You’ll receive money making advice and actionable tips and strategies directly from James Martell when you subscribe to his weekly podcast by email, RSS feed or iTunes. You can also follow James on Twitter. Recognized as a leading expert in affiliate marketing training, James is the host of the "Affiliate Marketers SUPER BootCamp", and host of the "Affiliate Buzz", the first ever and longest running podcast for affiliate marketers in the industry. A sought-after speaker, James has presented at Commission Junction University, Affiliate Summit, The System Seminar, Digital River Lab, Pubcon, Affcon, and more. Google+ James Martell
@JamesMartell
Host of the Affiliate Marketers 'SUPER BootCamp', and successfully educating money making affiliates since 2001, -- Click to watch a FREE Introductory video.
The Twitter Daily is out! http://t.co/dBKT6fgF7a ▸ Top stories today via @10Blackberry @laughingliberal @twittSecrets - 58 mins ago
Latest posts by James Martell (see all)
- The Simple Path To Google Rankings Success - January 14, 2013
- Google Rankings – The Gift That Keeps On Giving - November 12, 2012
- The “Business†Of Online Publishing - August 12, 2012
You can get your own content published on this site as long as you have CommentLuv installed on your site.
Doing so means you get exposure to thousands and thousands of other CommentLuv users and your posts get sent out to the massive subscriber list.
Google loves this site and indexes it multiple times per day and posts always get lots of comments so you can be sure of some excellent exposure.
See the Write For Us page for more details
btw.. you can get this author box here
Twitter: powermothering
Defiantly! Thanks for a great article. I can recall when I had to ask what google was.
Now I need a manual come every new “animal”.
Nicolette Roux recently posted..2 Top Uses For Figs – Fig Fruit Leather And Fig Jam
The reason is the scammers why we regular blogger are facing problem. We have do find out different alternatives for success. This was a good post though.
Rohan Shankar recently posted..Bestselling and Top Rated Gadgets of 2012
Twitter: Rincevent_
As described, it looks like being simple. But it seems to me a long long way…
Twitter: DiscoverAuction
Hello Mr. Martell,
This is definitely a concise, to the point article that would benefit anyone reading it. I plan on printing it out to keep on my office desk as a daily reminder of what works with the search engines and what doesn’t. There are many articles out there concerning all the recent Google updates with most of them confusing the reader more than helping them. Yours is not in that category. This is a completely clear, simple road map to follow.
Thank you for your contribution.
D Hayes recently posted..Discover Increased Sales By Building Consumer Trust
Twitter: primejuicers
Hi James,
This is an excellent article full of valuable information. I’m new in the blogging world, but have been around the IT industry for some time. My blog is only a few months old and I want to attract more visitor. Your information helps and lets me know I’m on the right track I just need to hang in there. I’m focusing on content, backlinks and SEO. Thanks James, best wishes to you and yours.
Rich Donahue recently posted..William James Quote: The Greatest Revolution
Twitter: vineetsaxena4
Hi James,
Google is somewhat hard for me to understand. I wrote a post about how to get traffic from Youtube and very good traffic from Google for it. But then after a week so it vanished.
Another thing which I always wonder about the quality of the content. What are the standards for a content to be called as high in quality? I am still to find these answers.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Vineet Saxena recently posted..5 Steps to Find Your Affiliate Marketing Niche
Twitter: pathaderavi
Google Demands originality. If Original Content is Submitted with Little Bit of Presentation for readers and Keyword placement for Google then the page will surely get it’s place. But i have seen some Blogs whose content is completely copied from other blogs yet they got High Pagerank and Traffic. Maybe they wont get this advantage forever
Ravi recently posted..4 Security Apps for every Mobile Platform to Secure Mobile and it’s Contents
Twitter: TechAndTeaching
That’s cause what Google says and what Google does are two entirely different things. Their advice is great for creating good content for readers, it’s not so great for actually getting things high in the SERPs.
Despite what they say, it’s a mix of on-page optimization (keyword usage) and off-page optimization (linking) that will get your page ranked highly. Otherwise why do you think Matt Cutt’s and the spam team spend so much time fighting black hat tactics?
Brian Rock recently posted..Fractions Webquest: Adjusting Recipes and a Catering Menu
Twitter: BlogSpiceUp
First i got afraid of reading that much but then i noticed 5 points in bold what i really wanted
Thanks for this
Nitin recently posted..Social Bookmarking Benefits for Blogging
Good post, really goes in to detail of what Google is looking for at the moment. Doing SEO myself I have also seen a massive change in the techniques that it takes to get to the top of the rankings.
Natalie recently posted..Google Search UK
Twitter: aromaselection
A long article but definitely worth reading if not rereading a second and third time.
Google’s search algorithms are constantly changing so blackhat is never the right way to go. Nowadays if you want to be relevant and stay relevant you have to generate unique content on a daily basis and your article is 100% right about that.
Twitter: LovAndLyfstle4u
Hello
There has been so many updates in the recent past that is has become very difficult to say what exactly one needs to do to top the results.
After few days Google may come up with some new updates/change in the algos and then one might loose traffic.
But I think we should continuously look for making high quality backlinks.
Sanjib
Sanjib Saha recently posted..Guy Tips: Effective Male Hair Loss Treatments
Hello Mr. Martell,This is definitely a concise, to the point article that would benefit anyone reading it. I plan on printing it out to keep on my office desk as a daily reminder of what works with the search engines and what doesn’t. There are many articles out there concerning all the recent Google updates with most of them confusing the reader more than helping them. Yours is not in that category. This is a completely clear, simple road map to follow.
qnando recently posted..Bergabung Menjadi Penulis/Publisher Qnando.com
Twitter: infinatecashflo
Great post, being a bit of an seo kinda guys myself I gotta agree with you with all these changes they are actually a good thing especially when you consider all these people scamming and spamming like you mentioned. I remember seeing people post a single page with crappy content with nothing relating to the keyword they where ranking for. No More….
Thanks for the great post James
Thank you for these priceless informations.
I’m trying to understand how to create a good blog and this post definitely helped me.
5 stars… this article worth to be read.
Best regards,
Jack.
Twitter: IAMPAROH
I do wish it were that easy. I just wish. Been doing all of that, except I’m still stuck at a measly 1.
Nerdu Paroh recently posted..100 Years Since the RMS Titanic Sank : 5 Lessons to be Learnt
Twitter: freedommmc
Good post James,
People wast so much time trying to game the system its hilarious.
Best way to be seen as popular is to publish guest posts that way other bloggers promote your blog.
Darnell Jackson recently posted..3 ways your blog can exploit the 2013 Oscar Nominations
Twitter: tenocation
Beautiful Tips. I will try to follow them. Thanks
Rogger Shaw recently posted..Facebook ‘Mobile’ a Mystery, back in 2010 uptil now
Twitter: It_Freelancing
Useful article James,
I think now it’s your social presence which makes huge impact on your search engine rankings. That’s why all businesses either small or large focusing on social media marketing.
Pankaj recently posted..Online Recharge Software Development
I like the point of correct title ,tags and description. It should be related and more and more descriptive with some limited characters.
This is great article and very much useful for me , as i am a newbie to SEO.
Thanks
Christy Jones
Christy Jones recently posted..Abacus Introduction
Twitter: krimfuk22
Some of the nicest tips you have given here for ranking well in Google Search Engine, we have the acept the basics first then have to long to the advanced one!
Krishna Parmar recently posted..Fring Sign In & Register Account
Thanks for your contribution.. I also always believe that if the content is informative.. It is bound to be ranked by google..
Very nicely written…
Soumik Roy recently posted..5 Tips to write Curious subject lines of your email , that readers must open
Just a tip: Those looking to play by Google’s rules in order to improve their rankings should give the Webmaster Guidelines at least one read (Google it up). These guidelines have been split into different categories and are very easy to understand. These ‘best practices’ listed by Google will allow you to rank better, however bear in mind that there are a lot of things that Google might not want to share with you.
KevinR recently posted..A Checklist of Things to Do Before Publishing a Post
Twitter: Dating_Advice4u
Hi,
Very informative post. Many old SEO techniques are still working and can be used to rank well in search engines. Thanks for sharing these tips.
Diana recently posted..How To Impress a Boy updated Sat Jan 12 2013 5:54 am EST
Twitter: internetdreamz1
One thing is clear google don’t like tricksers. simply follow google ters and condition for better ranking
Syed Danial recently posted..20 Best WebHosting Company Logo Designs for Inspiration
In found your post useful, i was just looking into how i can improve my rankings doing some onsite seo, how would you say having images at the top of your post fair against text, mainly regarding not having people scroll to reach the good stuff?
these tips are simple and easy to implement…thanks for the share
Twitter: languageninjas
Thanks for the tips
If you don’t appear on Google your going to have a hard time creating business. Good post!
Twitter: toughestblogger
Really impressed by number 4 and 5.You have to know what you are doing while you are trying to bring something to your readers. Making sure they not only like it but share or link back to it is not easy task.
Saqib Razzaq recently posted..9 Tips For Highly Affective Blog Commenting Campaigns
earlier lot of backlinks means good ranking but now quality links is too important.I alo like how you write no games please.I think google have decided that game can make difference.Some tricks were got too much success earlier.But what for now?
Great article. James has outline the basics to improving your rankings. But simply put, success comes with hard work. Hard work over time will give you greater gains.
Owen Knightley recently posted..How to become a Private Investigator?
Thank you for the good information on improving our ranks with Google. People also need to understand that it takes time to achieve. So you should start doing these things now, if you haven’t already begun, and practice them in order for this article to be effective for your own site(s). Thanks again.
Steve recently posted..13 Killer Foods For Fat Loss
interesting – i wonder if that latter point you made and that google actions will become outdated with the ‘social’ evolution of the web ?
The Google Page Rank is very important and I am trying to increase it. Thanks Jame Martell for this useful article!
Twitter: KiwiJon
Great post. I look forward to putting these tips into action for my website. I’m glad people like you exist – life would be very difficult without pioneers like yourself. Thanks again…
Twitter: itgreen
I’ve been marketing online for some 10 years and to be frank, the post you’ve put up pretty much mirrors what I do. I guess I’m fortunate in that I’ve been writing technical/ Engineering Briefs, essays and literature for nigh on 25 years as well, so have a pretty good grounding in that field- let alone in writing itself.
The only point I would make is that you refer to the use of Tags (ie description tags) which I believe do help draw in the organic visitor, but only in certain circumstances- and can be detrimental when a page offers more than just information on one area of a certain topic eg: I blog about computers. Describing a certain computer, I include a review, the specifications, the tear down, repair guide and upgrade guide- all on one page. If I were to add a description meta, it’s limited length could be detrimental and either drop the ctr (ignored by users in search) or increase the bounce (not what a user was looking for). By contrast, I also blog about the environment, focussing upon one specific topic in each post. In this instance, the meta description allows me to refine the details of the post, drawing in the visitor.
On the flip side, I wholeheartedly agree with your points regarding the “above the fold” content. All too often I see sites- ranking above me in serps (1st when I’m 3rd-4th), with images taking up “above the fold” space and paragraphs of utter uninformative drivel below the fold (they also suffer from EMD, but that’s another story). Although they rank significantly higher for certain targeted keyword combinations, they fail to rank for the copious keyword variations my sites come up for. Similarly, their bounce rate appears higher and their traffic rankings far lower.
Stephen recently posted..Illegal Computer recycling exporters uncovered in London
Thanks for the wounderful article,google always wants originality …Thanks for sharing
sintu kumar recently posted..Jabong Coupon-Upto 60% Discount+Extra 15% Sale Promo Code 2013
yes bro its true. I saw some guys posting all stuff which is not possible if you starting something but this is giving something special for starters
Twitter: blogillitis
As a new blogger who almost quit a couple of times but realised how much money has already been spent then came back, i would hardly call the path to success a simple one but its not the most difficult thing on the planet.
Many new bloggers have for sure understood that content is most definately key, however not enough time or experience is available to create your own content as often as possible, so outsourcing has become popular of recent time though not all serviced online can be trusted in terms of uniqueness.
It all has to do with determination, discipline and dedication.
Silas recently posted..How to name your blog
Twitter: hippocampus
I totally agree with your points here. I have been advocating the “good content” and proper “no Gaming” SEO for years. I have even fired customers when they insisted I used the latest “technique” (CSS tricks to hide content, etc.) to gain rank. I have found if you just play nice and work at it, you get results. Black Hat stuff is like lying, you have to remember which lie you told in order to keep it up. This would be so cumbersome if you had more than a few web sites to take care of. Every dance Google did would have you rushing around reaffirming your “lies” in order to keep your ranking.
Shannon recently posted..Why Market to the Hippocampus?
Twitter: rebellionabhi
This is true now you can not play any game with google specially after EMD, Panda and Penguin update. if you want to rank in google then you will have to write for readers and not for search engine
Abhishek recently posted..Republic Day Parade Tickets- How to buy 26 January Parade Tickets
Good tips, proper titles, tags, etc is key.
Lucy Dark recently posted..Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Twitter: neenasatine
i also paid for Attracta to ensure that my site ranks well in Google at least for the search engine and the PR still requires improvement. in fairness to Attracta, they have met my expectations . however, i want something free of course because i am not sure whether i would be able to continue using Attracta and i stumbled in this article
thanks for the valuable info
marilyn cada recently posted..Earn Money By Writing Essays and Articles
Twitter: SoyKono
well,i lie your post but i also have seen guys ranking almost empty sites for searches above 20k a month with just 5 backlinks
i dont know if google cares about content or not
sergio recently posted..episode13
Twitter: nochrreq
Hello James,
Great tips, thank you! I wanted to ask your thoughts on backlinking. How important do you see backlink building beside on page seo? We all know that the solid content rocks but just to give things a little boost, should I focus on backling too?
Thank you in advance!
ilke cetin recently posted..İtalya’da Tercüman
Twitter: joeperricomllc
I got hit by the Panda update when it dropped a few websites from the #1 spot to #4 & #5. I didn’t have many links for these websites, but was ranking high because of the keywords in the domain name. I guess I will just have to work on building the websites up and obtain some more links. That should hopefully get me back to the #1 spots.
Joe Perri recently posted..Yacht Renting Website
Twitter: i_loker
I also agree that the Content is The King and seo is the Duke, but today I discovered a new phenomenon that Social Media has a good role in converting traffic into Money without SEO
I think quality backlink and qualified content plays major role in determine the google page rank. The problems is how to get quality back link
Julidarma recently posted..Three Natural Ways To Fight Kidneys Stone
Got great tips from one single page. Writer has done a fine job.I also make sure that the titles is interesting and also contain the keyword at the same time.
Twitter: PMStudyCircle
Google is aiming to provide relevant content to its visitor. If the content is aligned with the users’ requirement, of course it will outrank others.
Quality and unique content always ranked high in search.
Twitter: tech_junction
well sir i am trying to get the page rank from last two update and i was not able to point out the reason of not getting it but after going through you article i am now able to point out my mistake that why i was not able to get it ..
hope that now i will get it in next update
thanxxx
Twitter: WinAppleWorld
Another thing is, there should be no low quality outbound links like Casino links.
This harms your blog equally as the .edu links help you. so one must beware
Twitter: jonnalarajkumar
Write for your readers don’t do any black hat SEO techniques as it will lead you to spamming.
Rajkumar Jonnala recently posted..15 Simple Social Media Resolutions For 2013
This is all simple in concept, but much more difficult in execution. Quality, relevant, and engaging content requires a certain level of skill. Not much of a “simple path” for some. Nonetheless this was a good read.
Mario Smith recently posted..Are Apple Products Worth Their Price Point? Looks Do Matter.
Twitter: twitter.com/CoffeeL90593622
I like your “it’s worth the wait” analogy. Your pointers about visitor engagement and bounce rate were also helpful.
Twitter: neelium
I had never heard that bounce rate was factored into search rankings, but maybe that is good news for me. My bounce rate is low, but so too is my traffic. Maybe my traffic will improve as Google sees people sticking around on my site.
Neel Joshi recently posted..The Perils of Judging Others
Hi James,
You are right ‘no games’ with Google please. These tips are as simple as you said. Thank you.
KevinF recently posted..Fundamentals of Competitive SEO Analysis
Twitter: PeacefulRunner
Thanks James for the great article. Lots of great points, especially the one about placing the most relevant info above the fold. I heard that ads should not be above the fold, but not that the text above the fold was so relevant. I will keep this in mind when writing and reviewing my articles.
Jackie
Jackie recently posted..FREE non-diet weight loss seminar
Very informative post, I can’t say how much I appreciate that you (and everyone else at SEOmoz) bother doing this much data analysis.
I agree on everything said althoug it’s difficult to create new content when you have a static website, for a local business for example, that doesn’t generate important news everyday.
Then you have to rely only on backlinks, which is not great
Twitter: Ruchi701
Hi James! I found you on search engine and i enjoy reading your articles. I’m sure i’m gonna read your next article. keep up the good work…
Ruchika recently posted..Tea Board of India Assam, Recruitment for Various posts
Twitter: tricky_techno
Ya same here,waiting for your upcoming articles.
Mohit Rajwani recently posted..Best PS3 Games Of 2012
Twitter: womanpregnant
Thank James.
Great article, I am going to share to my friends as well. and I have a blog about When do pregnant women start showing.If you are interested take a look at the site. ^_^
Sarah Bender recently posted..When do pregnant women start showing – When women pregnant vegetarians Foods is Essential
Twitter: prosperouscoach
All good points in your article. The one I struggle the most is “Be seen as popular.” I am sure I am not alone in this. One of my goals this year is to do more guest posting on sites I already have a relationship with that are seen as experts in my field. I see from reading this post that’s a must do.
Suzanne recently posted..39 Financial Advisor Marketing Ideas That Rock
Thank you for sharing this, James. What I have found here is true and I agree with all the points. Get in top 10 sounds so easy like 123. However the truth is a bit different. There is no guarantee you will achieve the goal even all these points are completed properly. In the most cases the positioning depends on other factors – for example the other competitors and you have to be better and smarter than them. What I am trying to say is that SEO is a battle that did not start yesterday and will not end tomorrow. It requires hard work everyday. The mentioned points are just the basic stuff, achieving a good position in Google requires much more. As far as I can see some of the advanced techniques ( I use and describe as successful) are mentioned here. However, thank you for the good job and keep writing. You are good in this. Regards !
Erik Muller recently posted..How to care your leather handbag like brand new
Twitter: tricky_techno
I have seen many people who uses,some Black Hat techniques to get high in Google and they succeed too but after sometime they are thrown out by Google.
Mohit Rajwani recently posted..TricksTreat Launching Post
With the updates that google has been working with recently, it’s more and more difficult to get ranked. But I think if you stop worrying about google and just do the best you can you will see success. Thanks for the article
Adam recently posted..What Attracts Women
Twitter: blogdum
Thanks for sharing these tips, Black hat techniques will not work these days and no one can predict Google serps rankings.
Shasha recently posted..How to Increase Google Page Rank of your Website | SEO
Thanks for this great article. Let’s hope google prediction techniques stay good. We will have to do a lot of hard work to reach the top now, and google knows how to filter bad sites.
Catalin recently posted..Honda Civic gets a new aerodynamic package
Twitter: rohanadvani
Awesome tips to get a hold on our google rankings. Content has always been the king for me ! Lets see where it takes me and my websites
Rohan Advani recently posted..Top 10 Ways To Flirt With A Woman
Backlinks are indeed important, and social proof is hugely important. That is what I am working on at the moment: figuring out non-gamey ways to produce quality backlinks to my quality content.
Thanks for the post. It sounds like you’ve covered the basics pretty well. =)
Great job with this article. I am new in all this, and trying to make a good website, with my own blog. So this helped me very much understanding the basic of seo. Thank you.
5 stars
Best regards
Thomas Mikkelsen
Thomas Mikkelsen recently posted..Abu Dhabi
those are simple but effective ways to rank high in google. thanks for remanding the basics. i will follow your tips in future.
hari prasad recently posted..Learn c programming– An introduction to C language
Twitter: themoneymission
Yeah, but with regards to backlinks that ‘social proof’ cannot be determined.
Webmasters spend a lot of time finding and commenting / posting on high PR sites with ‘dofollow’
So how can Google tell if the person saying ‘it’s worth the wait’ is the restaurant owner, or a genuine customer? They can’t.
The fact that a webmaster has gone around leaving a URL to his site on a bunch of high PR sites doesn’t say anything at all about the site to Google.
Neil recently posted..APPLE (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares – sell or hold?
Writing for your readers is very important!
Twitter: tech_smasher
Nice tip,i think it is very good idea to reach google page rank in very short time.Thanks for sharing.
Twitter: seojus1
Great post James, SEO is ever so important in this day and age. And if you do not embrace it, the competition sure will…
Twitter: turtlers_com
i think keyword rich quality content is the thing yo missed out !
harshi recently posted..Delete Personal Information From Internet Using DeleteMobile App
Hi James,
“Expose your content in a way that it’s worth linking.†I like that! There have been some writers out there who are creating content for the sake of SEO without minding how the content’s quality actually looks like. The thing here is that the content creation should be done in such a way that the result would be something that would please both the search engines AND the people who are actually going to read the content.
Twitter: nextfly
I think something that I definitely took to heart was my desire to take my time when developing content such as meta tags. It could be really easy put meta tags together, but Google knows quality and smells BS. I took my time when thinking of a meta tag for each page of the site, which is a better strategy to keep on Google’s good side.
Julie recently posted..Super Bowl Ad Teasers Leak Online
Thanks for the fruitful tips really appreciate your points as google algorithms keep on changing the strategies you have published are the exact plan for success
amely hopes recently posted..KENNEDY HEALTH CARE IS IN FULL BLOOM
Twitter: prabhatrayal
hello james,
google has made many changes in its algorithms. but still SEO works. we should take care of titles , meta tags and descriptions. thanks for this post
prabhat recently posted..Best Torrific Alternative : iEatTraffic
Frankly speaking I do not think Attracta or other tools will help you. A real, hard work pays off.
Yes, Content is the king now.Quality content is the key to seo success. Then next is some quality back links from high authority sites. Which work like vote to your website. Also consider to concentrate on anchor text.
Barun recently posted..How to claim blog in technorati
Twitter: @rommysunnyblog
Page title,Tag and description are the most basic recipe and the most efficient one.thanks for elaborating crucial point in ranking in google search results.
Rohan Mod recently posted..High CPC Keywords
Twitter: dcustodian
I’m glad I found out about building backlinks manually as one of the best ways to gain online credence on time. Once high ranking sites see your site has been valuable enough to ink to it, you’re on your way to getting ranked although there will be lots of dofollows too. Thsnks for the post. Now I have a question’ for a blog with zero page views and stats at startup, how many backlinks and daily visitors must it have to move from PR0 to PR1? Can anyone pls give me an idea. Thanks
Twitter: surajramnani
Hi..I got to admit there are a few things here which are quite obvious but i was not following..Thanks for the detailed guide..I will read this carefully once again once im back home from work.
Suraj recently posted..New Tomb Raider movie arriving soon
Google has made so many changes in their alogrithms in the past few years that it is impossible to rank well without good and quality content. So yeah, our no. 1 priority should be to wite quality posts.
Rahul recently posted..15 Killer Ways To bulid Quality Backlinks To Your Blog Instantly
Hey James,
Nice post and Thanks for sharing this post with us. I really like all the points you mentioned above and surely gonna apply them. For ranking well, content is the most important factor and we have to make sure that our content should be original and quality content.
Sudipto recently posted..Best Android Phone Under 10000