Google uses PageRank to rank your pages. To maximize your rank, you must understand how to work with it.

Page rank is defined as follows:

We assume page A has pages T1...Tn which point to it (i.e., are citations). The parameter d is a damping factor which can be set between 0 and 1. We usually set d to 0.85. There are more details about d in the next section. Also C(A) is defined as the number of links going out of page A. The PageRank of a page A is given as follows:

PR(A) = (1-d) + d (PR(T1)/C(T1) + ... + PR(Tn)/C(Tn))

Note that the PageRanks form a probability distribution over web pages, so the sum of all web pages' PageRanks will be one.

The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine (Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page, founders of Google)

To conform to the PageRank algorithm follow these steps:

1. Get inbound links to your website

Google ranks your pages according to the number of links pointing at your page. Try to get as many links pointing at your pages as possible.

2. Your Title Tag

The title of your page is important. Place a descriptive title to you HTML tags in the section of your web page. Do not leave it with a title like "New Page", or “untitled”.

3. Content-Laden Pages (Keyword Density)

Use more of your keyword on your pages. Be focused on your content. It has often been observed that Google considers keyword density a large factor in ranking pages in search engine results, more so than many other search engines.

4. Keyword-laden Links?

Insert more description on links to your website. For example, a link with the text "Cheap Medical Store" pointing at your site will cause your site to be listed earlier if a visitor searches for "cheap medical store" than if the link simply said "click here".

5. ALT tags on Images

Place description on images. Add ALT tags to achieve this on images. Google indexes the text given in the ALT tags of images.

6. Use the

The Google Toolbar is an ActiveX control that installs into IE, and shows the Page Rank of any page that you visit. The toolbar can be obtained from http://toolbar.google.com/. If you use Internet Explorer, you can get an idea of what Google thinks of how important your site is in general, by downloading the Google Toolbar.

7. Others

Good Google Search Engine Optimization looks at over 100 items, but here are some of the major items that Google analyses on web pages:

• Words in Headings
  

• Words in Bold
  

• More weight is given to first 25 words of text on a page
  

• Words in URL
  

• Having more than 250 words on a page helps.
  

• Phrases used to describe pictures.
  

• Other major items covered on separate pages here. . .
  

• DMOZ listing, PageRank, Back Links.
  

• Google may also penalize for having too much repetition, or by "Spamming" them.
  

If it looks like you are trying to "trick" Google, then there is a chance you may penalized by Google. You must follow good practices.

8. Advice

• Concentrate on a niche that isn't too big.
  

• Think about the keywords that you should use.
  

• Make a site map so that it's easy to get to all your pages.
  

• Target the audience. Find out who should know about your site.
  

• Be creative in marketing your site. Newsletters are a must.
  

• Steer clear of any tricks like hidden text/links, sneaky redirects, etc.
  

• Add a page of content a day to your site.
  

Brian Daniels (sales@xcelweb.com) is the founder of http://www.xcelweb.com, a company dedicated to online Internet Marketing and Web Design. He has just released a new Ebook dedicated to Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation.