The Coolest Guy in the World

I just found this video at ColledgeHumor from a Google search and thought ..... I have to get a post up about this vid. This guy isn't just a great skater, he seems to be the coolest at every trick in the book.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

I decided to run a test. The results may surprise you.

The below graph is a screenshot in Alexa of the top two results for the natural Google search term of "Coolest Guy in the World". Number one is my arch-nemesis "Brad Fallon" (nah, not really, he is a really cool guy and well deserved of that number one spot). The second was the CollegeHumor website with the awesome video.

While Brads site generates high traffic it is barely a blip on the radar (that slight bump between Oct 12 and Oct 19) in comparison to CollegeHumor.

It just goes to show, you don't need massive traffic to be the number one on Google for your given search terms. You just need grab a good SEO book and build up a growing list of backlinks. Relevance will beat high traffic any day.

I know it's a bit like comparing apples from oranges as most of the traffic from CollegeHumor comes from many different sources. e.g. coming from a completely unrelated link and finding the video from the site.

But what would be more beneficial to your site? Higher rankings in the search engines or more actual traffic? For example, what if I was to leave a comment under the Coolest guy in the World video saying "That was awesome! Kind of reminds me of this video ** insert obvious link to my own site with embedded YouTube clip here **".

That comment could potentially send thousands of new visitors from a high traffic site to your own.

All is fair in love and Search Engine Optimization, so find that balance of getting to the top of Google (plus the other search engines) AND getting the traffic to your site from other sources.

Remember, you may be number one on Google today but you may not be there tomorrow ;)

Re-writing the book of cool!

Well, it's been about a month since my last blog post. I have been busy working with some great clients on improving their online presence.

Thought it was time to do a quick Google search to see if Google has dumped me yet.

In Australia today it is the famous Melbourne Cup, got a place bet with "Crime Scene" who came second. Shame it didn't come in first as it had 40:1 odds!

..... Oh, sorry. Went off track there for a while, but what I was trying to explain was why Google's logo has all of the pretty hats! Now when I first started this experiment, their were no predictive results from Google. That was why I decided to go for these exact keywords. Now it shows 412,000 results.The results speak for themselves. This blog is ranked number one for the search term "Coolest Guy on Google". Coming in second is the Facebook group I set up for the Coolest Guy on Google. And in third place .... yes, me again. My Hubpage for the Coolest Guy on Google.

I believe one of the contributing factors to my success is due to my Twitter account which has a backlink to this blog. For someone who is as anti-social as myself, I have really taken to all forms of social media like a duck to water.

this has probably made me even less sociable, opting to send messages via Facebook rather than visiting them in person.

I am addicted to finding new apps and widgets to expand my social profiles. Do a Google search for "jezhug" and you will see what I mean. 1,700 results at the time of this posting! But they all serve a purpose. Everyone of them has a backlink to this blog or some other site I am promoting.

The "jezhug" Google search is a great back linking example. Why? Because jezhug is not a word. It is simply a unique nickname I picked for myself for internet use. All links with the word "jezhug" were created by me or are byproducts of my excessive internet use!

Any of the sites listed on page one are GOLD! I have set up many links, the good ones rise to the top of the search engines while the weaker ones slowly move down the list.

These page one sites are great backlinks, and if you don't set up profiles at these sites with a link to your own site, then be prepared to hand over your search engine listing spot to to someone that will ;)

Creating Quality backlinks

It has been almost a month since my last post. In the last day or so Google has completely flicked me from the top of the list for the natural search term "Coolest Guy on Google".

So, who is the coolest guy on Google?

Still me! Two of my back links set up to get greater rankings have taken first and second place. One is a hubpage article explaining my bizarre journey to become the "Coolest Guy on Google" and the other one is a Facebook fan club I set up for the "Coolest Guy on Google".

The only reason I set them up was to get quality back links leading to my site. Now, the number one listing I had was the http://jezhug.blogspot.com/ address not the http://coolestguyongoogle.com/ domain name, which currently is just forwarding though Godaddy to the blogspot blog.

I have no doubt that when I finally finish my free content and get my new site up I will be straight to the top of the list with the large quality of backlinks I have set up.

So how do you find good quality back links? I have a secret that I want to let you in on.

Hubpages is an excellent source for awesome back links regardless of your sites content. Allow me to demonstrate...
I do a Google search and put in my keywords, e.g. "coolest guy on google" followed by "site:hubpages.com". This brings up the best Google ranked hubpages on your keywords.

I am a hubpage member, but for this exercise you don't need to be, in fact make sure you are logged out if you are a member.

Scroll down to the bottom and put in the link you wish to promote, then some flattering comment, as below.
After posting you should be able to refresh the page and see your comment. Your name will be hyper linked with the back link to your site. Some Hubbers set their comments to be moderated for approval first, so I find nice comments are your best option rather than slagging off their article! The end result ...
There you go. It has two major benefits, it makes someone feel great about the article they have worked hard to create and has given you one very high quality back link. Google loves Hubpages! How else would it have it taken my number one position (temporarily!).

I usually repeat this for the first couple of Google result pages to get the maximum amount of free quality back links. And I did it all without having to request for them or have one of those ugly link exchange banners at the bottom of my site.

Oh, I know it says under the part where you submit your comment not to use it to promote sites, but I promise not to tell if you don't. ;)

Overlooking the obvious

All my work on building profiles and I forget the most obvious profile of all!

Google.

It wouldn't be fair of me to be the Coolest Guy on Google and not have a Google profile now, would it?

http://www.google.com/profiles/jezhug

With Google profiles, you can add as many of your websites as you want!

What does this mean? Back links! Beautiful, beautiful, back links, leading back to your website.

Now, because it is a Google profile, I feel it will be included in Google's search engine in no time at all.

Time will tell though. Will keep you posted.