Since I have been doing this Search Engine Optimization thing for quite some time now, I was amazed that this was the most direct way to get indexed.  I say this because I installed Google Analytics, signed up with Google Webmaster Tools, and submitted an XML Google friendly Site Map and there was no indexation by Google.  These are a lot of signals that I provided to Google and yet they did not pick up on them.  So let that be a lesson, if you want to be indexed quickly, submit your site directly to Google. Another interesting fact is that one of the fields that you are able to fill out when submitting your is labeled “comments”.  This indicates to me that someone, a real human and not a bot is actually looking over your submission.  Can you imagine how many submissions they get a day or even a week.   I can only imagine what that job would be like.

Linkbuilding Slowly Begins

The other thing I did was sign up and submit my site to Blog Catalog.  I thought this would be a great initial start in building good backlinks to this site.  This was easy and free to do, which is great.  So if anybody is out there is starting a blog, I would recommend this site and others similar to it to build good backlinks.  Another great benefit for this can be seen in the search engine results page for the search of  “Janesville SEO”.  I currently rank 1, 2, and technically 3.  I say this because my listing on Blog Catalog is in the 3rd spot.

Ranking Results Are In

So in a short while I have obtained the top 3 spots for 1 main keyword I am focusing my rankings on.  The other keyword of choice at the moment is “Janesville Search Engine Optimization”  I am not doing as well there, yet!  Currently I am number 10 (Blog Catalog) and number 15 for janesvilleseo.com.  I am sure within a short period of time I will obtain top rankings for these keywords.  The best thing I have in my favor is my domain name.  Keep that in mind if you have a local service and are in need of a new website/domain.  Get one with the key + city if you can.

What Have I Done Thus Far

I have covered all of the basics:

• Signing up for a Google Analytics account
• Submitting the site to Google Webmasters Tools
• Submitting a XML sitemap to Google through Webmaster Tools

What Are The Next Steps

If we keep the two major tenants of SEO in mind, Content and Links, then those have to be the next steps.  As we speak I am continuing to add content to this site.  In the coming weeks and months I hope to not only document my journey to top rankings for the keywords Janesville SEO and Janesville Search Engine Optimization, but also write about other search marketing news and tactics and try to to apply them on a local level here in Janesville, WI.

In terms of building links, I will start with blog directories and local directories.  This tends to be a great starting point for new websites.  By adding to local and topical directories it not only tells Google and the other search engines what you are about, but it can help speed up the process of getting indexed.

I will keep you all posted as to when I get indexed within Google, as well as, Yahoo and Bing.  My guess is that Google will be first and within the next couple of days with Yahoo and Bing to follow shortly.