I read lots of books, magazines and blogs about making money online. After all, that is my business. And it is incredible how many web designers and marketing “experts” still don’t get it! The prevailing mindset seems to be that there is a magic formula (controlled by the great god of internet search, Google), and that if you can just crack this magic formula, you will get listed as number one on Google and subsequently become rich.

Now understand that there is in fact a formula that Google uses to determine who gets listed in the number one spot for various search terms. And this formula actually changes regularly, keeping all the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) companies on their toes. It also does involve many of the things that SEO firms will tell you to do: clean up your code, use keyword-rich content, add bold tags and heading tags, etc. etc. But when it comes to Internet marketing, most of that is just an exercise in futility, as these things will not get you to be listed number one on Google. And even if they did, you wouldn’t see you sales increase.

One person who does seem to “get it” is David Meerman Scott in his book World Wide Rave. Scott recognizes that the way to get listed number one on Google is to create what he calls a rave about your product or services – a phenomenon where others are automatically linking to your content and passing it on to others. A World Wide Rave is when people around the world are talking about you, your company, and your products. It’s when global communities eagerly link to your stuff on the Web. It’s when online buzz drives buyers to your virtual doorstep. And it’s when tons of fans visit your Web site and your blog because they genuinely want to be there.

This is what I refer to in my book “Grow Your Online Sales” as digital word-of-mouth marketing. And it is the ONLY sure fire way of getting listed number one on the search engines. Regardless of what else you do to “optimize” your site, if everyone is talking about you and creating links to your content, the Search Engines will reward you with being on the first page. In other words, you have to provide content that is so compelling (be it funny, informative, or controversial) that everyone will want to pass it on to their entire email list, Facebook friends or blog posts. The only thing that matters is getting others to talk about you.

I can hear you thinking out loud: “That’s nice, but I’m an accountant (or whatever) – how am I going to get people to talk about my website?” Believe it or not, there are ways you can do this regardless of what business you are in. Go to www.GrowYouOnlineSales.com and pick up a copy of my book to learn how.

Greg Jameson