Your website is up. Your blog posts are posted, and you’ve developed a small army of backlinks. You’ve covered the basics of internet marketing. But, your website still doesn’t show up on the first page of Google search results. Your site is doomed, right? Maybe not.
Let’s look at a hypothetical situation set in the “real world” for a minute. I know, when you work online, you forget there’s a real world out there, with humans and sunlight and everything. But, give me a little leeway here.
Imagine you’re at a party. You are introduced to a person, let’s call her “Chris.” Chris is the vice president of such-and-such at Big Corporation. It just so happens that you are unemployed and you’ve been wanting to get into the such-and-such field.
You instantly tell Chris that you want to get into such-and-such and maybe she could help you out. Of course, Chris knows nothing about you and politely explains that they are not hiring anyone at this time.
You persist and ask for her business card. The next day, you send an email to her, telling her what a pleasure it was to meet her. You attach your resumé and tell her to keep you in mind if anything should open up. She doesn’t delete the email.
You follow up frequently with her and tell her about your continuing interest in working at Big Corporation in the such-and-such department. You even stop by work one day and drop off an updated resume with your “freelance” experience. You invite her to lunch and she is busy, of course.
Several weeks later, you see Chris at another party. You approach her. She cringes. You ask if they have any openings yet. She says no and excuses herself. She makes a mental note to delete your email and throw away your resumé when she returns to the office.
End hypothetical.
So, what does any of this have to do with Google and your website? Well, a lot. Google is a gatekeeper, just like Chris at Big Corporation. You, the “you” in the hypothetical, are just like all the other people trying to get their websites on the first page of Google. And, Big Corporation is the first page search results of Google.
Let’s not forget that behind the code, the algorithms, the software, and the fancy copy are people. People are the heart of the internet and Google understands this, and so should you. If not, your website could suffer.
Google’s ultimate goal is to provide helpful and accurate search results to their users. This means that they want the best websites, for relevant keywords, to be on the first page search results. That will make users happy. That will make advertisers happy. That will make Google happy. If you try to manipulate that system, Google will not be happy.
It’s not a good idea to force yourself on a potential gatekeeper in the real world, and it’s not a good idea to do that on the internet either. If you try to force your website on Google before they know what your website is really about, before they know they can trust you, before they know that you are committed, it can backfire.
In the hypothetical above, you would have a better chance of getting a job if you got to know Chris and what Big Corporation was looking for in their employees. Then, you could determine if you would be a good fit at Big Corporation. Think about it. If you’ve ever come across someone that you just met, that wants you to do a favor for them when you know nothing about them, that is what I’m talking about.
If you build a website on Friday and immediately get 1000 low-quality backlinks on Monday, Google has no reason to trust you. Why would they put your website on the first page search results before you’ve earned their trust? The age of your website matters in Google’s algorithm.
If you spent 2 years creating high-quality content and backlinks and finally earned the number 1 spot on Google for your keywords, do you think it would be fair for someone else to come along and bump you out of that spot in one day, by purchasing thousands of backlinks. Google wants quality results and they want to see that you (i.e., you and your website) are committed to providing quality content for search users. They want to see natural, organic growth. They want to see that users are staying on your website and not just bouncing through. Once they see these things happening, through their complex algorithms, you will see your website start to rise in search results.
There are always exceptions to the rule, but consider the real word before you decide to jump to the front of the line. Google might just have a special place waiting for you, called the Google Sandbox. Although it might sound fun, it’s not a place where you want your website to be.
Check out http://superbadinternetmarketing.com for more detailed information on the internet marketing fundamentals.
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