First, let me say this. The people at Google are constantly tuning their search engine to do the absolute best job of finding what people are searching for. That sounds simple, but go back and read it again. It’s a huge clue. Yes, there are certain design techniques and some tricks you can try to get your site ranked higher in the search results pages, but never forget that Google’s goal is to deliver  the BEST and MOST RELEVANT content to it’s searchers. I think many people overlook this, and focus on the technicalities of getting ranked better instead of focusing on providing excellent content.

Secondly, the ranking of your site depends on some things you can control and some things you cannot. It does help to have your site be standards compliant. You cannot control how many competitors are selling the same product/service in your area. The more saturated your market is, the harder it is to stand out.

One huge thing you should understand is that Google’s current algorithm for ranking a site is based heavily on what sites link to it (and how those referring sites are ranked). That means if your site is linked to from the likes of CNN, Fox News, and Drudge Report, then chances are, your Google PageRank is higher. Google is guessing that the amount of traffic coming from more trusted sources is a good indicator that you’ve got something worth of seeing. Even cross linking with lesser websites can help.

Finally, I’ll say this. You may have to wait awhile, invest time in blogging/arranging links, and writing good content. The fact is your site still may never show up where you want it to. Just remember, being ranked in Google organically is FREE and they will rank you as they see fit.

There’s always paid marketing in the sponsored section of Google if you must be at the top. You’ll just pay some, but does that really surprise you? I’ll take some time to explain search engine marketing in a little more depth later.