Matt Cutts from Google has added his expertise again and again regarding SEO. Anyone trying to get good placement on Google had better listen to what he says and do your due diligence so you can beat the competition.
It’s all a matter of following certain basic principles that go along with SEO. The small time site that might have superior content might not at first get that high placement but there are things that a website can do to rank higher in the short and long term. Nothing happens overnight so patience and diligence are required here and that’s as basic as it gets.
Big sites have had two advantages, they’ve either been around longer with more links and interaction than yours and they’ve had SEO done to keep them on top. Some started out small and worked their way up with large fanbases, in and outbound links, press, media, and social networking. If your site has none of these it’s time to get busy and do it sensibly.
Your site might have far better content than the top ones. You’ll need to get your site’s visibility out there so that the public can see this, bookmark you, share you, and more. A well organized site is of utmost importance too. Absurd graphics and wild bells and whistles won’t do it. Sometimes with luck something on your site may go viral and you’ll suddenly find yourself at the top but it will be you that keeps you there. Often a subject of controversy in your field of interest will emerge in the news. Let’s say you covered this area of interest before the media put it in the spotlight, well it’s good to reason that when people are searching for relevant data your site will emerge suddenly as the premiere website regarding the subject.
Maybe a picture of let’s say a band you know of that isn’t popular but you’ve covered them on your site from their early beginnings. Suddenly they have a hit song or one of the members has made headlines another way. You suddenly see your stats rise and that’s when you strike. Add more relevant content, interact via social media and pour it on.
Those are the startling fast ways but the old tried and true hold up as well. The well paced webmaster will examine the site and update data and tweak the site so it doesn’t remain stale. Adding a forum or some form of interaction boosts visibility and link exchanges. As time goes on you’ll see your stats rise slowly but surely and will be based on a solid foundation of reliability instead of quickie techniques that only last a short time.
Slow as you go is the philosophy here because you can better gauge your success via the statistics showing hits, views, etc.. Once you see what’s successful you don’t futz around with it, you rinse and repeat that successful action or actions until you get to a point of recognition and statistical reliability.
Don’t go for the quick routes that call for shady companies that say they can get you to the top of Google after charging you an arm or a leg. Google is always looking at ways to improve relevance and one day might just drop the importance of linking altogether as they know there are link farms and scams go ing on.
So remember, slow and steady wins the course here. Keep on asking the official Google pros and other pros at the other search engines and keep your course straight. Don’t fall for scams and never engage in unethical practices no matter what others say. Google will catch on and slam you.