If you know anything about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) you will know how keeping your site updated with quality content and ensuring lots of relevant sites link to you can help you rank at the top of the search results pages.

There are however literally hundreds of other perfectly ethical techniques that can be used to promote your site to the top of the search engines. One in particular that I wish to talk about now is TrustRank, the name given to Google’s evaluation of how authoritative a site is.

This ‘TrustRank’ in some ways is the aspect of your site that you have the least control over, in that you can’t really manipulate it. The process can’t be sped up as much is dependant of the length of time the website has been live on the domain name. Also, your site is either trustworthy or not; Google either wants to show you off to its friends and hold your hand in public or it doesn’t.

That said it isn’t overly difficult to become friends with the most popular boy on the internet. You just have to laugh at the things Google laughs at and play the games Google likes to play. If you are a reasonably serious minded kind of person, you will probably be doing that anyway.

It’s all about quality, the better the information your site provides and the greater the use it is to users the higher Google wants you in the search results. Unfortunately with over 8 Billion websites indexed by Google, very few sites can be reviewed by human editors. So you are reliant on tweaking your site so Google’s mathematical algorithm thinks you are a safe bet.

For starters you don’t want to be seen with un-cool friends or with the same clothes as someone else. So make sure the websites you link to are relevant to your sites content and are high quality, you’re judged by the company you keep you know. Also, ensure your content is unique and useful as well as containing your keywords so Google can tell what your site is about. If your site is about ‘Web Design in Essex’ then repeat the keywords web, design, Essex throughout your text... see!

Quick fly by night tactics don’t work on the internet, Google remembers and it will take you along time and a lot of money to undo the damage caused by one silly mistake. SEO is a long game; you need established links into your site from quality and relevant sites, unique and useful content and a website that has been running for a year or two before you will be taken seriously.

Once you have established a decent TrustRank with Google, things get easier and you will find your site gets preferential treatment, which means great rankings!