Do you know exactly how Google decides what website to put at the top spot of its search results? Do you know how it differentiates between two websites and decides which is better? Do you understand all the factors that lie behind the listings on Google's search results?

Truth be told – no one knows the answers to these questions entirely, except perhaps for the people working for Google itself. Right now, Google's algorithm (i.e. the method that they use to determine what results are displayed) is a closely guarded secret, though some of the factors that are used to determine it have started to show.

Right here and right now, we're going to reveal the factors behind the listings on Google's search results, so that you can understand just how it all ties together!

1. Keywords

Needless to say, keywords play an important role in search engine results (as you would well expect!). Basically, Google tries to return results that are as 'relevant' to the search as possible. Thus if your website is using the keyword in question strategically, it is bound to be deemed more 'relevant'.

2. Backlinks

Right now, almost every other factor seems to have taken a backseat to backlinks. Google uses them a lot in a sort of 'voting' system. Mind you the 'votes' aren't all equal, and indeed it ties in to another concept known as Page Rank (which we'll discuss soon enough!).

End of the day though, Google figures that if one website links to another then it means that they figure that its something worth linking too, i.e. they're 'voting' in favor of the content of that website.

3. Page Rank (PR)

Google's Page Rank is still fairly new-ish, but its certainly grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years. Essentially, Google now categorizes every website in its database with a number from 0 to 10.

That number represents how high an 'authority' the website in question is, and websites that are higher in authority naturally stand a better chance of appearing near the top of search results for any keyword.

Also, backlinks from websites of high authority are a lot more valuable too!

By this time you should have a clear idea of what lies behind the way in which Google determines which website gets the top spot of their rankings. Understanding this process can help you in many ways, not the least of which being that you now know what you need to do yourself to climb Google's ranks!

Dominating Google Adwords can be tough for beginners for a number of reasons, but not the least of which is the simple fact that the standard text advertisements are so small that they don't really leave you with a lot of room in which to convince people to click on your links!

That said, there are lots of people who have tremendously successful advertisements on AdWords, so the one thing that you can say for certain is that it isn't impossible to craft a short advertisement that is still a stunning success. Really, the big question here though is: How?

First and foremost, there's one thing that you need to remember: The headline of your advertisement absolutely must grab attention. Honestly there's no two ways about it. If you want to have a successful ad, then those first few words need to really strike a nerve with readers and get them to sit up and pay attention to what you have to say.

If you can do that, then you at least stand a fighting chance of convincing readers that your advertisement is worth their time. Use every trick that you can think of to grab attention, including things like social proof, i.e. 'Millions Have Learnt Guitar

It would be safe to say that you want your advertisements to operate as smoothly and as effectively as possible, right? Well, if that's the case then buckle up, because we've got a number of tips that are going to give you an extra edge and truly enhance your AdWords effectiveness.

Are you ready to get started? Be sure to pay close attention!

1. Display URL

Normally, the display URL is simply the URL that is going to be shown at the bottom of the advertisement. The destination URL could be quite different – but the display URL is just meant to be there to give readers an idea of where they might be going.

Here's what you need to do with your display URL: Capitalize it!

So, instead of writing 'http://learntomakecakes.com', you'd end up writing 'http://LearnToMakeCakes.com'.

As you should be able to see, the second URL is a lot easier to read than the first, and that will definitely make a difference to the appearance of your advertisement and its general appeal.

2. Use Keywords

If you can, use keywords in the headline or in the body at very least. Google will bold them and make them easier to spot while at the same time dragging attention to your advertisement. Don't repeat the same keyword more than once though, even if it is in the headline and then in the body.

Having the same keyword twice in the same advertisement will probably just make the entire advert look strange.

3. Ask Questions

Speaking to your readers is always a good idea – and the one thing that is actually a step better is to ask them questions.

Did you know that some keywords just happen to be way better at selling products than others? Well – it's true, and it has been proved time and time again, so what you should really be concerned with now is finding out how you can locate these keywords that are practically goldmines waiting to be tapped.

Here's what you'll need to start with: A product name.

It could be any product, but obviously a popular product is going to be best. Something that generates a lot of interest and hype is bound to be talked about here and there, which is going to prove useful for your purposes.

Now let's assume that the product we choose is called Google Killer X. Using that product, imagine if you had a keyword 'google killer x torrent'. If you're not familiar with torrents, they're basically files that are used for file sharing, and most of the people who search of them are looking to download products illegally.

Needless to say, it stands to reason that any keyword with the word 'torrent' at the end is not going to really be very good at selling products as the people searching for it are really just looking for freebies. On the other hand, for keywords like 'buy google killer x', you'd probably find that the conversion rates you obtain are a whole lot higher!

All of this is pretty intuitive – but we need to take things one step further if we want to really be effective. One way to find keywords that have the potential to sell a product well is to look at any problems that people might be having for which your product could be a potential solution.

Recommending something as a solution to a problem is very effective, and so all you need to do is find a problem that Google Killer X has the potential to solve.

Similarly, if it is a really popular product, you could look for keywords that center around the product itself, i.e. problems people have with it, some of its shortcomings, and things of that variety. In this regard, 'Google Killer X is a scam' is a perfectly good keyword to tap into as well!

As you should be able to gather by now, what you're looking for is some avenue by which you can tap into an already present interest for the product in question.

Searching for keywords can be a laborious process, but if you approach it in this way, you'll find that it is certainly a lot easier than going over reams and reams of keywords just looking at the popularity vs. competition figures.

And, as should be pointed out, this method is a lot more effective to boot!

Trying to find keywords to tap into Google is great – but it can be a very trying endeavor and more often than not you're bound to find that all the 'good' keywords are already taken and have tons and tons of competition.

Does this mean you should give up? Of course not! Truth be told there are still a lot of untapped keywords out there that are popular and useful enough for you to take advantage of. All that you need to do is try a little harder, and start to focus in the right areas!

That brings us to: Long tail keywords.

In a nutshell, long tail keywords simply mean keywords that are more than 3 words in length. On the other hand, short tail keywords are keywords that are 3 words or less in length.

As an example, the keyword 'make money online' is a short tail keyword, whereas the keyword 'make money online with affiliate marketing' is a long tail keyword. See what the difference between them is?

Basically, a keyword that is longer is probably going to be searched for less. Generally speaking, people tend to use keywords that are as short and to the point as possible. However, on occasion there are long phrases that are used simply because they're the best way of encompassing what you want to find.

These particular kind of long tail keywords tend to have very good popularity, but because they're so long, chances are they've been overlooked by others who are carrying out keyword research and thus can be an amazing opportunity!

Bear in mind that the longer the keyword, the more targeted it is probably going to be, and you can use this to your advantage as well if you're smart enough!

By looking for long tail keywords that target your niche (and/or product) as specifically as possible, you'll be gaining a profitable avenue of traffic that is highly targeted. Also, others aren't very likely to stumble onto your newfound long tail keyword, so you could be profiting from the keywords that you find for a lot longer than otherwise.

Bear in mind though – finding keywords is really just the first step. Even once you've found some amazingly profitable, high popularity and low competition long tail keywords, you then need to know just how to use them within your content so that you can gain the results that you desire.

Take care with your keyword research – it could be one of the most important aspects of your efforts to make a killing from Google itself!

Dominating Google is a goal that most webmasters and marketers share. Why wouldn't they? After all, Google represents the single largest source of traffic on the planet and anyone who is able to tap into that is bound to be also able to make a killing – so long as they can find some way to monetize all that traffic!

Due to this simple fact, the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) craze is hard to avoid. It is tough to not want to do everything humanly possible to get higher up on Google's rankings, and therefore get more traffic. However, the question that few people pause to ask is: Is SEO really all that important to Google anyway?

If you were to pause and look at it from Google's point of view for a second, you'd see that it is just as mixed a view as any other. On one hand, what Google wants is to be able to provide the people using their search engine with the most relevant results to their search, i.e. it wants to help them find what they want to find.

But on the other hand, certain aspects of SEO are necessary for Google to identify websites and categorize them properly.

Still, the fact of the matter is that search algorithms can change, and have changed, fairly often. There's nothing to say that tomorrow keywords will be a thing of the past and there'll be some new algorithm that doesn't use them in the same way as they're currently used. Already things such as 'LSI' exist, and it's only a matter of time until technology provides a more adequate solution.

For now, SEO is important, yes, but what is more important is the fact that if you build a website that truly deserves to be on search engine results, it is probably going to be there regardless of any algorithm change. However, if you just take advantage of the latest SEO craze to rocket your website to the top, it may not last very long at all.

There's no harm in using SEO properly, to ensure that your website gets ranked decently. However, it would be wise to stay away from the 'frowned upon' aspects of SEO (such as link farms and so on) just because they're simply temporary measures that aren't going to provide you with any clear cut benefits.

Keep providing good content and you'll find that search engines actually want you to be listed on their results – which is the best possible position for you to be in, honestly. As long as search engines want your website around, it is going to be around.

Here's the problem: Pretty much everyone knows that Google can be used to generate huge amounts of traffic. That much is instinctual seeing as Google itself commands such a large share of the search engine traffic as a whole.

But the problem that most beginners have is that the 'instinctual' part of marketing using Google pretty much ends there. For someone with no prior marketing background, actually coming up with a strategy that fully capitalizes on the potential that Google has to offer is difficult, at very least.

Honestly though, it isn't that tough to get accustomed to the standard marketing strategy, and the first thing that you need to look for is simple: An opportunity.

Bear in mind that an opportunity doesn't just mean that you see the potential to sell something. Admittedly, finding the right product is crucial to an opportunity, but you not only need a good product – you also need to have an avenue by which you can publicize it.

In other words, you need a product, and you need keywords that you can use to get that product to appear somewhere on the front pages of Google's search results for those keywords!

Naturally, you'll also need a website, or some site that you can actually push to the front of these search results.

For most beginners, the easiest way to locate a product is to head over to affiliate marketplaces such as the one at Clickbank. There, you'll find yourself able to choose from a huge variety of products that span a massive amount of niches.

After that, all that you need to do is optimize your site using keywords and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques so that it gets noticed by Google and begins to scale the ranks of its listings.

Also, you'll want to optimize your site so that it can effectively convince as many of your visitors as humanly possible that they want to buy the product in question.

If you can sort all this out, you'll find that you have a source of traffic, a fully optimized website designed to sell a product, and the product itself. That already forms the foundation of your marketing strategy when using Google.

Naturally, this strategy is fairly basic and can be improved upon in a variety of ways, and you may find that you want to expand your site to include additional products, a blog, or maybe even a forum.

Frankly, the sky is the limit – but so long as you sort out the basics of your strategy you'll find that you're able to do exactly what you desire: Start to market a product using the power of Google!

One of the main reasons why few people manage to tap into Google convincingly is that they simply don't grasp the very basic concept that is at the center of all search engines: Keywords.

Without understanding this concept, you're going to find that most of your efforts to scale search engine rankings amount to nothing, as keywords really cannot be ignored. That being said, right here and now we're going to introduce you to keywords and look at how you can use them to get Google's full and undivided attention.

For starters, a keyword (or key phrase) is simply a word or phrase that is used to search online. As such 'make money online' is a keyword, as is 'start making money online', 'online home businesses', and so on. Practically anything and everything could be a keyword really – so don't worry too much about it right now.

What is important is that you realize that certain phrases are used more often than others. For example, the phrase 'make money online' is undoubtedly going to be searched for a lot more often than 'real and good ways to make money online right now'. Few people would search for the latter, while many would search for the former.

As such, if your website appears for a search on 'make money online' it is going to be getting more exposure than if it appeared on a search for 'real and good ways to make money online right now'.

On the flipside though, because it is such a popular phrase, you're going to have a lot of competition if you're vying for a space on the search engine results for 'make money online'.

Both of these concepts: Popularity and competition, form the core of what you need to understand about keywords.

Essentially, Google is going to try to match your website based on the keywords that it contains with the keywords that are being searched for. So if your website has no mention of 'make money online', chances are you're never going to appear on the results for that search.

So as you should see, it is important that you 'target' the right keywords for your website to appear on, and that is the connection between Google and keywords. If you're able to find highly popular keywords that have little competition to speak of, you'll be able to gather as much traffic as you could ever desire.

Head over to a keyword research tool (such as Google's) and try looking up keywords for yourself to see what we mean. As you'll notice very quickly, keyword research can be a pretty tough process – but the rewards are certainly worth it if it enables you to fully tap into traffic from Google!

Finding keywords is easy. Finding 'good' keywords however is a whole different ball game.

Unfortunately, most popular keywords inevitably end up having a lot of competition. After all – everyone wants to cash in on the most popular keywords out there, right? Certainly, it should come as no surprise to you that a keyword such as 'make money online' has tons and tons of competition.

However, even looking at the slightly less popular keywords, you'll find that there are a lot of them out there that have quite a bit of competition. What you need to realize though is that it doesn't really matter how much competition a certain keyword has.

What matters is the quality of that competition.

For example, if your competition is made up of 'high authority' websites such as those from government bodies, Wikipedia, and so on, then sure, you're probably going to never beat those websites.

On the flipside, some terms that have 500,000 results end up with a top result that really doesn't even match the keyword fully, doesn't have a high Page Rank, and isn't really all that great at all.

In such a situation, you'll undoubtedly be able to surpass that site with ease!

Being able to analyze the competition that you come up against on Google is going to be a very important asset as it will allow you to differentiate between the quality of the competition that you're up against, and determine how easily you could overcome them.

Whenever you're looking at the competition that you face, check out the top 5 or top 10 results. What do they consist of? Are there forum posts in there? Article directories? Or are most of the listings all from PR4 or higher websites?

If most of the listings are from high authority websites then you might want to just not bother. However, if there are a few 'lesser' listings there then you'll find that while getting the top spot might be impossible, you could still end up edging into the 9th or 10th place on the listings!

So long as you're on the front page, you're going to be getting a lot of exposure, and so 9th or 10th is really pretty good in the long run.

Keep looking at the competition for various keywords and soon enough you'll find that you develop a feel for this kind of thing. Once you reach that stage, you won't even have to consciously analyze the competition, but instead you'll find that you do it automatically every time you stare at Google's results.

Remember: There's no point trying to bite off more than you can chew! Keep your expectations reasonable, and be sure to capitalize on what you know you can!

Once you have a website up and running, you'll undoubtedly want it to get ranked on Google as quickly as possible. After all, the sooner your website gets ranked and listed, the sooner you'll start to actually get the kind of traffic that you desire.

To accomplish this, there are a number of methods that you could try, and some of the best ones out there are the following:

1. Pinging

Pinging basically involves sending pings to various search engines and services letting them know that your website exists and that they should send bots to crawl all over it as soon as possible. There are lots of pinging services out there so just pick one and go with it!

2. Social bookmarking

Not only are social bookmarks a huge source of backlinks, but social bookmarking sites are practically crawling with bots and if your website link appears on one at least one or two bots are bound to follow it back and crawl all over your website as well. Naturally there are services that can help you bookmark to multiple social bookmarks with less effort, so be sure to take advantage of them.

3. Blog commenting

Going to popular blogs (that are probably teeming with search engine bots) and commenting while including your link is one of the easiest ways to get listed. All in all it'll probably take you something like 5 minutes to actually do this, and so there's really no reason not to at least try it!

4. Forum posting

Similar to what we just mentioned about blogs, posting on a forum with a link is another surefire way to boost your chances of getting ranked on search engines. Be sure to stick by the rules of the forum though – you don't want to get banned as part of your efforts.

5. Directory submission

Last but not least, directory submissions used to be one of the most popular ways to gain backlinks until some search engines started cracking down on 'link farms' and the like. Nowadays, if you're going to submit your website to directories be sure that you're submitting it to reputable ones.

Try out these 5 methods and you should find that getting your website listed on Google isn't really tough at all.

Once it's up, you can then start to work on climbing those rankings until you finally occupy that much-vaunted top spot for the keywords of your choice. By that time you'll probably have more than enough traffic – but then again