Understanding Ranking on Google

A lot has changed over the years, so it's not nearly as easy to rank in Google as it was years ago.

However, most people never give themselves a chance because they make classic errors in the beginning. I don't want you to do the same.

Narrow down your topic to something very niche (meaning you target a very specific audience like woman who play golf or recent college graduates looking for a job.)

The more niche your topic is, the easier it will be to get some kind of targeted traffic from Google because your content will be very focused.

Come up with a very specific topic or even a problem and then target people who need help.

If you are trying to build a website that will rely on user activity (membership, social/interactive sites) it's best to start by building a content site or blog that is related to theme of your website in order to drive traffic to it.

If your site is dependent upon people joining/being active, you need lots and lots of traffic because the majority of people who join will not remain active. It's important to have a large pool of traffic to funnel to that site.

Here's another mistake many people make.

They begin their journey by trying to build a membership, store or interactive site and put all this energy and money into customizing it and making it look pretty, but they have absolutely NO IDEA how to drive traffic to it.

I'll say this again.

People don't just stumble upon your website because you have a great idea. There are billions of sites out here authored by people with "great ideas", so it's going to take some work to get your site some visibility.

So let's say you want to build a social networking site that targets teen parents. Rather than quickly launching your network, first build a content hub to draw traffic to it.

That's because it's much easier for a content site to get ranked in Google than an interactive website.

Remember, the engines LOVE themed content.

Let's say you were a teen parent and you want to sell a book that helps other teen parents.

Start by building a website or a blog thats full of advice for teen parents. The more specific your niche is, the greater the chance you'll generate targeted traffic that will be interested in your content.

Compare a website that targets teens to a site that targets teen parents. First of all, it would be very difficult to rank well for "teens" in Google because it's such a very broad phrase.

Not to mention, if your site were to get found by such a broad word, you wouldn't know what your visitors wanted. That would make it very difficult to target products and services to them.