Here’s something to remember. Google wants to index your web page. Google’s goal is to have the entire internet indexed and in their search engines, so as long as you’ve got decent content the searchbots will be trying hard to find you.
The problem is, the internet’s a big place. Even Google doesn’t have the resources to search the whole thing (in 2010, on average 58,630 websites were added every day…)
So what you have to do is make it as easy as possible… when other blogs are sitting there waiting patiently for the searchbots to turn up, you want your blog to have a huge neon sign saying ‘C’MON GUYS, THIS IS IT!’
So how do you do that?
First of all, you’ve got to understand the two things the Googlebots are looking for:
1. More links to your site
2. Regularly updated content
This is all about maximising your chances of getting your new articles found.
It works like this:
When a Googlebot finds a web page, it will also find all the links on that page. But, and this is important, it won’t look down all of them. There’s just too much internet for that. Instead, it looks down a random selection, and sends word back to Google HQ about what it’s found. So the more backlinks you’ve got, the more chance there is that Google’s going to find one.
If this is a page that has been visited previously, the Googlebot will check to see if the content has changed. If it has changed, a bot will come back faster next time. If it hasn’t, the bots will wait a bit longer. This is why pages that update a lot, like CNN or the BBC, have a Googlebot pretty much living there; while a blog that had two posts in 2007 and was never touched again is probably only visited once a year.
So what can we learn from this?
Well, we can learn the one best way to get your site indexed…
Own the BBC!
Unfortunately, that’s not an option for us, so we’ve got to do the next best thing:
Get lots of backlinks from regularly updated pages
These don’t need to be from web sites like the BBC or CNN – obviously that’d get you indexed extremely fast, but there’s other places that will be almost as quick, AND drive you targeted traffic.
Think about it… you’re a blogger. Chances are that even if you’ve got quite a high profile, there’s probably a few more well-respected or higher-ranking blogs in your niche.
So get backlinks from them!
This way, not only are you getting speedy indexing through being connected to a high-ranking, regularly updated site… you’re also hijacking that site’s traffic (because you’re giving that site’s readers access to your article, and they’re guaranteed to be interested because it’s on the same topic), that site’s authority (because the connection means you’re seen as being on the same level as your top-ranking target), and getting a healthy shot of link juice to boot!
This is where WordPress’ Pingback system really comes into its own. It’s designed precisely so you can do just this – find a top blog, and get links from them.
Of course, one top blog isn’t going to be enough… one pingback is all very well, but if you’re really serious about getting your sites indexed and the link juice flowing, you’re going to need several, ideally between 5 and 10 per blog post.
This may sound like a lot of work (you’re probably looking at 1-2 hours for every blog post) but remember… this isn?t unnecessary work. This is essential work. This is a necessary part of your blogging process, because after all… what’s the use in writing the world’s greatest article in your niche if Google doesn’t index it so no-one ever gets to find it?
It’s very possible that somewhere… maybe in your town, maybe even in your street… there’s someone who has just written the world’s greatest novel. It’s going to make people laugh. It’s going to make people cry. It’s going to make the critics hold them up as the greatest writer since Shakespeare, and earn them millions of dollars in royalties. Except it’s not. Because they’re never going to send that book to a publisher, so no-one’s ever going to read it.
This isn’t the situation we want to find ourselves in. We blog to make money, but to make money we need to get our posts out there, and the pingback is one of the most effective promotional weapons in your arsenal.
Make it part of your blogging routine, and you’ll soon be indexed in a flash and picking up traffic from all the best blogs in your niche. Not only that, you?ll be imprinting the fact that your blog is on the same high level – no need to convince your traffic that you know what you?re talking about, just instant expert branding.
If you’re looking for an automated way to build backlinks to your website, via pingbacks, you really need to check out Digi Auto Links though.
Article copyright: Andy Fletcher
