Big Tips for Ranking Number 1 with Search Engines

Ranking number 1?

Is there such a thing as ranking number 1 on search engines anymore?  In the good old days search engines had no way to identify you as an individual so we all saw the same results when we searched for things. Nowadays there is no such thing as ranking number 1. Search engine results are now profiled by the individual.

Around when search engines started offering free services like email and smartphone operating systems, they started tracking what you searched for on the internet. This allowed the search engines to start to identify you as an individual. That’s when ranking number 1 on search engines died. 

For example, if I search for the word “candy” on the internet my results may show chocolate bars, while yours may show sweet sugar-based candy. Now my example may be extreme, but I hope it’s driving the point home that search engine users are profiled and what shows up as number 1 in your search results may not be the same for everyone. 

how do I rank number 1?

You might say it’s the search engine algorithms that we need to pay attention to. “Maybe if we keep modifying our websites to meet the needs of the algorithms, we’ll somehow trick the search engine into thinking our website is the most technically capable to earn that coveted number 1 spot.” That is not the case. In the end, you probably won’t see the results you’re searching for. Playing to the algorithms is not the sole way to get discovered online – and not to mention its extremely time consuming.

Maybe you think that having the prettiest website will get you ranked higher. I mean you rebuild your website every 3 years thinking that if you do so, you’ll appease the search engine gods with how beautiful your website is. Unfortunately, this isn’t true either. Having a pretty website will not get you ranked number 1. Have you ever really looked at Amazon and said to yourself, that’s a pretty website? If you look close, Amazon is probably one of the ugliest websites around. It’s cluttered, overloaded with information and so on. The point is they are everywhere and rank in every category. 

What Makes Your Website Rank Higher?

So, what is it then? What is it that makes your website rank higher?

You’re going to be very surprised when I tell you that no matter what your write on your website there are literally only two rules to follow:

1. Provide value in the content that you write
2. Only write content pertinent to your audience or buyer and NOTHING ELSE and I mean nothing else. 

If you follow those two rules you will start to receive form submissions from your website and your phone will start ringing with leads from your site. Why? Let’s break down both rules a bit further…

Is Analytics Really Free or Is there Something else to it?

One way to gauge the performance and value of the content on your website is through free analytics. A major search engine offers free analytics you can tie into your website to see how it is performing. Do you think they gave that away for free out of the goodness of their heart so you can track better website performance?  No. They did it so that as a user leaves their search engine and lands on your site, they can track how long that visitor stays before they leave. If they stayed for only 8 seconds and then left, then your webpage will rank lower the next time around. If they stay for an average of two minutes on your site, then your web page ranks higher. 

How Do I keep Website Visitors On My Site Longer?

How can we get a site visitor to stay longer on your website? Back to Rule #1: Value. Offering some sort of value is how we get them to stay longer. No special tricks, no sneaky work arounds. Just value. 

That is why Amazon is ranking so high. They are constantly providing value through reviews, images, details, etc. Value ranks. Pretty doesn’t. How else could Amazon rank so high when their site is so ugly? 

Does Blogging Provide Value and Generate Leads?

This is why blogging works so well in certain situations (meaning you better be blogging to your customers only). If your blogs are done right, the article creates value for the visitor. If you want to see your website rank higher, add in a video on your blog post. This makes the visitor stay longer and if analytics are linked up, the search engine will take notice on how long visitors are staying and give you a higher ranking. 

What should I blog about?

Forget about writing articles on your “Office Dog” or that “Some major event is happening in your city tonight.” I’ve seen way too many “professional” bloggers write about everything under the sun but literally nothing speaking to the actual buyers. 

Here’s a real-life case study: About 3 years ago I showed up at Virteom and told our team to get rid of all of our 300 blog articles. They asked why? I said because we aren’t speaking to our buyers, we’re speaking to our competitors, peers and to the culture of our city and the search engines have no idea who we are. I then created buyer personas on our customers and made a simple rule: Do not write any further social media or blog articles unless it meets the needs of our specific buyers, solves their problems or offers some sort of value to them. Once the blogs were deleted we started getting leads and phone calls from our site about two weeks later and it never stopped. Our articles started providing value to our customers…. You are currently reading this article because you are a potential customer of mine. See how that works?

Get to Work Creating Blogs, it Works if Done Right!

Ok great! Now you can start producing blogs and creating videos for those blogs and the posting to social media. You should be so happy, I’ve given you the secret formula. But not so fast… There’s one more problem we haven’t address. You don’t have time to do all of this. In theory this sounds simple, I’ll create articles and videos for those articles and make sure I only focus on my buyers.  But where in the world do you have time to do this? I’ve been doing this for over 20 years, and I know the minute you are done with this article you have to go back to the job you were hired to do and that isn’t creating articles and videos. But I’ve given you the formula so why not?  It’s because that’s not how the real-world works. Besides you can’t stand writing articles and posting to social media anyhow, it’s a hindrance to say the least correct? You may be pumped after reading this article and you may do it for a few weeks, but you’ll go back to being busy and you will be back to ground zero, not “Ranking Number 1”. So, part of the problem is you. Not because you are lazy, you just keep deprioritizing blog writing because it seems so secondary to the needs of your current customers. In fact, I would argue, you should never do this and stay in your lane and focus on your job. Maybe you need to read the next paragraph…

What is the True power of a Blog and Why won’t this Concept Die Already?

Ok, so we have a problem – Time. Let’s say for a minute that you were able to produce one article a week and produce a nice video to accompany that article. Do you know what would happen each week from that point forward?  Each article would get picked up by the search engines, those search engines would then distribute those articles in the higher-ranking positions for the people most interested in reading those articles, your customers (Remember don’t blog about the office dog here). And each article you create becomes a walking sales person all day and night and all year long. Similar to a magazine ad that sits in the bathroom selling you over and over. Your blogs can have that same effect. Each time a new blog article is released it makes you a bit stronger and gets you a bit closer to the customer. Providing value every step of the way.  Before you know it, your articles start to suffocate out all competition from the internet search results because your articles are providing value to your readers over and over. Each blog article is a walking sales person that never sleeps. 

How do I do all of this?

So how do you achieve all of this if you don’t have the time to do it? I know, hire in a junior marketing person at 45k a year because they will be able to do it for you. Umm, this never works out either. I’ve seen our clients try this and usually they are hiring a jr. every year, year after year. Retraining, retrying over and over only to fail. 

What If I told you that Virteom could achieve all of this for you and only need you to be involved 1hr every 2 months? It would also be a frication of a fraction of the salary of a jr. marketing employee but 20 times more effective due to our experience and formula for making this happen. This is what we need to make it happen…

1. Your involvement every 2 months for an hour 
2. We’ll create up to 8 high quality blogs, but not just any blogs, “Hybrid Blogs” that are accompanied by video embedded into those blogs.
3. We’ll run social media campaign that makes sense, not one where you goal is to post 5 times a week about just anything. How about once a week to a high-quality Hybrid Blog article that pulls at the heart strings of your buyers?

Over time, utilizing our Hybrid Blog service you will start to see more leads organically arriving at your site, calling your number and filling out your forms.  To learn more about Hybrid Blogging with Virteom visit Virteom.com and our experts can start to fast track you a cohesive marketing strategy that is clear, concise, makes a whole lot of sense and is budget friendly.