Google - Does Anyone REALLY Know

The problem we have faced is simple! If we ask five accountants how to do something connected to the business we get one answer. If we ask our bank about a problem we have, we can expect generally the same advice (albeit through different avenues). But ask five seo (search engine optimisation) companies how we can get to page one of Google for our keywords of promotional merchandise, promotional products and corporate gifts and we get 5 different answers!

So, we ask the question...does anyone really know how Google operates and what a company needs to get on page one?

Initially, we were advised that it's all about links. The more outbound and inbound links you have, the higher up the rankings you will go. We were contacted by a multitude of companies who offered to generate hundreds of links for us in a very short period of time. But it transpires that Google will actually penalise you for this as it sees it as a form of spamming. Now we have begun to understand that it's not quantity, its quality. This second strand of advice is that Google still looks for links but rates them on the relevance to your site. So if we have a link from (for example) a business forum this is relevant but if it's from a pet store in Arizona...well, it's not!

So what's changed? Has Google changed the way that it works? And our some companies more 'in the know' than others? It's possible of course. But then we get told it's all about social media now. Blogs, blogs and more blogs!

Is Google that flexible that it can change fundamentally how websites are ranked? I don't think so. After all, something keeps the same companies on page one for a search against the keyword 'promotional merchandise'. We suspect it's a mixture of practices...hence why we have been creeping up the page rankings.

In a nutshell, if you need SEO support...ask around and don't go with any company that guarantees a page one ranking!



Ian Feingold is a Director of Code Promotional Merchandise, an online supplier of promotional products and corporate gifts to businesses, charities and public sector organisations.




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