How search engine optimization affects your website.
The History of Search.
Every search engine is different. Each using different algorithms and calculations to create their SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Each search engine ranks websites and content using different scales and values. These exact values are closely guarded secrets and the main reason why some search engines are more utilized than others. Understanding the basic technology behind these search engines is the key to fully understanding Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO), and the potentials each strategy can bring.
Search engines evolved out of the need to search through larger amounts of data on servers. As the internet grew and computers became connected, it was natural for these search programs to extend to other public servers as well. At first this was merely a searchable database with the names of websites and pertinent file names. The first web crawlers were soon developed that automatically copied and indexed the text content on websites. Early search engine algorithms were used to search this indexed text content for keywords, the more times the keyword appears, the higher the result. This keyword density value was the basis of almost every early search engine. Due to the automatic nature of web-crawlers, webmasters would dump keywords into their text content, and the search engines wouldn’t be able to tell if a website was spam or legitimate. Originally Yahoo did not index websites automatically, instead they allowed you to search Yahoo’s many directories, the majority of which, only included manually submitted and approved websites.
Indexing text content and searching for keywords was the standard search engine technology for a time. These practices became quickly apparent to webmasters and the first SEO professionals were born. Original search engine optimization was at its most basic, about keyword stuffing. It was about getting the most keywords onto your webpage, while still being appealing to users. Certain less-than-fair techniques such as invisible, or hidden keywords became to appear and it seemed as if the search engines may soon have a problem. In 2000, Google changed everything.
PageRank.
The idea of Google was first presented by students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, at Stanford University. The premise of Google was to create a search engine with a more efficient algorithm than what currently existed. The key, was PageRank.
PageRank was named after Larry Page, co-founder of the Google search engine. Before the idea of PageRank, search engines relied heavily on the number of keywords to determine its ranking. The idea of PageRank, and ultimately of Google, was to order rankings by not only keywords, but link popularity. The premise of using link popularity is that a truly informative site would be linked to more than a “not-so informative” site. By measuring the PageRank of linking websites, the algorithm can get a better idea of the general opinion of your site. This was the first attempt at using user information and choices to measure particular relevance.
Your site, along with every other site will be calculated to a decimal number ranging from 0.0-1.0. This decimal number is a decimal version of a percentage. This number, at its most basic level, represents the odds that a person clicking on a random link will get to your site. Obviously this number is a very small decimal with there being millions of web pages and billions of links. On a conceptual level however, this means that the more pages linking to you, the better “chance” that the search engine spiders will find your web page. This is then calculated against various unknown values, as well as the “authority” of the linkig websites. This is what is referred to with the term “trusted sites.” Keep in mind that this exact number is not something you as a webmaster can actually determine. This PageRank value is part of the proprietary algorithm and value system that Google holds.
When anyone is referring to your PageRank as a number, 99% of the time they are referring to your PageRank using the Google Toolbar (TBPR). This number is a ranking from 0-10, with 10 being Google. This ranking has most to do with inbound links and website hits, and can be a valuable resource in understanding your page’s interaction with the Google search algorithm.
Relevance Based Search
PageRank was the beginning of relevance based search. After Google’s extreme success, other search engines have attempted to follow suit. Currently, Google holds about 80% of the market share of search engine users, which says a lot about how the competition has been able to respond. Since Google, other search engines have evolved past the traditional text only, keyword indexing. These changes along with the new blended search capabilities, have made it more important than ever to diversify your media content.
Google’s PageRank weighs heavily on in-bound links. Sites that carry the most weight are resource, or reference sites, such as Wikipedia, or .edu university sites. One very reputable link can help your ranking more than a hundred links from less than reputable sites. Receiving links, especially strong ones, provides your website with what is referred to in the industry as “link juice.” It can be said that gaining links is the same as becoming more relevant to search engines, therefore to become relevant and thus rank highly, you must develop strong links with reputable pages.
Link building has now become a very profitable business for many SEO professionals. Link-building strategies take many forms, a majority of which involve taking a portion of the budget to “buy” links from either the websites themselves, or third party link brokers. Buying links is an easy way to get a good ranking quickly, and can be a great way to jump start any campaign. This has in the past been especially lucrative for universities which have enjoyed a high PageRank due to their educational status, and thus have been able to charge a premium for links. Recently, however, Google has been cracking down on websites that are monetizing their PageRank. Google’s claim is that by selling links, the relevance of their results pages are being manipulated. This has resulted in Google reducing the PageRank of these “link sellers,” including university websites.
Good Content = More Links = Better Ranking.
Natural links are always better then forced ones, this is why relevant and high-quality content is absolutely necessary to any profitable search engine marketing campaign. Instead of spending thousands of dollars making people link to you, spend it on PERMANENT multimedia content. This content will not only help you to gain organic links, but can potentially utilize “force multiplier” techniques such as video search engine optimization. (VSEO).
The fact that we can never know exactly what the search engines are doing to rank our websites, it is not reasonable to try and beat Google at its own game (since they can change the rules at any time). Something that may work today can really hurt you later, and sometimes irreparably, if your site is flagged as spam. You must execute your marketing campaign using a totally holistic approach. Find out what Google and the other search engines LIKE to see, and use that information to your advantage when producing and distributing content.
At VISAO Solutions we use a balanced strategy when considering search engine optimization strategies. At times, link buying can be useful, but we like to focus on “earning” links. By becoming a resource in your field, your page will be linked to as a source for information. The question is not how to get ranked the fastest, but how to become valuable in the marketplace. This mentality will yield more of a result than any aggressive link-building strategy could ever achieve.