Hey,
Here is an article I wrote for my site about getting higher rankings in Google in particular...
To get a top ranking in Google, here are my 4 keys to success.
1. Link Popularity
Link Popularity is more than just about how many sites link to you. It's how and whom you link with that also plays a factor.
The more links you can get to your site, the better. But I would
rather have less links on more popular and relevant sites than tons of links on FFA pages .
Try and link with related sites. When the Google spider visits your site from a site you have exchanged links with, it analyzes this process. What do I mean by that? For example, lets say you have a webmaster site and you have links on a bunch of game sites. When Google follows these links from game sites they are looking for some kind of a theme. What in the world does a game site have to do with a webmaster resources site? Not much. Therefore, while you might get a small boost, it does not help as much as if you do the following: When you link to related sites, Google can see some kind of theme. If you have a webmaster site and Google finds that a bunch of other webmaster sites have linked to you, then guess what!? They are thinking you must have a relevant site about Webmaster stuff! Make since?
I prefer text links. When other web sites use words in the link that points to your site, the google spider reads them. So, if sites linking to you use keywords in their link text, Google may increase your ranking for those words. As an example, I will use a made up site called 123FWS.com which is about free webmaster stuff. When sites exchange links with mine, I would prefer them to use Free Webmaster Stuff in the links text pointing to the URL 123FWS.com. The other less desirable way would be both 123FWS.com in the link text and URL. This is just a small way to boost your relevance and theme, but every little bit can help.
Lastly, A listing in the Yahoo directory and DMOZ.com (the Open Directory) will give you a big boost. I have personally seen greatly increased rankings after a listing in DMOZ for some of my sites.
2. Site Title
Use keywords in your title and keywords that people are searching for. From the example above, If your site is called 123FWS.com don't just put that in your title. What is your site all about and what would people search for to find it? On this site I use "Free Webmaster Tools and Resources" for the title. I recommend keeping it to 6 words or under. To find out what keywords people are searching for, try the GoTo.com keyword suggestion wizard found here:
http://inventory.goto.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
3. Domain Name
While some people dispute this claim, I find your domain name to be important in Google and a number of other search engines and directories. Did you find my site via Yahoo while doing a search for "webmaster tools," free webmaster tools," or "free webmaster resources?" Well it's because of my domain name (used as the title). I won't get into Yahoo here, so back to Google I go....
I myself try and buy a domain name that contains keywords that
people are searching for. As an example, I bought the domain name "Free-Games-Online.net" as kind of a gateway page to my other game site 4EverGames.com. Even though this site has almost no link popularity, it is ranked number 11 out of about 2,280,000 sites. Not bad huh?
4. Keyword Placement
Use your top keywords (particularly the ones used in your title) towards the top of the page. Continue to use these keywords throughout the page, in your link text, and URLs (don't overdo it)
Other Tips:
Use your top keywords throughout your site to help build that "theme" which I was talking about above. Google does not use
keyword "tags," although a couple search engines still use them,
so I use them anyway on some pages. Links farms do not work, and may get you banned. Have content: Following the tips above, but only having a sentence or two on your site will not get you good listings.
If you follow the steps above, I am confident your rankings in Google will improve. Remember, good rankings don't happen over night and may require some work and time, but the payoff can be great! So, it's time to get Googled! Good Luck.
P.S> Keyword tags do not seem to help in Google...But I would probably use them none the less for other engines....
