I promise to try and keep these shorter after this one. ;-)
I get a lot of PM's and emails asking questions so I thought I would start a thread here for people to just ask openly and possibly get help from many sources. Ask anything website, advertising or board related to advertising and I will answer. If I can't then I am sure someone else here will be able to or even have more suggestions or help.
To start with I have had a few questions this week about companies claiming they can get you to the top of google for a fee. I for one cannot stand these scammers trying to take advantage of ladies that do not know any better.
Anybody who guarantees organic rankings is lying and should not be trusted - simple as that - read the official Google help article below:
This is taken directly from what Google has to say about this topic.
No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or by submitting a Sitemap and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.
Another trick some of these scammers will tell you is "check out my website and see where we are listed, we are #1 in google"
This is one of the funniest tricks they try, Of course if you google their exact website it is going to come up as the first ranking. You can do that with any website. It only makes sense that the site you specifically search for or almost specifically search for will show up first. Now try searching for them using actual search words for their business and see how they turn up. Chances are not even close to what they claim.
Another gimmick they will try is the "we can get you on top of google rankings search in your city" but wont tell you how.
This is actually true for most at least temporarily, it is something you can do very easily but for some will take a little finagling. This is a secret they will not share with you but I am going to let you know now how to do this yourself and it won't cost you a dime.
Step 1. Get a gmail account
Step 2. Go to places.google.com/business
Step 3. Fill out the info for your website etc... making sure to include a good description and keywords that you think people will search in google to find what you are offering.
Step 4. The tricky part. You probably do not want to use your real name or address so you need to make one up BUT..... You will have to use your number because google will call you with a pin number to verify it is you placing the Ad. You also need to make sure that the address you use is not already in use. I can't say do this!, but you might find a UPS Store address and use a suite number to go with it like xyz street suite 1502 and then the city and state you are in. I say UPS Stor address because when you have a box there you use the store address but the box# is considered a suite number as if it is an office building. Remember you are not actually directing anyone there and might be best to change this info after the fact once you are listed so there is no confusion. I think you can even remove the address from public view once you are listed.
On a side note. It is a good idea to have one of these PO boxes anyway for a multitude of reasons that we can cover at another time.
If you do this I guarantee you will be at the top of google searches at least for a little while. I know I just said that BSabout being at the top but here is the difference.Search for Houston escorts in google and the first listings to come up are the small business listings which are always at the top as you can see in this example below attached.
None of this is meant as a substitution for including meta tags in your website code. Not everyone wants their website to be indexed and searched through search engines but if you do then follow the above and make sure you have your meta tags on your website and good content that you should change up every now and then because search engines look for new content all the time and that is one of the many ways for people to find you when they search for what you are offering.
I know this seems like a long post but really it is a cliff note version of things to do to increase traffic to your site. I am sure others can chime in and give their advice. If you have a little time each day then you should do it yourself for free and if not then find someone to pay but make sure they have experience in your "field" and can show proven results and not tricks and explain what they are doing for you in terms you can understand. throwing around words that sound like they know does you no good if you don't understand what was done for your $.
As always if you have a question that I can help with just let me know, I am available by pm, chat and phone and as long as I am not doing the work for you and you are just needing a little guidance in the right direction I do not mind helping out.