My website has been up a whole month, why am I not number one on Google?!?

Many people not understanding how the search engine game works have a misunderstanding about search engines and then have unrealistic expectations of where their site should be placed after getting a new website built.

Whether your site has been up one month, one year, or one decade or more, you need to know the “rules” to be able to compete on the level that the people currently at the top of page one of your desired search term have achieved.

How did those people or companies get that awesome ranking? Why are they “victors” and not “victims” in the search engine wars?

  1. Victors have usually been online a long time and have a website that offers enough value that people return often.
  2. Victors spend time and resources to consistently add up-to-date content to their own website ensuring there’s a reason to return often.
  3. Victors embrace taking local photos and video and posting them to their own website which they know attracts visitors and keeps them on their site longer.
  4. Victors direct their Facebook friends to view their website’s new content.
  5. Victors tell everyone they see in person, speak to, or email to go to their website and not to any other online resource.
  6. Victors understand that they have a complete online marketing system already built in to their full-service website and that it is the cornerstone for everything they are doing to advertise their business.
  7. Victors stay focused on building up their own website instead of “chasing butterflies” everytime a new brilliant idea is shown to them that involves “no work” on their part and will get them no long-term gain. Like a magic diet pill that involves no exercise or diet modification.
  8. Victors “get” that marketing is a necessary expense of any business and put a realistic amount of money (or precious time) per month into promoting their website and building their brand, whether by themselves or through contracting someone else to perform this valuable task.

What are the behaviors of “Victims” who seemingly get no traffic to their website?

  1. Victims tell next to nobody to go to their website ever.
  2. Victims never ever add any content to their website and do not try to learn the easy steps for doing so because they are “busy.”
  3. Victims only use Facebook for their interesting posts instead of using their own website, and never direct their “Friends” and “Followers” back to their website.
  4. Victims expect their website to automatically rank high on search engines all on its own, in spite of the fact that they do none of the practices that Victors engage in daily.
  5. Victims then think that their perfectly good website is not “performing” when in fact all they need is right there for them already, and they just need to adopt the right habits to start gaining traction.

Where should you start?

There are many ways to attain better placement in Google in a short span of time. Some prerequisites you should confirm are in place are:

  1. Having a domain name with your main desire search term in the words of your dot-com address, or that your domain name has been registered for many years.
  2. Pay the money to have your main domain registered for at least 5 years (10 is better). Your “intention” to be around for a long time gives Google security that you are not a fly-by-night operation.
  3. Making sure the SEO on each web page has the minimum Title Tag and Meta Descriptions needed for an “OK” or above SEO rating. HoopJumper websites have this capability built right in so you can see your rating.
  4. Confirm you completed a correct “search engine registration” with Google and that they see and add your every page of your website to its listings.
  5. Start posting content regularly.

How do you add content to your site?

If you already have been indexed by the search engines, this now sets the stage for you to start doing the needed everyday tasks of adding content to your website and emphasizing the Focus Keywords you wish to see your website score high on in Google.

Your posts do not need to be a college dissertation or an article for The Saturday Evening Post. It needs to be what you are putting on Facebook everyday, only you need to put it in your website’s blog as a Post first, THEN link to it from your Social Media accounts. We will discuss this strategy at length another time.

Video is effective and worth your time to learn.

One of the BEST ways to get high Search Engine Ranking without paying for Pay-Per-Click (which now is also a good investment these days if done smartly) is to create Videos.

YouTube is owned by Google and they like to place a Video on Page 1 of their search results.

Video immediately introduces you to lots of people and cuts through the introduction process and leverages your time. Remember, people like to do business with people they know, like and trust, and video gets people to know you in a personal way like no other online means.

Every smartphone has a video camera in it, and for you to create a video with the Focus Keyword as the title that you upload to YouTube works extremely well in most cases.

Don’t let other Realtor’s expensive and slick video productions keep you from using this vital tool. You do not need great production values to score high in the video game. All you need is a confident smile and a short 1-2 minute message.

I understand being a perfectionist, but having to produce Hollywood quality video will keep you from making lots of videos quickly, and this through process is holding you back. Remember how awkward you felt giving your first Listing Presentation compared to now? Of course, it will be the same with your first videos. You can always replace those early videos down the road.

If you create a Video and have already loaded it into your YouTube account (there are lots of training videos on YouTube about using YouTube), please let us know and we can offer some expert assistance in showing you how to place it on your site and some other good tricks.

You have all the tools you need right now to be wildly successful!

This is a great time to begin adding content. If not now, when? Just like a great sportscar that is souped up, fueled up, and ready to go, it will do you no good if you leave your racing car in the garage. I recommend that you try doing some simple posts to begin with following the directions outlined in this article, and within a few months we invite you to have us take a look at your progress.

“There is No Crying in Baseball,” and there are no guarantees in Google Placement

Remember, Google is an independent company that offer users a free service for searching for everything on the Internet. Google is not a democracy. Google has said for years now that adding fresh relevant content consistently is the way to get better organic rankings and it is the truth. Should you choose to pay Google for “Premium” placement (pay-per-click), then that is the only sure thing. Otherwise, learning a few simple skills to use in promoting your business online is a skill you should know and will serve you well for the rest of your life.

Our advice is for you to take seriously the time and effort you will need to properly market your business like your successful competitors are doing, and then start implementing these strategies incrementally.

As your Marketing Partner, HoopJumper is here to guide you to the next step.

Let us know if you would like to discuss your website’s Google friendliness . Request a no obligation Website Analysis to see if HoopJumper can help you move to the next level and become a real estate success story.