Part 1: Getting to Know your Site

I’ve watched multiple clients wallow in the frustration of trying to figure out how to show up on the first two pages of Google. “My website isn’t getting any views!” “Why isn’t anyone visiting my page?” “Why am I not viral yet after a few days?” You may think that I was mocking you just now, but the truth of it all is that I have done the same song and dance as anyone who doesn’t grasp the concept of how Google works.

Google seems to consistently change its rules every couple of months, and your efforts don’t seem to get any tangible or measurable results. I want viewership now, dammit?! Why is this not working?! The answer is a little bit more complex than you think.
Getting ranked on Google is much like trying to start a long-term relationship. You need to put in the effort, perform the right steps, and work with who you are compatible with. You can’t expect instant results with little to no effort, and you can’t take any shortcuts.

Businesses often refer to relationship building within companies as the “Know, Like, Trust” model. Over the next few articles I will explain this while making dating allegories to put it in a perspective that everyone can understand.

Know

Think about the art of dating in the pursuit of a romantic partner. Do you expect someone to commit to another person in a relationship after the first date?

relationship building google — A surprisingly old-fashioned search engine.

Of course, you don’t. Because real relationships aren’t based purely on physical intimacy. It is based on mutual trust over time built between prospective partners. And the only way to do that is to get to know someone.

Google desires long-lasting relationships with other websites. How does Google get to know your website? Through finding out what your site is all about with Readability, SEO and Outbound linking.

Readability

A sophisticated woman on the dating scene has a certain standard of etiquette that she expects from the gentlemen who come to call. She expects the person that she is dating to be polite in their speech, mannerisms, and grooming habits.

The same can be said for Google when it comes to readability. Google has a certain standard when it comes to spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and word count. Usually, there are tools that will spell it out for you before you publish a post. This is mainly to the benefit of your audience but benefits Google by giving it more clarity in how it should index each relevant page.

Google looks at copy with these standards :

How easy it is to read for the general population.
The length of the paragraph.
The limited percentage of how many sentences have more than 20 words.
How many sentences contain a transition word.
How many sentences are written in a passive or active voice.

SEO

There are diverse types of websites all over the world. They could be about niche subjects like a buddy cop show from the 70’s or it could be broad, like religion. But, until you declare what type of subject your page is about, you are nothing more than a stranger to Google.

This is where SEO comes in. When you declare a keyword that is relevant to your website and provide a proper description, you are signaling to Google, “Hey, this is what I am all about!”

From there, Google is able to sort you into the right category, because it knows who you are.

However, you want to be careful about repeating the same keywords over and over.

Just like any intelligent woman, if Google hears the same keyword over and over again it will either assume you aren’t taking the conversation seriously enough or that you are just a boring, one-note, individual. Take the time to expand on your subject matter by offering a variety of SEO keywords for each post.

Outbound Linking

linking, seo, indexing google — The ultimate way for Google to get to know you more.

How does any girl learn about someone who she might be interested in pursuing a relationship with? She learns about who the people who are in their life and watches how they treat them. From there she can gauge their values and personal interests further.

Outbound linking, aka “citing your sources,” is the webpage equivalent of this. The larger the frame of reference that you give on where you

get your ideas and compile your information, the more likely you are to rank higher up the list of search results for the related keyword.