Posted on January 19, 2007 in SEO-Site-Promotion, with 10 comments.

I see this question getting asked more and more on forums, websites, and in emails, so I’m finally going to tackle the Google pagerank issue.

If you’re like me, you want to be listed higher on Google, but just aren’t sure how. Google PaageRank is basically a math function that determines how high you are listed on Google searches. The biggest determining factor in how high you are listed is how many other websites link to yours, and I cover this in #6. However there are other effective things every webmaster should do, aside from promotion, in order to have the highest possible pagerank in Google.

1. Know thine enemy

You have to know where you’re at before you know how far to go. There’s tons of ways to find out what your pagerank is. I use the pagerank checker at Pagerank.net.

Also check up on other sites that are listed higher than you, and see what they are doing right. Google has a nice feature that lets you check the number of inbound links to a website. Just type in “link:http://www.domain.com” into Google’s search field and see how many, and what types of links are going to your competitors.

To get a Google search for sites that are related to yours use “related:http://www.domain.com”.

2. Submit your site to DMOZ

DMOZ is an open directory project run by Netscape and partnered with AOL. It’s free to submit sites, and it is an excellent way (besides raising your PR) to increase website traffic.

The reason this works so well is because Google pagerank gives bigger weight to bigger sites. Thus a link from a site with a very high PR (i.e. DMOZ) will help you raise your rank.

To submit to DMOZ, go to their directory, find the most suitable category for your site, and in that category, use the link in the top right that reads “suggest URL”.

Be patient, because it could take up to 2 weeks to become part of the directory, but it’s worth it.

3. Give Google your sitemap

Google page rank counts links within your own site (to other pages on the same site) to figure out your page rank. However, just having a ton of internal links won’t cut it. You also have to submit a sitemap to Google in order for them to see all the other pages.

If you already have a sitemap for your site, use Google’s sitemap submission tool to send it to them. If you need help with creating a sitemap see Google’s sitemap help page. Not to be outdone, Google has come up with it’s own sitemap generator, which can help you along the process.

It may seem a bit intimidating at first, but once you get it done, it’s one more major step in raising your pagerank.

4. Don’t split the vote! Use a 301 redirect

Sometimes your pagerank can be affected by something so minor as someone typing domain.com instead of www.domain.com. What can happen is that Google will count inbound links to the domain without the “www” separate form the ones with the “www”, essentially splitting the number of inbound links, and thus lowering your overall pagerank.

Michael Bloch has a very good article on how to implement a 301 redirect and get all those visitors going to the same address.

5. Use those header elements, the <title> tag, and the <bold> tag

Search engines use your <title> tag to create their links, and they also use it for their keywords. So to optimize your <title> tag, use a few keywords (normally no more than 6 or 7)

Also, utilize those header elements (<h1>-<h6>). The search engines, and thus Google, sees headers as labels of importance. Something placed within a <h1> tag will weigh more heavily in their engine than a <h3> tag.

Finally, it can’t hurt to put key phrases or keywords in bold as the Google will see them as such.

6. Get more inbound links

Easy for me to say, huh? Inbound links to your website are meat and potatoes when it come to raising your pagerank. There are tons of posts everywhere on the internet with ways to build back links to your website, but these tend to be the best (and my favorite ways) so far:

• Look for related sites and ask for a link. A lot of webmasters don’t mind adding you and it can get pertinent traffic to your site quickly. Don’t use a form email though, people these days are very spam-aware so you should write each and every request by hand, ideally mentioning aspects of the site you like. Also most webmasters are going to ask for a link back to their site as well, so it would be best to already have one on your site to point them to.

• Utilize social bookmarking sites. Sites like del.icio.us are a good way to get the name of your site out there. Become part of a network, and share your site with others (as you would any other interesting link). List of social bookmarking sites with Alexa rank.

• Write good content. It’s about as standard a rule as there is on the web. A good article, that people feel is useful, is the best way to get inbound links. Think about your own browsing habits and what you surf for. Is there something positive you can provide to the community? If so write it, and write it well, and people will link to you.

In conclusion

Be patient, getting listed high on Google should be seen as an ongoing effort, and not just a one-time thing. It takes time to build those inbound links, and it takes time to develop good content. Keep at it, and if you have more tips, or if you’ve found this helpful please leave a comment below.

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