If I Was Google, I’d Put These Coaching Websites to the Top

You just have to step into Google’s shoes to see how and why certain websites will show up to the top.

The thinking goes like this –> In order for Google to survive, it needs to deliver value to its users who are searchers like you and I.

We search for things like how to fix a bicycle flat or gluten-free chocolate cake recipes, and if Google gets us that info fast, easily and from quality sources (good info), we’re happy.

If Google failed to do so, we would stop using Google.

This is why you don’t hear much about Yahoo anymore, which used to be the top search engine. Yahoo grew from a search engine into a web portal (huh?) and became cluttered and confusing and their search service didn’t grow and improve, at least not as fast as Google, which was purely focused on search.

And so, to keep the searchers happy, what kind of websites should show up first as we enter our keywords?

If I knew nothing about search engines, I would say these three qualities are most important for websites to show up at the top …

Quality 1. Websites that are highly related to what I’m searching for.

Back in the day, with a few simple tricks you could get your website about Britney Spears or Deadliest Animal Attacks to the top, even if someone was searching for a business coach. Eeeps!!!

Quality 2. Websites that are trustworthy, credible, real and legit.

I don’t want to see junk content from websites that are stuffed with keywords or poorly organized content or just garbage information  – which are essentially those trashy websites that aren’t backed by anyone with any authenticity or authority.

Quality 3. Websites that work.

These are ones that open up fast, are easy to use, easy to navigate, easy to read and just really give me what I want.

Logical, right?

Google wants to serve the end user, the searcher, and so Google will give those people the best webpages for the keyword terms they enter in.

Google wants to make its users happy to keep coming back – and they do.

A few easy things you can do right away, without being a techie, to improve your website’s ranking on search engines.

Thing 1. Know the terms you want to be found for.

Use phrases like …

• business coach,
• marketing coach,
• relationship coach

… and get those words into your pages without making them messy (hard-to-read pages turn off your visitors, reduce your conversions, and get you penalized in the eyes of search engines).

Here are more keyword sources for coaching websites.

Pointer 2. Make sure your website opens up insanely fast.

Try the free tool at pingdom.com to test your speed. Websites that take forever to open up, will lose people. And search engines like Google will see it.

One big culprit of slow loading pages is big images. Learn how to optimize webpage images for fast downloading.

Pointer 3. Get backlinks.

These are links FROM other websites to yours, not the other way around.

Some easy ways to do this include posting your website to online profiles like your coaching school, any directories like Noomii or the free coaching directory by my friend EG Sebastian, or article websites you submit content to like Medium.com.

And even though I’m armed with a lot more knowledge about getting high rankings on search engines, I would still use these three-pointers because they are the biggest hammers and strongest nails.

I would still focus on the biggest-bang-for-your-buck efforts to improve search rankings simple because it’s the best use of my time and energy.

They would be creating good content on my subject, building my credibility with links from another trust-worthy website, and making my website work well from a technical and usable standpoint. 

Many of the other things I could do will take a lot more time and bring smaller gains. Why not spend another on another great blog post that builds content and credibility instead of some technical step that will take me a long time to figure out, like how combining external Javascript files work to make my website .05 seconds faster?

If your coaching business is selling millions in digital products with tens of thousands of visitors each month, then shaving half a second off your page load would add up. Is that you?

Bringing it home …

The take-home point here is to remember, that Google wants to serve the end user, the searcher. So, your job is to do the same with your website so that Google will be happy to put you above the rest.

Oh, and once you get those people to your website, you’ll want to make sure your content is good – that it engages, excites and generates leads for you. I wrote about that in The Coaching Website Guide, which I’m sure is sitting at your bedside table!

Wuddya think? Post below.

I love hearing from readers, coaches, and thinkers all around the world. What’s coming to mind for you? Just post below and I’ll respond, typically in a day or two.

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