There's certainly no lack of online articles, advice, banter and blogs about SEO and top Google ranking.  This is one of them.

What makes this one a little different is that it’s about a few simple things you as a small business owner can do to improve your Google ranking, without having a degree in geek-speak, coding HTML, meta tags, or keyword density.

Google gives a lot of weight to what’s referred to as Link Popularity, and it’s exactly what you’d guess it is – it’s a measure of how many other websites link to yours.  The formula is simple; the more websites that post your link, the better.  And the more popular (lots of traffic) and relevant (related to your business) those websites are, the better.

For example, let’s say you’re a local architectural firm.  If you had an article published on ArchitecturalDigest.com, complete with a link to your website, Google would weigh that very highly. They’re both very popular and very relevant to your business.  Other links, like a listing on the local chamber of commerce, an association website, or a list of expo participants all contribute to your Link Popularity in varying degrees.  Even low-popularity websites help, as long as they’re relevant. Relevancy is the most important part, followed by popularity.  Getting a link on a bunch of ‘link farm’ hodge-podge websites will actually hurt your Link Popularity and therefore your Google ranking.  It waters down your ranking.

The good news is that it’s something you can do completely independently of your web designer or IT guy.  Simple searches for your keyphrases will provide you a whole world of websites that could possibly link to you.  Start with #1 and go right down the line. Now, obviously your competitors won’t (necessarily) want to link to you, but don’t be so sure.  It may be worth asking, especially if you specialize in different markets/services.  And of course be sure to look for partnerships where you can. If you’re a florist, ask for links on other vendor sites.  If you’ve got a home staging business, ask for links/partnerships with local realtors.

Write articles and ask to have them included in a local paper.  Get interviewed by the same.  Put out a press release and ask if your local chamber will post it online along with a link.  Contact local directory sites and guides, and see if they have a way to post a listing or link for free.  It may even be worth paying a few bucks for an online listing on a popular directory site that specializes (or has a category for) your industry, especially in your local area.

The more creative and tenacious you are, the more you’ll be rewarded with Link Popularity, and the higher you’ll rank on Google.