Dear Kalena…

How do I increase my site PageRank?

Abi

Hi Abi,

I’m sorry – but you are probably asking the wrong question…. Even though questions like – How do I improve my PageRank? and How do I improve my Rankings? are probably the most common questions that most Search Engine Optimizers are asked, they are invariably not the question that should be asked.

When potential clients ask me questions like this, it is usually a pretty good indication that they have realized that their website needs to be more than just a great site – it also needs to be easy to find via search engines.

But questions like these are usually the wrong questions, as they also suggest that the site owner has not fully thought through what they actually want their website to achieve. Goals like, better PageRank, higher rankings, more traffic, or even higher conversion rates are all a means to an end.  The primary aim for most websites should simply be to maximize sales or enquiries.

So the correct question that website owners should be asking is actually “How do I improve my online sales/enquiries?” The answer to this question will vary, depending on the niche, the target market, and the current status of the website.  The “answer” may be any (or all) of :

• Basic SEO – to improve the sites crawlability or increase the number of pages indexed
• Content Creation – to improve the authority (and rankings) of the site for relevant keyword phrases
• Link Building – to improve the sites PageRank
• Conversion Optimisation – If the site is already getting good traffic volumes, but has poor conversion rates
• Local Search –  to improve visibility for locality based search queries
• Pay per Click – to quickly boost traffic volumes
• or many other options..

There are a plethora of activities and strategies covered under the banner of Search Engine Marketing or Search Engine Optimisation and whilst there are some general principles that apply, there is rarely a “One Size Fits All” solution to optimising a website.  There are many different factors that must be taken into consideration when defining an SEO strategy, but fundamentally they should come back to the primary goal of your website.

Andy Henderson
WebConsulting (Brisbane SEO)

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