Short answer: I don't know. Google is ever mysterious, and always evolving.
Long answer: These are the things that I think helped most...
First, my sites, and page ranks:
A web comic:
http://redmenace.synthasite.com/ or Li'l Nyet - 0
Another webcomic:
http://scratchinpost.synthasite.com/ or Scratchin Post - 4
A reference and how-to site for webcomics:
http://psychedelictreehouse.synthasit... or Psychedeltic Treehouse (Treehouse for short) - 6
1. I installed Google Analytics. But I made a mistake on Lil\'l Nyet and didn't put it on every page. That hurt that site.
2. I stayed close to my category, which for Google's sake is comics or webcomics. That means I linked to other comics sites when appropriate, and limited linking to unrelated sites.
3. I did favors for comics people, and said by way of thanks, they could to me. Some did, some did not. The ones that did show up routinely on my anlytics.
4. When visiting comics forums and commenting on comics blogs, I signed my name, followed by my links.
5. I recently learned that the words above a link matter, so now I include the word comics above them, as I did above. This explains the link to readers, and confirms Google's understanding of it.
6. After a few months of tinkering, my sites were ready for a broader audience. I used EntreCard to add a traffic boost, followed by ads on Project Wonderful. EntreCard traffic is not sticky, but I did pick up some regular readers from it, and the increased traffic made me look more respectable to advertisers when I started hosting ads on my site. Note: To do EntreCard right is time-consuming, and not recommended for people on a tight schedule.
Project Wonderful is a much cheaper ad service than Google but it is built around comics, games and related areas. New category members are trickling in, but most people will find limited opportunities there until it gets bigger. It is a lovely, helpful site, though. I give it a "10."
7. If you decide to host ads to supplement your ad budget you can try Google, Project Wonderful or a few others. You'll get more money for ad locations visitors can't miss.
8. My PR6 site, the treehouse, is a huge site with thousands of links to comics and comics sites. This gives it an authority that is unusual: few people can or want to manage so many links. You also might not want them on your home page. Create a few extra pages with titles like Annex, Links, Resources, Related Vendors and the like and fill them as you find worthwhile links. A link to an obvious site -- the photographer who links top Kodak, for example -- will be almost meaningless, but a cluster of links to meaningful sites of various sizes will matter.
9. After you have found a valuable person to have link to you, befriend them. If you have personal chemistry, let the relationship grow naturally. Put their link on your site, but don't announce it. A portion will develop a fondness for you and your site and will link to you. I'm not saying to be phony, or pretend to like someone who is unpleasant. I am saying to offer unsolicited support and goodwill, gradually over time, and let nature take it's course.
10. Sadly, you don't want to do link trades too much. Google prefers unreciprocated links because people swap meaningless links all the time to try to get a higher page rank. This is why category is so important to Google: comics sites link to comics sites, not to plumbers. I can't tell you how to balance it, because I don't know Google's formula. Therefore, letting things evolve naturally is good.
A huge benefit of my Treehouse site, which is all about comics, is that if someone links to my comics I can reward them with a big, fat link on the Treehouse, with illustration in many cases. Perhaps you should spread outgoing links between your site and a blog site, for example.
11. Don't try to beat the system. General principles of search engine optimization should be researched and understood, especially for merchants. (Comics don't have this issue -- we actually promote our competitors instead of trying to knock them down the rank.)
I don't know how Google factors traffic generated from various social networking sites (including EntreCard), but to the extent that it generates pass-through traffic or bartered traffic, Google has certainly figured out a way to discount it. Fact: the best thing you can do is make your site as wonderful and easy to use as possible, quick to load and clearly organized. Don't hype yourself. Just look classy and responsible and ask experienced people to criticize your site. With Synthasite, it's easy to change things, so your site should go through periods of evolution as you learn and hear feedback.
12. Watch your choice of fonts. Synthasite has added in the five months I've been using them, and I am sure they will add more. Will every font has its uses, the current roster includes poor man's versions of Trebuchet (Verdana) and some others that are low rent. This is Microsoft's fault, not Synthasite's, as they chose the bad ones for inclusion with their browser (all fonts must be known by a browser or it will substitute another font). Times NR is useful for conservative looks. Gill Sans is a 100-year-old font of great distinction that I use heavily. The fonts in our comic word balloons are not browser compatible and not offered by Synthasite, but are embedded in the image so the browser reads them like a picture.
13. Synthasite is a great place to learn about customer service if you are a merchant. Learn from their desire to please, their sincerity in talking with you, their determination to follow up no matter what, and their friendliness. Note that like anyone, they will set limits for people who are over-demanding, so choose your questions and advice requests with care so as not to overwhelm them. It's partly because I got great help last week that I have set aside time to offer these tips to other Synthasite users. I want to do the help squad a favor, and give them a reference to share with people.
14. If you read this far, you probably want to make your site a success, you chose Synthasite for service and ease of use (not to mention upcoming feature additions), and you probably see that building a site will be a long term commitment, requiring a year or more to really get rolling in many cases. You probably have the sense to see that there is no gimmick or quick fix that will propel your site toward high rankings. There will be lucky breaks -- a favorable review, an unexpected high powered link -- and there will be times when you feel stuck and frustrated. I think you'll find if you think back to where you were two months before, you'll be amazed at how far you've come.
P.S. Use every part of your Google Analytics. Read every report (not every day of course) until you understand what it is telling you. Entry Sources is particularly useful once you get going.
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