This is our final article in how, especially when related to popularity and search, the
web is like High School. Previously we have looked at the popular kids, the
new kid who was popular at his last school, and the rebels.
As we finish this little alliteration, we have to look at the “late bloomer”.
Granted, in our case you don’t have to necessarily be a “late bloomer.” You
can be ready to bloom now. This is geared toward the people who realize that they
can improve their standing, and they just need to know how, and what to do.
In High School this is the kid who started out on the “outside”, but ends
up being well liked. Depending upon when the kid started to “blossom”,
depends upon how dramatic the change may be, how well liked, etc. Obviously, someone
who is only starting to change six months before graduation probably won’t be
winning the King or Queen spot at the prom (unless they put all types of effort into
it), but they will at least have a chance to go to Prom with someone.
How much progress one makes, depends on a couple of things:
- How “bad off” were they to begin with?
- What types of “improvements” were made?
- How much effort was put into making these improvements?
How “bad off” were they to begin with?
There is a correlation between your position in the search engines/High School popularity
and the effort it takes to improve your position. The closer you get to being #1,
the harder it is to get there. The further down the pecking order you were to start;
the easier it is to move. This is both good and bad news.
It has been said it’s easier to move from the 300th page in Google, to the third
page, than to move from the third page to the first. This is because the people who
are down around the 300th page, the 50th page, or even sometimes the 5th page in many
cases are not doing anything to improve themselves.
They may talk about it, read about it, but they aren’t doing it. So there is
little to no real competition off of the 100th page.
These websites are like the kids in High School who would say, “If I was on
the basketball team I’d be popular.” but won’t try out for the team.
If you just go out for the team, you have increased your chances of passing them on
the social ladder.
You going and making some simple, smart, changes to your site, automatically increases
your ranking level in the search engines over those sites that are doing nothing.
What types of “improvements” were made?
This of course leads us to the types of improvements we have to look at. If we take
an honest look at our self, and determine where our strengths and weaknesses lie,
we have a better chance to improve. This is because we know what we need to work on
to improving.
For example, in most High Schools sports are real popular. If you want to be popular,
you need to be on one of the big teams. Once there your popularity is then tied to
your abilities, do you start, did you make a big play that won the game, etc.
The mere fact that I started on the High School JV baseball team my freshman year,
dramatically improved my “popularity” factor. I was now one of “the
guys.” Why JV baseball you might ask? I evaluated myself, and it was my best
chance. (I also tried out for basketball, but I didn’t make the team, but I
made the effort, and I knew I wasn’t good enough for Varsity team my freshman
year. These were honest evaluations of myself.)
When you look at a website to improve, you need to do the same thing. Based upon
where it is now, what are some things I can do it improve it that will have an impact
on my ranking/traffic.
There may be only one or two things that you can do with your budget and time.
In other cases, you might be able to work on more areas. When trying to determine
what to change, and when, it is important to know what needs fixing, and where you
are so that you can be most effective. By prioritizing your efforts, you can see what
has a better chance of succeeding.
Additionally, by learning about your self/site, and what its strengths and weaknesses
are, you improve your chances for success. But, also in knowing when you have reached
success. You might be surprised at how many people through out a blanket statement
like “I want to rank better in Google” without knowing how they currently
rank, and likewise either set no goal or an unrealistic goal which can be disheartening
because the chances of succeeding are very slim.
Here are some things that you might want to know about your ranking in a particular
search engine:
- What keywords/phrases do you want to rank for?
- Which pages do you want to rank for those keywords?
- What is your current ranking for those keywords?
- Who is your current competition? And can they be beaten?
- Am I ranking for something I wasn’t expecting to rank for?
How much effort was put into making these improvements?
This of course leads us into the final section. The effort put forth can be a very
relative term. There are many things that can be done to improve your sites popularity.
Which ones will be most effective depends a lot on where your site is (see the above
section).
Your efforts can be measured in two distinct ways: the number (quantity) of improvements,
and the quality of improvements.
For example, adding 50 pages of generic content may not be as effective as 5 pages
of relevant content using the keywords you want to rank for. Getting 50 different
links from link farm sites will
not get you as many important links as a 5 links from 5 different authority type sites.
How about other areas of your site? Are you looking at Pay-Per-Click advertising,
or link building? Are you getting quality links, and good deals on your advertising,
have you researched to figure out what a good deal is?
I always look to the quality factor. It might take a little longer, however it
will generate the best results.
About Walter Wimberly