Search Engine Ranking Factors
Understanding how Search Engines determine where to place a web page in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) in relation to a search query from an Internet users goes a long way towards developing a web site that ranks well for your business's niche and topic.
The Algorithm
The definition of Algorithm provided by
Princeton University is “a precise rule (or set of rules) specifying how to solve some problem”.
The major Search Engines;
Google,
Yahoo and
Bing (MSN) all have their own algorithms which contain their specific formulae and criteria used to determine web page results in the SERPs. Each Search Engine will provide different results for similar searches . However, when considering the overall optimization of your web site the fundamentals are similar and deviation from the fundamentals is only necessary if you are attempting to target a specific Search Engine. Generally, I optimize web sites for Google due to their overwhelming Search market share.
It must be noted this Blog Post represents an overview of the factors which affect where your web page may be placed in the Search Engine results, and does not represent a comprehensive review of SERPs ranking factors.
On Page Optimization Elements
On Page Optimization primarily deals with topic relevance and the elements which you can control on the actual web page.
To determine the topic and relevance of a specific web page the Search Engines evaluate the textual content on the page, this is where keywords and how they are utilized becomes important.
Web Page Content
How keywords relate to and are used in the web page content are an important influence on where the web page will be placed in the SERPs. It is important to integrate your keywords throughout the page when relevant, and only when the keywords can be used naturally. The Search Engines using indexing software navigates the Web evaluating the text on web sites and index the web site accordingly for future reference and matching to Internet users search queries.
Overall the web page content includes numerous elements which are used by the Search Engines to determine the topic and relevancy of the page. Although all elements are weighted differently, due care and attention should be paid to all elements to provide and overall well optimized web page.
Elements using keywords considered by Search Engines include:
| META tag: Title |
URL |
| META tag: Description |
Header Tags: H1, H2, H3 |
| META tag: Keyword |
Bold and Italics |
| ALT Tags |
Image Titles |
In general the web page's primary keyword should be included but not overused in all of the above elements.
The Title tag is an important tag to assist Search Engines and Internet users to determine the topic of the page and care should be taken to ensure an appropriate title has been written.
The Description tag may not be heavily weighted by Search Engines however, this tag does provides you with an ideal opportunity to encourage Internet users to click through to your web site from the SERPs.
The Keyword tag is controversial and is considered useless by many. However, I do prefer to use this tag within certain guidelines. Only insert a keyword into this tag if the keyword is actually included in the web page content and even then it is advisable to limit this to between one and three highly relevant keywords.
The Off-Page Optimization Elements
The strength of you Domain has a significant impact on how well your web site performs in the SERPs. There are a number of factors that can you can use to determine the strength of your domain.
Google Page Rank: Although the actual algorithm of how Google determines Page Rank is complex it boils down to the number of links pointing to your web site and factors in the quality of those links with regards to the authority, trust and relevance of the originating web site site.
Number of Domain References: Your domain can be referred to in many ways, form the number of times the site is mentioned in site specific searches, to the web site popularity in the Social realm such as
Technorati,
Wikipedia and other web sites. Obviously the more Internet references your web site has, will assist to ensuring Search Engines view your site as an important web site in your web site business niche.
Web Site Traffic Volumes: Alexa and Compete provide an indication of how popular a web site is based on site traffic. Both these companies provide a rating which gives an indication of overall site traffic. This rating is based on, the lower the number the more traffic and more popular the web site is conceived to be. A web site with low popularity may have a ranking well into the millions. So when viewing your Compete or Alexa rank do take into consideration how many web sites are online, even a figure under a million indicates some sort of performance and web site popularity.
The Last Word
The algothrim used by Search Engines are complex and they have to be. Every time an Internet users searches for products and services it is almost a case of the Search Engines having to read the mind of the Internet user to determine what they are thinking and what results will provide the searcher with the information, products or services they require.
Search Engines are not telepathic they need assistance from both sides of the equation, a clear concise search term certainly assists Search Engines to understand what someone is looking for. However the reality is determining the topic, value and relevancy of every single web page on the Internet is an enormous task and this is where we as web site owners need an understanding of the fundamentals of how Search Engines determine where and when a web page will show in the Search Engine Results Pages.
