Why Aren’t I Ranking High on Google?

November 13, 2009

I saw a question on a forum by a fellow internet marketing colleague that I think most of us will ask at least once;

“I am posting articles and blogs based on my keyword research. When I enter my keywords [in Google], I can’t find anything I have written!”

Here’s my response:

You are starting off on the right foot. Keyword research is essential, otherwise your time is wasted.

If you want to rank high in Google, you need to do the following:

1. Find a keyword with good search volume and low seo competition.
2. Write an article based on your keyword.
3. Post your article on your blog, Squidoo lens or EzineArticles (EzineArticles is the easiest to rank high with)
4. Get quality backlinks to your article **** this is the most important step of all for ranking high on Google and is most likely why you’re not ranking high at the moment

What do I mean by quality backlinks?

The backlinks should be:

- anchor text of your keyword (do slight variations so that the backlinks are not all identical – this will flag suspicion)
- dofollow links (by default, WordPress comments links are nofollow and Google doesn’t credit these. For more info check this video out: http://johnlagoudakis.com/website-backlinks-are-yours-worthless
- on sites with a good Google Page Rank. The higher the better
- on .edu or .gov domains. Getting a backlink from these sites scores you big points with Google

When creating your backlinks, don’t overdo it. It has to look natural. About 3 new backlinks a day is safe.

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Tags: , Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Traffic Generation

Facebook comments:

to “Why Aren’t I Ranking High on Google?”
  1. Great tips – thanks for sharing them!

  2. OES TSETNOC says:

    Some great tips here so thank you very much for sharing this blog post.
    .-= OES TSETNOC´s last blog ..Re: Welcome ELCaD =-.

  3. dukdukmonk says:

    Nice info, I think everything should be linked between the domain name, title, keywords, tags, article is in the post and certainly should have enough backlinks to your site.
    .-= dukdukmonk´s last blog ..Get O&O DriveLED 3 For Free !!! =-.

  4. Graham says:

    Thank you for some interesting info.

    How can you tell if the blogs use nofollow?

    Door Mats/image

  5. John Lagoudakis says:

    Hi Graham,

    Good question. Here’s another post that answers this:

    Website Backlinks – Are Yours Worthless?

  6. its very hard to rank in google. but with hard work eventually will get you good results. thanks for some good tips.

  7. chandan says:

    Thank you for the advice, I think search engine has changed ranking system, I have got already lots of dofollow backlink with anchor text, but my ranking is not increasing till now.
    .-= chandan´s last blog ..Great list of work at home scams sites =-.

  8. Great post. With Google changing the search results game all the time, it seems even more important to be participating in the Social Networking world of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

  9. Jayce says:

    I am doing 1,2 and 4 steps. How much traffic does step 3 – Post your article bring?
    .-= Jayce´s last blog ..How to hack Facebook account profile =-.

  10. Hi Jayce,

    Posting your article on EzineArticles, Squidoo, etc with an anchor text backlink (for your targeted keyword phrase) will get you some traffic but the main purpose is to give you more quality backlinks that’ll help raise your Google ranking. The higher you rank in Google, the more traffic you’ll get.

  11. TechChunks says:

    These are some great advice to rank high on Google (or any other search engine). But finding a keyword with good search volume and low seo competition can be much more challenging than it might seem, trust me.

    Moreover, if we make it a practice to write based ONLY upon keyword research, it might cause us to drift away from our blog’s main niche, some times.

    Apart from these possible dangers, overall great advice! :)
    .-= TechChunks´s last blog ..Watch Google’s 11 Year Evolution in Just 2 Minutes! =-.

  12. Blogger says:

    This is great info…
    I did not think eZine articles was the to rank high with.

  13. Tom Randskin says:

    Links are indeed the most important issue with articles not showing up in Google, but depending on the keyword’s competitiveness you may only need a few.

    For new blogs, there are two important advice I always give: start with the long tail and keep on getting link at the same constant rate.
    Getting more than 3 links a day is fine as long as you keep at the same rhythm throughout the first few months.
    .-= Tom Randskin´s last blog ..15 ideas that will get links to your accountancy practice website =-.

  14. Lee Ka Hoong says:

    This was what I used to do in the past, did keyword research and wrote about it. Right now, I just write whatever that I think is good for my readers and what comes from my mind. If you have good content and readers love it, money will follow. Of course, building backlink is a must too, it takes time to build.

    Nice post John!

    Regards,
    Lee
    .-= Lee Ka Hoong´s last blog ..Ranking Authority Sites The Google Way =-.

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