How Does Google Work? (Part 2)

How Does Google Know Who Has The Best Information?

In part 1 we spoke about how Google about information, not location. Instead of location, location, location – now it’s information, information, information.

Now that you’ve written the best valuable content about your niche, how does Google KNOW that it’s the best? After all, they aren’t going to physically read all the billions and billions of pages on the web, are they?

Well, yes and no. No, Google can’t have a real human read all of your web pages, but they can see how real humans (your visitors) react to your content.

For example, when a visitor clicks onto your site:

  • do they stay there long?
  • are they so impressed that they click through to the rest of your site, or do they leave immediately, back to Google?
  • are other websites linking to your site to help educate THEIR visitors?
  • are your social media pages thriving, thus displaying how active the community surrounding your website/business is?

There are over 200+ factors as to why Google might rank your website highly. Many of them revolve around how good your content is. Beyond writing something good, you can also help the search engines know what your site is about through something called SEO (search engine optimization).

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the process of helping your website gain better rankings in Google. Writing content is actually a big part of SEO, but there’s more that can be done to give Google clues about what your content is about, such as:

  • sprinkling in keywords that are relevant to the content
  • getting your articles published on other high-profile websites (such as a local newspaper, or an industry-leader’s website)
  • running an active social media presence for your business

Not only does building and marketing your expert content build your rankings online, but it also builds credibility for you as an individual, and for your business.

Think about it. When someone finds you on Google, they don’t know you from a hole in the wall. But when they arrive on your site to find content that answers all their questions, they can’t help but be convinced to call you.

Great content builds traffic, and simultaneously increases your conversion rate. If you want to get your website ranked on Google, build content. We recommend either;

  • writing the content yourself
  • hiring a writer to interview you (the expert), and write the content for you.

Unless you can find a writer who coincidentally is an expert in your field (it does happen occasionally), we wouldn’t recommend just hiring any old writer to “research” it themselves.

They’re likely to recycle the same-old information that’s available online, providing little real value to your visitors; Google notices that type of thing. At the very least, they need to interview someone who is an expert in your field (but who better than you, or one of your knowledgeable employees?).

In the final part of this series, we’ll talk about some ideas for you to write about that can really provide value for your visitors, and drive paying customers to your website.

How Does Google Work? (Part 1)

Click.

If you have a website for your business, then you know that your goal is to “get the click” from potential customers to your website.

Where is that click coming from? It could be social media or from an email, but most likely it’s coming from Google. Getting ranked highly on Google’s search results is a vital part of “getting the click”.

Getting on the 1st page of Google is much easier said than done, so knowing why Google would put you on the 1st page can help you learn how to do it.

How Google Works

Like any business, Google provides a service.

When John’s car breaks, he goes to a mechanic. When his sink plugs, he calls a plumber. And when he needs to find something online, he goes to Google.

Google helps you find information online. How do they get paid? Through the online ads you see when you search. Because they’re paid whenever you click on an ad, it’s in their best interest to keep you (the searcher) coming back.

How do they keep John coming back every time he needs something? By delivering the best websites possible! That keeps him from going to competing search engines like Yahoo! or Bing.

If John’s mechanic fixes his car poorly, what do you think he’s going to do next time? He’ll go to another mechanic of course.

In the same fashion, if Google fails to deliver what you were looking for, what will you do? Go to another search engine!

With all those Google motives in mind, how do you make sure that your website gets found on Google?

By delivering the best results!

Location, Location, Location…Not On The Web!

With your offline business, location if a key facet. But on the web, there is no “location”, there’s only…

…information!

The valuable information that you write from your real-world experience about your industry is your new “location”, and is what will get you rankings on Google.

So instead of “location location location”, now it’s:

Information, information, information (at least online it is).

If you want your website to be ranked organically (without buying Google ads) on the first page of Google, you’ll need to provide top-notch information about your industry.

Sometimes a client hires us to write content (information), because they don’t have the time or know-how to write it themselves. In order to get the best information for our clients, we tend to interview them about a certain subject and take notes. Most business owners are not trained to write, so having a professional writer picking their brain can help to create:

  1. credible information (because it’s coming straight from YOU, the business owner)
  2. well-written content (because it’s being written and formatted by a professional writer)

If you have the writing skill and time, then you can do it yourself. You’ll want to write content that is both in-demand (people are searching for the topics you’re writing about), and relevant to your industry.

Stuck on “what to write”? Here’s an endless idea:

What questions do your customers ask? Anything that a customer might want to know is worth writing about.

Go overboard on your content and write something excellent that answers your customer’s questions better than your competitors websites do. Once you’ve done that, it leaves a question:

Now that you’ve written the best valuable content about your niche, how does Google KNOW that it’s the best? After all, they aren’t going to physically read all the billions and billions of pages on the web, are they?

We’ll cover this in part 2 of this article series, “how does Google know who has the best information?”