OK, so I can hardly pretend that I spent my formative years with access to PCs and the Internet but I get by fairly well.   That is, until it comes to search engine rankings!

The Web is littered with promises of top spots in the hallowed ground that is Google but does anyone truly know what Search Engine Optimisation (“SEO”) is really all about?   I have one or two sites in top spots after months of work but the problem is that those followed months of trial and error with a bit of logic thrown in.

Take the search term “free iPod” for example.   I did very little work and held top spot for months in Google UK.   I have now dropped and have no idea what to do to redress the balance.   The same applies to “free gifts“.

So, back to the trial and error drawing board for me!

A couple of months ago I had the privilege of gaining favour with Google on one of my sites. Search for “free iPhone” on Google UK and you would find the site at number one spot with additional site-links annotated, like you see in the picture I have used as an example.

Clicks and conversions improved no end as a result and everything was good in the World of Steve!

The general idea is that Google considered the site to be the trusted authority on free iPhones (and they were right of course!). Well, maybe I should phrase that in the past tense. The site still ranks in the same position but the site-links have gone, disappeared into the ether.

I’ve not changed anything on the site and hope that continued link building will rectify the position. In the meantime, in the words of Toyah Wilcox, it’s a mystery.