Google Page Ranking

[Dog-amoto]

Does anybody know anything about what determines page rank? I was under the impression that incoming links and the age of the website are the main factors.

 

Currently, my page rank is 0, but loads of other small driving school sites are the same.

 

However, this competitor website has recently sprung up and it's already near the top of page one.

 

http://www.pass withlee.com (please can you type it in to the address bar without the space so the owner of the site doesn't find this post)

 

I checked it out, and it has a google page rank of 2 - that's why it's doing so well. But looking at the google backlinks, there's nothing really special there. According to my statistics, I have no google backlinks, but 555 yahoo ones. I am using this site to check statistics. N-E is ranked 5.

 

The site looks like it has been professionally designed (even though it's got music which is a big no-no in my opinion) but how the hell has it managed to get a page ranking of 2 so quickly?

 

Currently, if you google "driving instructor bolton" then I come up on page two. On yahoo, I am on page one, but no-one really uses yahoo.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks

[Cube]

First of all, if you don't already use it then you need to use Google Webmaster Tools. I can't remember what I did, but lots of internal links and using this to improve page searches and whatnot helps - Go to Google UK and search for PC Software. The site I used to work for (SaverSoftware) is still at number 1. Number 2 for "PC software store" for some reason (CompUSA is the top spot).

 

I used a random pagerank checker and his site has loads of keywords. That may help.

[Dog-amoto]

Hi Cube,

 

Thanks for the quick reply. What do you mean by loads of keywords? How do I check this and how do I check my own?

 

I've included the words "driving, lessons, instructor, bolton, bury" quite a lot in my homepage, and have lots of internal links from one page to another in my site.

 

Is that what you meant, or is there another way of checking keywords?

 

Sorry for the noobish questions!!

[Cube]

I used http://www.googlepagerankchecker.com/ It's a simple one, but it brings up keywords and stuff.

[Ten10]

Yeah cube is right, its all down to meta tags etc. That other driving school probably got someone in to do all their Search engine optimisation.

 

How has lee done it?

 

Most likely because in the key words he's added the names of other popular driving schools, common search terms which helps his page get views when people search for those even if it has nothing to do with him.

Here is Lee's keywords

<meta name="keywords" content="driving school, bolton, little hulton, walkden, manchester, instructor, driving lesson, driving test, theory test, learn to drive, pass plus, first time drivers, one hour lesson, special offers, block bookings, nervous, bsm, bill plant, licence, hazard." />
<meta name="robots" content="index,follow" />

 

And here is what you have:

 

<meta name="keywords" content="driving instructor, driving lessons, bolton, bury, pass plus, learner" />

 

That is why he wins

[Kirkatronics]

The official BSM site uses these

<meta name="keywords" content="Driving test, driving instructor training, learning to drive, driving lessons, driving school, instructor lesson, BSM Franchise." />

This is what the AA uses

<meta name="keywords" content="driving lessons, driving school, driving instructor, driving lesson, driving test, theory test, online driving theory test, learn to drive, pass plus, practical driving test, AA driving school, become a driving instructor, driving instructor training London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff" />

 

Id also suggest you submit your site here http://www.driving-schools-directory.co.uk/

Theyre quite high in google, so the link back is worth more.

[Ike]

The way page rank works (I believe) is it depends on the rank of the websites that link to you. So you need to get your link on a lot of websites with high page rankings. Of course improving your SEO wouldn't hurt. Also use Google's web master tools and upload a sitemap, that should help.

[Shorty]

Meta tags are actually far less important than they used to be since they have been largely abused. Many search engines don't even crawl by meta tag keywords anymore, although the description and robot settings are still important. Links in, and key words in key places in your layout are far more important to getting a higher result. Submitting a sitemap to google webmaster tools is a good idea too. Specialists in SEO can improve your site for google results.

 

Also register your business with google maps, so that it appears in the map at the top of google results if people search for "driving instructor (your town)".

Edited May 15, 2009 by Shorty

[Dog-amoto]

Hi guys,

 

Thanks for all the tips, but I have done pretty much all of the stuff that you have suggested. Apart from linking to that particular driving school directory, which I have submitted my site to.

 

I was once in the first page of google maps, but now that has gone - no idea how to get it back up there, I think they just randomly change the layout.

 

Also, I know what you mean by meta description, but how do you change/set the robot settings?

 

I've done ok getting my site to page 2, as six months ago, I don't think it was even on the first 10 pages. But I am just looking for people to cast their eye over my site and see if they can suggest some other ideas.

 

Thanks again!