Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2021 April 8

= April 8 =

How to get Ranked in Google Search
Hey! I am running a taxi service in United Kingdom named Doncaster Taxi. I want to grow my business and get raned on google.. Anyone can help me about that? Daverider010 (talk) 08:13, 8 April 2021 (UTC)


 * Check out SEO. --Lambiam
 * Also I think the ethics of asking how to grow your business through search engine ranking is highly questionable. As WP:RD/G goes, "the reference desk is not a service that will do homework for others". Duckmather (talk) 20:07, 8 April 2021 (UTC)


 * The most reliable way is to put information that people want on your web page. In your case the best choices would be insider information about local places to visit and which routes are the fastest, most scenic, etc. It will be a lot of hard work, but it will improve your Google rankings far better than a SEO service that your competitors could easily buy as well. Another good technique: get involved with or even sponsor local charity events. A single article in a local paper talking about Doncaster Taxi giving free rides to get elderly people without cars to local Covid-19 vaccination sites is worth more than thousands of pounds spent on advertising and SEO. --Guy Macon (talk) 06:25, 9 April 2021 (UTC)


 * I agree. The best way to rank high on a Google search is to actually provide a good service so actual customers provide you visibility, instead of trying to cheat the system. J I P  &#124; Talk 17:16, 9 April 2021 (UTC)


 * The key point is that SEO is an arms race. The SEO consultants try to figure out new ways to cheat the system and the Google engineers try to figure out how to stop the cheats from working. Thus you see someone get a temporary boost and show up higher on Google, then shortly afterwards disappear from the Google results completely -- but the SEO consultant still keeps their money. Meanwhile the Google engineers are working hard on figuring out who actually has good, original content and to move them up in the search results.
 * For anyone reading this who is looking to get a higher ranking on Google, I should point out that hiring someone to edit Wikipedia is an especially stupid move. Do that, and on top of the small army of Google engineers trying to foil your plans you have a much larger army of Wikipedia editors doing the same. The google engineers are smart. If someone gets blocked from Wikipedia for promoting Yoyodyne corp, Google takes a hard look at all of the sites that contribute to Yoyodyne's ranking. --Guy Macon (talk) 20:46, 9 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Also note that external links from Wikipedia to non-Wikimedia sites have the nofollow attribute which tells search engines not to use the link for page ranking calculations. We do this to discourage spamming of Wikipedia. I have seen SEO people complain that Wikipedia sucks up page rank from incoming links without giving any back. In my personal opinion, annoying SEO people is a bonus of the system. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:51, 11 April 2021 (UTC)
 * The most reliable way [to climb search rankings] is to put information that people want on your web page. In your case the best choices would be insider information about local places to visit and which routes are the fastest, most scenic, etc. I strongly disagree. What people (clients) want (need!) is your area of service, hours of operations, phone/email contact, rates, accomodation for large luggage / disabled passengers, etc. Maybe the scenic routes will get instagram links and hence PageRank points, though - ask your local shaman SEO consultant. Tigraan Click here to contact me 13:28, 12 April 2021 (UTC)
 * I agree. A business website should immediately answer the 5 W's that every kid learns in grade school: Who, What, Where, When, Why. Who are you? What do you do? Where do you it? When do you do it? Why should I choose you? If I am looking for a taxi and I hit a web page with pretty animations backed with smooth jazz, I won't say "What an amazing website design! I will spend the next three hours of my life poking around the website to see if I can get the information that I need!" Instead, I will say "What a load of crap!" and move on to the next taxi service. 97.82.165.112 (talk) 16:50, 12 April 2021 (UTC)