrieve the most relevant web pages according to its algorithms. Yahoo and Bing will do the same. You may get different listings in different orders in the search results of each engine because each search engine is following its own proprietary algorithms.

Improve Search Engine Ranking

So how do you get to the top of search engine results pages and how do you improve your ranking? First it's by understanding what the search engines want and what your options are. The more you understand the algorithms and follow the search engine guidelines and best practices, the more you can tap into how to get the results you want to achieve.

But getting to the top of the search engines and being visible is just the beginning. The next and more important question is how do you get your visitors to take the actions you want them to take? For instance, how do you persuade your visitors into buying your products, contacting you about your service offerings or signing up for your newsletter? Your search engine result listings, ads and website need to appeal to your target audience, as well as being visible in top search engine pages.

eBizVisibility works on all these fronts. You need to not only meet the search engines criteria, but get the attention of your target audience, to make that all important sale or get that lead. Do both and you have won. It starts with being visible, it ends with website visitors taking action and converting into customers.

For more information, see our SEO services or contact eBizVisibility directly to increase your ranking and conversions.