However, there are theories as to how the algorithms that organize the various search engines work. They all look at several pieces of information in the SEO process in determining how to rank the pages. These pieces of information include:
* Search competition
Most search engines take search volume into account when ranking a web page. The volume of search in a search term over a period of time is an important factor in how search engines rank web pages. What is important to remember is that search volume does not tell the whole story. More than 1000 results is not always good. In fact 1000 results can be a sign that a web page is not relevant for the search term. However 1000 results is not common. A web page can get 1000 results and still not be relevant for a search term.
A search engine can be one day relevant, and the next be completely irrelevant. Then the next day be very relevant. So that makes the search engine’s job very difficult. How do they know which pages are relevant? It is a complicated science and no one outside of the search engine gurus can predict with any accuracy when pages will go from not relevant to very relevant. The best thing to do is to keep your keywords in mind when doing your keyword research.
* Backlinks
Many search engines are looking at the number of backlinks on a page in ranking a web page. The more backlinks, the more that page is relevant for a search term. However, a page can go from very relevant to irrelevant in a matter of days.
The process of ranking pages is a long and ongoing one. A webpage that is important to Google could get de-ranked over night, a different webpage might go from Google’s 10th position to the top spot, or vice versa. It is a very dynamic process. These two pieces of information give us a little insight into what the algorithm might be thinking. The next couple of sections will help us understand some of the variables that are important to understand in order to optimize the way to success for the site.
* Link Anchor Text (link text)
A number of search engines now use the anchor text as a signal to rank your site. Google uses the anchor text in their algorithm when ranking sites for terms. It can be as simple as ‘click here’ to “this link should provide traffic”, and it is important that your anchor text is not the same as the link text that you use on your site.
* Content Depth
The depth of content on a webpage is very important. Google favors sites that have good content, because they tend to be established sites with well thought out content. This is a result of having good content on your site which is what search engines are looking for. Having good content also means that the search engines are happy with your site, because it means you have a site that is well established, and a good content base that is already established.
The depth of content is the same as the number of links to a page. A deep site will have links to a page that is deep within the site, and vice versa.
* Page Load Speed
Page speed is a factor that is now considered as a factor in Google rankings. A site that is always loading is always going to rank lower. Most people want to avoid slow loading pages, because they tend to have bad search engine rankings. If you can load pages fast, you’ll likely rank highly. The same goes for sites of all kinds, not just websites.
The above is just some of the many aspects of site optimization. Google now takes a lot more into consideration when ranking sites. The best way to ensure that your site ranks well is to put keywords in your title tag and head tags, as well as put internal keywords into the content on your site.
Using links is another key factor in getting good rankings. You can get more links if you have good content and are established, but you can also get more links if your site has poor content or if you have links to high page rank sites.
There are other things that may help to get good rankings, but what we’re trying to get at is that linking is a great tool to help your site to rank well. This is what you can do to get good links to your site. Get linked to by good sites, like an article directory. Get linked to by sites that are established and have a good page rank. Use one of the services that allow you to get links from a variety of sites.
