Getting Noticed on Google - By Ben Norman. Get To Number 1 on Google - His More Recent Book

Buy this one - the latest version.

Getting Noticed on Google

I bought this version and kept it. Though dated, it is packed with information.

I started in web design and taught it to some classes. I moved to blogging because I grew tired of fixing files and uploading them, fixing them again, uploading and saying "Oh no!"

Google Blogger is ideal for me, because I can change the settings in the template, using my web design experience. More importantly, what I post goes directly into the Google search engine - content, images, and links.

The point is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which has become a field by itself. What matters in SEO? Answer - everything. Many things are overlooked.

• Honesty. The search engine knows when it is being spoofed, such as using words to attract readers, even though the words are not relevant to the blog or the post.
• Title of the blog. Many find this blog with one to three words. Ichabod, or Ichabod the Glory
• Titles of posts. The wording becomes part of the search.
• Google labels. As Dr. Bruce Church told me, I needed to use more labels, because Google uses them to aid in searches.
• Bold face. Google notices when text is in bold face.
• Names of graphic files. The file name identifies the picture for Google, so searches for that person or place is associated with that image.
• Captions. The captions are associated with the graphic. That is why you can search for FDR and get many photographs of him, Try searching for Marvin Schwan - almost nothing.
• Links. Google was the first search engine to focus on active links, so every link contirbutes to SEO, and linked captions have their own magic.
• Frequency. Those who blog regularly are noticed by Google, which interprets fresh material as interesting to its users.
• Graphics. I began with a rule - one graphic will head each post. I generally use more than one for each one. Many of my searches begin with Google Images, which can find articles that evade me on a traditional web search. 

I do not mind sharing my methods, because very few will even try to catch up with my blogging volume. I am blessed to be able to make a living sitting at my computer, so I get to teach what I do, and blog about what I teach.

Prying open the secrets of Ichabod SEO
12,644 posts. 
3,510,000 total views.
3,000 views per day.

1. I blog every day, if at all possible, starting very early in the morning. Since one reader looks for a new post three times a day, I try to add posts for each part of the day. The Icha-peekers like to find a new one at midnight, so I try to find something newsworthy.
2. I use Norma Boeckler's Biblical graphics, because I am one of many fans of her work.
3. Asked by a reader to provide sticky posts, I add them to the left column to feature various topics. It makes navigation easier. 
4. I often write for one reader at a time.
5. If I have a group of worthwhile posts related to one topic, I post a page with those links, so someone can easily find out as much as possible about that topic. Labels help that kind of search, too.
6. I link worthwhile blogs--which are few--so I can read them easily at various times, keep up with their ideas, and share them with readers.
7. Cat graphics are very popular, so I use them whenever I can, relevant or not.
8. Baby graphics are also popular.
9. I create Photoshops when I have the chance.
10. If someone complains about something on Ichabod, I increase that very thing - Sassy posts, funny graphics, baby pictures, recent Luheran arrests, the facts about SynCon leaders.
11. I post the text of every sermon. Ever wonder why the Jeske Mob only uses audio? They do not want people to figure out their plagiarism, as many did in the past. Parlow is a good example.
12. When opponents make spelling or grammatical mistakes, I add a (sic). They complain bitterly about this, so I am quite diligent about it. When friendly readers make similar mistakes, I fix them without mentioning it. This also drives the Jeske Mob nuts, so I continue to do it.
13. The lists of most popular posts can be found - all time, for the month, last week - at the bottom of the page. Popularity begets more popularity. The two most popular (all-time) are Lutheran quotations. This blog is all about Augsburg Confession doctrine, justification by faith and repudiation of UOJ, its crafts and assaults. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
14. I try to post a Luther sermon for each week.
15. I quote opponents' nasty little statements about me or the blog, whether found on their websites or Facebook. I also link them.
16. Whenever people get especially nasty and make the worst possible personal attacks, against me or my wife and children, I rejoice. That only proves they have no argument, no defense for their false doctrine, their crude and obnoxious behavior, deceit and greed.
17. I encourage blogging because issues need to be aired. The Colonial leaders of America used pamphlets as their blogs. One essay kept America in the fight for freedom from Britain's cruel domination. "These are the times that try men's souls..." 
18. Chemnitz said it best, "These are the last days of an insane, old world."