how do i get my website up the rankings

[retailcube]

does anyone know if there is any way to get a website up the rankings in a google search without paying i.e adwords????

[gnaldrett]

I am of the opinion (many will disagree I'm sure) that you should not have to pay money for ads to gain rankings. Some simple SEO techniques can be employed, along with good use of sitemaps etc and you can gain a lot at little to no cost.

SEO is a time consuming process, and nobody can expect to jump to the top in a few days, it can take weeks if not months even with constant tweaking. There are plenty of forums out there that specialise in SEO, although a lot of the advice should be taken with a pinch of salt - a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous, especially with something like SEO.

I would recommend you have a dig through Amazon for SEO books, and read any customer reviews to see what they achieved/thought. I have been looking into this subject quite recently as part of my CIW certification - if you would like to pick my brains for what I have come up with so far feel free to PM me...

Regards,

Gordon

[sirearl]

As Gordon says a lot of SEO can be done from using forums and reading books.

It can be quite expensive to employ an SEO consultant as you are then paying for whats not in the books.

Earl

[gibby]

get IBP, the free software will do the job & the free guide that comes with it is good too

got us from nowhere to first page on most things in just 8 weeks


G

[Steve2507]

There are plenty of ways to get up the rankings without using adwords, go to a site such as www.seochat.com (http://www.seochat.com), read, learn then implement what you have learnt.

A word of warning though, it will take time and effort, if you can't afford both of these (not meant to be sarcastic as I know time can be scarce) then adwords is probably your best bet. Gordon said it can take weeks or months to get to the top, depending on your sector it can take a couple of years.

As for software - personally I haven't found any that is any better than using a spreadsheet or (as I use) a database and a plus going through directories to find link partners.

Books - I have found a few that are good, I'm currently reading "Get to the top on Google" by David Viney and find loads of helpful tips that I didn't know. I'm also reading "Adwords for Dummies" which much of is totally useless, but some of it is very helpful.

[Project man]

HI,
In my opinion you need to do the following:
Choose the works you want to be searced for and make sure that they have a high presence (frequently used) in the text on the site.
Make sure the key words are set as headings, not only normal text, where possible.
Make sure the key words are in the title, the meta description and keywords in the page script.
Get quality backlinks - not a link "round robin" but relevant.
Get content on the page that changes so a quote generator or a relevant RSS feed. (there are a lot of free ones out there.)
This should get you hits which will help also but make sure all is relevant to the site.

[dotwhack]

Hi,

I disagree with the points about reading books - especially on SEO as these books will be out of date almost as soon as they are printed. It simply takes too long to get books published and the dos and don'ts change quite quickly. Although books will give you the basics, forums and online publications are the best way to find the most uip to date info.

I agree with project man - the first thing you need to do is make sure the keywords you're using are the right ones for your website. This can be done yourself if you're got the time. Otherwise I offer UKBF members a discount on my keyword research reports - just £45 for a full report on your keywords, those of 3 of your competitors and other words within the industry - typically 100-200 words are researched and a selection of these are then recommended, along with justifications.

If you're interested in this report, let me know.
Dotwhack

[Steve2507]

I disagree with the points about reading books - especially on SEO as these books will be out of date almost as soon as they are printed. It simply takes too long to get books published and the dos and don'ts change quite quickly. Although books will give you the basics, forums and online publications are the best way to find the most uip to date info.Normally I would agree, but the book by David Viney has a lot of good information in it that is timeless.

[Dwebs-Ltd]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Getting-Noticed-Google-Easy-Steps/dp/184078332X/sr=8-1/qid=1169987533?ie=UTF8 is an interesting read :)

[DanMartin]

A very popular article, SEO on zero budget (http://www.businesszone.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=176643&d=1095&h=1097&f=1096&dateformat=%o-%B-%Y), may be useful. And don't forget 101 tips to improve your web presence (http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=32162).

[Brian Holt]

Investment in SEO pays long term dividends, and dependent on the sector you're in (and therefore the key phrases for which you want to be found) can be effective very quickly.
I know of a company that went from "not in the top 500" to page 1 positions for 5 different search phrases in less than 2 months using a link building strategy.
That's less than the time it would take you to buy a book, read it and implement its recommendations.
The cost? £100 per month. Put that in the context of small ads in local press or trade magazines, and the audiences they address and it's a "no brainer".
Whatever you plan to do, remember that when Google (and 75% of people searching online in the UK use it) score a site for relevance, only 20% of that score is based on onsite factors, so you must use offsite strategies.
There are lots of scamsters out there, but there's a site that offers to take the search out of optimisation and will put you in touch with vetted, proven suppliers of SEO services.
Because I'm new to this I'm not allowed to post the web address!

[DawnD]

The "SEO on zero budget" article says it's important to have optimised page titles for every page on the website. When I look up my website as it tells me my page titles all come up as my website name only, how do I change what actually comes up in the title? :|

[sirearl]

Hi,

I disagree with the points about reading books - especially on SEO as these books will be out of date almost as soon as they are printed. It simply takes too long to get books published and the dos and don'ts change quite quickly. Although books will give you the basics, forums and online publications are the best way to find the most uip to date info.

I agree with project man - the first thing you need to do is make sure the keywords you're using are the right ones for your website. This can be done yourself if you're got the time. Otherwise I offer UKBF members a discount on my keyword research reports - just £45 for a full report on your keywords, those of 3 of your competitors and other words within the industry - typically 100-200 words are researched and a selection of these are then recommended, along with justifications.

If you're interested in this report, let me know.
Dotwhack

Disagree any information gained from whatever source is usefull and as for being out of date.

I have been using the same technics for over 10 years and still top of the tree.,so much for SEO changing.

Earl

[castilejewellery]

Seo is really really easy, The worst thing about it is its dull, boring and you have to have alot of patience. Backlinks with your keywords and plenty of them and make sure your site is relevant to the keywords you are targetting. Oh and dont post your links on crappy sites. Seo books are a con.

[Fingers In Pies]

Paul

for now... concentrate on page titles and content.

Write about... the history of the 'tee shirt', the different types of printing available (screen/embroidery/vinyl etc). CONTENT IS KING.

You're not gonna go no.1 for polo's if the polo's page just has a couple of links and a sentence of text - never gonna happen.

PM me for a chat... If you're down my way, pop in for a coffee - always happy to help ;)

[dieseljay]

Blogging is a simple way to build relevance into your website.

You can publish your blog feed to your website so adding content is real easy.

One of my Mercedes blog sites has had over 22000 hits in less than 18 months, and all I do is add a little content every few months and I sell a bunch of parts from my main site via click throughs from the blog.

[eileen769]

I will visit it later on