To get on Google's top pages can be accomplished by following a few simple steps. The following procedure works well for companies working within a local region i.e. Lowell Pizza, or business with unique keyword phrases, i.e. Kraton thermoplastic rubber. The steps below outline a simple method to do content optimization. By following the procedure on your home page, you can achieve a high Google ranking. I will be assuming you have a basic understanding of html code.

To optimize your site you have to determine what keywords you want to use. This is one of the most important steps. Without the proper keyword phrases, your customers will not find you, no matter how well your site is ranked. Think of about five keyword phrases. Next, see if your terms are what people actually type in. An excellent tool for this can be found at www.wordtracker.com. This website uses the results from two Meta crawlers called Dogpile and Metacrawler.

The next step is to design the title tag. Currently Google ranks this as one of the most important factors. Ideally you would like to have all your keyword phrases in the title. I find it more practical to have your top keyword phrase followed by your companies' name. If it is possible, try putting in words that appear in your other keyword phrases. Make sure you keep the title to about 70 characters. Google will not take in all the words on a long title.

The next step is to optimize the names of your graphic images. Rename the graphic image's file name to your keyword phrases. Separate each word with a -. Do this only once for each keyword phrase or you risk Google classifying you as a spammer. After you rename the graphic image, put your keyword phrases in the alt tag.

The next step I do is set I do is put in the body text. The more text your body has the better. Currently you should have more then 250 words and less then 1200 words. (1000 being the optimum). Now you must insert your keyword phrases. If your keyword phrase is gramically incorrect, try to put the words for each phrase close together. Google uses proximity in determine how important your webpage is. Your keywords should appear a lot in the beginning. A little in the middle of the document, then more at the end. You should strive for a 3% density ratio, or each keyword to appear one time out of every 33 words.

Besides the title, the header gives a lot of weight in your Google rankings. The HTML
tag gives the greatest pull. Some savvy web programs use CSS files to replace the standard header font with something more pleasing to their site. Use a separate header for each keyword phrase if possible. Currently if you have your keyword phrase in more than three header tags, Google will begin to downgrade your document.

There should be one link on your webpage for each keyword phrase. Each link needs to have the same words appear in it, which appear in your keyword phrase. Sometime this is not possible to do.

To boost up your page rankings even more try making some of your keywords bold faced or italic. I would recommend making each keyword bold or italic once. If you do it to many times, you run the risk of getting classified as a spammer.

I hope you found the above information helpful in getting your site onto Google. I have done this for sites for a chiropractor, a driving school and a furniture refinisher. All have appeared on the first page of Google doing just the above work!

Ted Pottel, senior SEO engineer for FindMeOnGoogle.Com. He can be reached at [email protected].