If you search the internet for “How to Get to Page 1 on Google” you will come across thousands of articles talking about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and some will be from companies promising that they can deliver this. In my How to get to page 1 on Google – Part 1 post I explained the reasons why there is no 100% guaranteed way of getting your article or site to the first page of Google.

What I also did was to include some unusual terms that were there for a purpose.

GoogleWhack

In 2004 comedian Dave Gorman introduced TV audiences to the phrase “GoogleWhack”. This is where you type in two words found in the dictionary and hopefully come up with a combination so unique, that Google only returns one result – a “GoogleWhack”.

Unfortunately, as soon as a “GoogleWhack” is identified and shared online, Google will find the new pages listing the “GoogleWhack” and the “GoogleWhack” is therefore, no more. Past examples include:

• comparative unicyclist.
• maladroit wheezer.
• blithering clops.

So in the last article when I mentioned a certain movie star’s fictional clothing venture, it was in the hope of creating a longer form “GoogleWhack” and if you specify that exact term by surrounding it with quotes, only one result (so far) will be returned:

So how does this example help you get to Google’s first page of results?

Long Tail Keywords

The purpose of this phrase in the first article was to show how a unique collection of words can easily be found by Google and ranked accordingly. So use a collection of words that are as descriptive of your products as possible. These are known as long tail keywords and consist of three or more words. Imagine that you sell clothes. Someone typing “clothes” into Google will have a hard time finding your site due to the sheer amount of competition:

“Clothes” returns 1.1 billion pages

If you specialise in vintage T-Shirts then it makes sense to use the phrase “Vintage T-shirts” on appropriate pages. This will narrow down the competition drastically:

“Vintage T-Shirts” returns 12.7 million pages.

Now if your Vintage T-Shirt features a niche character and you include the character in a description of your product, customers now have a much improved chance of finding your page:

“Vintage T-Shirt Batfink” returns 17 thousand pages

Put yourself in the position of your customers. What search terms are they likely to use? If you have a driving school that covers a number of towns, name all of those towns. Don’t bank on the fact that just because you are based in Springfield and only mention Springfield on your site, neighbouring Shelbyville will find you when they type “Shelbyville Driving Lessons”. You have to mention “Shelbyville” on your website too. Google is great at geographically linking your searches but you can’t bank on it. See this site we built for Welch’s Driving School as an example of a site mentioning all towns that they cover.

Getting on the first page of Google is difficult and can take years due to the number of factors involved, not least because the algorithms are secret and constantly change, but knowing what your customers are likely to search for is a good place to start when deciding what text to place on your pages and products.

In the next article we look at the role Social Media plays and also listen to what Google say themselves.

Peter Horgan is the founder of Jeppstones.

You call follow Peter on Twitter: @PeterJeppstones