Avoid This Heartbreaking Mistake!
So, you've joined WA, maybe even gone premium and now you have your website built. You keep adding content and pages as you go through the training modules. After all this work, you would really love to know how you're doing.
You can't resist and you just have to take a peek at Google and see where you rank. After all, there was a whole section in the training about Page Rank. So, you pull up Google and type your website in the search bar.
You look and then you look again! This can't be right, can it? Holy cow, you have just launched your website and already you are ranked on the first page of Google! Imaging that - page 1 on Google the first week! The internet gods have smiled on you. This has to be the answer that you have been looking for all along and now you can meet your financial goals! Hallelujah!
It is heart breaking to see this happen!I feel like the biggest schmuck in the world for bursting your bubble!
The reality of Google page rank is that if you type in virtually any website, that website will appear on the first page of Google, probably in the 1st or 2nd position.
In actuality, very few people will ever find your website this way. Why?
- If someone knows the url of your website, they will probably go directly there, rather than doing a Google search for it.
- People search for key words relating to information they are seeking, not actual web addresses.
- While you want people to get to know your website brand, their first exposure to you will likely be accidental through a Google search of key words. Then you build a relationship with them by having great content.
Ranking on Google is not for the faint of heart. It takes a long time, persistence and patience. Above all, once you release content, you have to continue to work the web in order to get your site ranked on the key words you are targeting.
The single best way to truly check your page rank is to put the url of your latest post into this website:
http://whatpageofsearchamion.com/
Don't be disappointed if it takes awhile to even get into the top 10 pages in Google. Patience my friend. Keep learning and keep working.
Recent Comments
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I feel for it too, but only once. Consistency over time is the key. Thanks for making us think about this!
This is why we focus on creating many posts and pages for our sites. You cannot rely on your domain name alone.
If you want to know where your pages really rank, that's what Webmaster Tools is for. You can see what keywords people actually use to find your site and what position they are displayed within the search engines.
Kudas for the comment about Google Webmaster Tools. I think A LOT of people don't even use this tool.
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Interesting post. I often wonder what people are talking about when they say their site is ranking on the first page of Google, or in the number one spot. Sometimes I have a look and think to myself:
"Ranking for what, your site name"?
Or they are typing in the exact title of their post/page and claiming a first page ranking... well ah yeah of course. If the title of your post or page is something people are actually typing into Google OFTEN than great, if it isn't then yeah you have a first page ranking but nobody is looking for what you are ranked on the first page of Google for...
As for whatpageofsearchamionDOTcom, I would not bother using this as it will skew your analytics. You are much better of using the Google 'Ad Preview Tool' ( https://adwords.google.com/d/AdPreview/ ) or just analysing your Google Webmaster Tools analytics.
Certainly you should use your Google webmaster tools, but they give you completely different information than the website I mentioned. I don't see how it can skew your analytics when it is just telling you what page in search you are showing up on for the key words you are trying to rank on. It's much easier than doing a Google search and scrolling through the results looking for your website.
It skews your analytics because it uses Google to do the search and thus counts as an 'impression' with Google and in your Google Webmaster Tools.
It won't be doing anything you can't already do with the Google 'Ad Preview' Diagnostics Tool. Being that Google is Google and that is where all these types of sites get there information from. Where else do you think they would get it?
I wasn't talking about anything to do with adsense and impressions vs. clicks. That is way on down the road from what I was talking about. I am simply talking about getting your website ranked for the key words you are targeting. I understand that all of the data comes from Google, but from simply the page rank perspective that I was addressing, that website cannot skew your analytics. For a website that is not using adsense, you cannot easily get page rank information through the Webmaster tools.
I''m not talking about AdSense either, I am talking about the same thing as you, you are just misunderstanding me.
That website WILL skew your analytics, and you do NOT need AdSense to access the Google 'Ad Preview' Diagnostics Tool, it's not even part of the AdSense platform, it is part of the AdWords platform.
Just click on the link I have provided in my OP and you will have instant access, instant!
Hi Chaussler Thanks a lot! But who owns http://whatpageofsearchamion.com/ How do you know this website?
According to whois.com, the website www.whatpageofsearchamion.com is registered to a private dream host account. That website was mentioned by someone else here on WA. That website really only checks about the first 10 pages of Google and if you aren't there, you know you aren't on the first 10 pages.
Google webmaster tools will also tell you what pages you are on(Avg. Position) if you click on the search queries section. This will tell you what words you are ranking for, and sometimes you rank for words you didn't intend.