If you want to get your website and business noticed, stop thinking solely about Google rankings. First off, everyone gets customized Google search results. There is no mythical Google search result for everyone. Second, Search results on Google for products and services now often have aggregators like Yelp along with general reviews on the first page of results. Getting your wee little website on the first page of any search result is nearly impossible. Third, Using Google Adwords to advertise can get your website on the first page in the ad results. However this is generally so expensive that small businesses can’t afford it.
I have two website clients who used Google Adwords to advertise. One is a violin teacher, the other a legitimate psychic. It worked for a while. But cost per click kept rising primarily because of aggregators who represent multiple music teachers or psychics. They’ve driven the price per click up to $10 or more. My clients can’t afford that.
Also, people are increasingly using non-Google methods of searching. Ryan Stewart, in his excellent article on search details how his girlfriend used Etsy, Amazon, Ebay, and Pinterest to furnish their new loft. She didn’t use Google at all. Facebook and Twitter are also used a major methods of searching and Google doesn’t index Facebook at all.
Stewart’s advice is 1) pay for advertising (if you can afford it), 2) Create valuable content, 3) Optimize your site for the web not for Google.
Yelp is a search engine. Facebook is a search engine. Twitter is a search engine. Amazon is a search engine. Quora is a search engine. Pinterest is a search engine. YouTube is a search engine. See where I’m going?
Each of these platforms offers unique benefits to the user. In a lot of cases, people looking for things on these platforms are likely to bypass Google altogether.
Anyone who a website selling something should read his article. The web is constantly changing. What worked before to bring traffic to your site may not be working now. And stop focusing solely on Google.