What is Search Engine Algorithm?

Search Engine Algorithm

Unique to every search engine, and just as important as keywords, search engine algorithms are the why and the how of search engine rankings. Basically, a search engine algorithm is a set of rules, or a unique formula, that the search engine uses to determine the significance of a web page, and each search engine has its own set of rules. These rules determine whether a web page is real or just spam, whether it has any significant data that people would be interested in, and many other features to rank and list results for every search query that is begun, to make an organized and informational search engine results page. The algorithms, as they are different for each search engine, are also closely guarded secrets, but there are certain things that all search engine algorithms have in common.

1. Relevancy – One of the first things a search engine algorithm checks for is the relevancy of the page. Whether it is just scanning for keywords, or looking at how these keywords are used, the algorithm will determine whether this web page has any relevancy at all for the particular keyword. Where the keywords are located is also an important factor to the relevancy of a website. Web pages that have the keywords in the title, as well as within the headline or the first few lines of the text will rank better for that keyword than websites that do not have these features. The frequency of the keywords also is important to relevancy. If the keywords appear frequently, but are not the result of keyword stuffing, the website will rank better.

2. Individual Factors – A second part of search engine algorithms are the individual factors that make that particular search engine different from every other search engine out there. Each search engine has unique algorithms, and the individual factors of these algorithms are why a search query turns up different results on Google than MSN or Yahoo!. One of the most common individual factors is the number of pages a search engine indexes. They may just have more pages indexed, or index them more frequently, but this can give different results for each search engine. Some search engines also penalize for spamming, while others do not.

3. Off-Page Factors – Another part of algorithms that is still individual to each search engine are off-page factors. Off-page factors are such things as click-through measurement and linking. The frequency of click-through rates and linking can be an indicator of how relevant a web page is to actual users and visitors, and this can cause an algorithm to rank the web page higher. Off-page factors are harder for web masters to craft, but can have an enormous effect on page rank depending on the search engine algorithm.

Search engine algorithms are the mystery behind search engines, sometimes even amusingly called the search engine’s “Secret Sauce”. Beyond the basic functions of a search engine, the relevancy of a web page, the off-page factors, and the unique factors of each search engine help make the algorithms of each engine an important part of the search engine optimization design.

Source by: Search Engine Algorithm


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Secret Inspiration Quotations

  • "Our job as humans is to hold on to the thoughts of what we want, make it absolutely clear in our minds what we want, and from that we start to invoke one of the greatest laws in the Universe, and that's the law of attraction. You become what you think about most, but you also attract what you think about most." – John Assaraf
  • "Imagination is Everything. It is the Preview of life's coming attractions." – Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was giving us a secret quotation and he didn't even know it!
  • "Here's the problem. Most people are thinking about what they don't want, and they're wondering why it shows up over and over again." – John Assaraf. This secret quotation is about focusing on what we want.
  • "The law of attraction is really obedient. When you think of the things that you want, and you focus on them with all of your intention, then the law of attraction will give you exactly what you want, every time. When you focus on the things you don't want – 'I don't want to be late,' – the law of attraction doesn't hear that you don't want it. It manifests the things that you're thinking of, and so it's going to show up over and over again." – Lisa Nichols (author & personal empowerment advocate). This secret quotation is again about focusing on what you want.
  • Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. – Albert Einstein
  • I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. – Albert Einstein
  • “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
  • “Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.” – Albert Einstein
  • “If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough” – Albert Einstein
  • “I don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference!” – Albert Einstein
  • "Imagination is more important than knowledge." – Albert Einstein

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Top 10 Google SEO Ranking Factors



People don’t really understand that there are many different factors that fall into place when determining where a website ranks in the Google search engine results. Some things to keep in mind when you are wondering why your site doesn’t rank well. It is not always just the obvious reasons that are holding it back.

Over the past years by reading Google’s Webmaster Guidelines, Google SEO Starter Guide, many other industry blogs and by actually doing professional SEO and internet marketing since the late 1990’s, I have gathered data and come to a boiled down short list of the most important Google search engine ranking factors.


Here is the list of my top 10 of important Google SEO ranking factors to consider:

1. Age of Domain: Age of URL is very important. If you just bought your domain a few weeks or even months ago you have a long road ahead of you. The reality is the age of your website helps build trust. If your website has been online for several years, chances are you have an established business.

2. Domain Hosting: Where is your site hosted? Find out through your hosting company what continent or country your site is hosted in. This can often times play a large role in search rankings. Always use a reputable hosting company. If your company is US based then use a hosting company in the United States. Also, I always recommend a dedicated IP when you can. There are virtual dedicated and cloud hosting solutions that are more affordable. Never use the cheapest hosting. The reality is, if you cannot afford hosting you should re-consider the business…I know this is harsh but very true.

3. Your Neighbors: If you have a virtual server, which sites like Godaddy usually are have been known to house hundreds of websites on one server. Make sure that your neighbors on your server are not classified as spam.

4. URL Structure: Make sure your URL structures are very clean. There should not be any random strings of characters at the end of your URL’s. This is part of the onsite search engine optimization process as well.

5. Content: Content is very important. To start make sure you have text on all your important pages, then make sure it is good text consisting of your targeted keywords spread throughout naturally. Simply put, ALWAYS write your content for humans, your website visitors first and NEVER write content for the solo purpose to achieve Google search engine rankings. Chances are the content will not be user focused or provide value to your visitors.

6. Internal Link Structure: Make sure your inner pages are linked correctly. Visitors should have easy made pathways connecting to your other pages from every page of your website. Make sure the code of your website is verified and keep flash and JavaScript to a minimum, if you can. Essentially make sure the site is clean, easy to use and interlinked to help the user experience.

7. Trust: Do you at least have a mailing address listed on your website? You should if you don’t. Google likes to see trust factors on websites so anything you can add that could help build trust for your audience will benefit your rankings. I always recommend having a phone number on each page of your website. Make it easy for people to do business with you, it all starts with establishing trust and that starts with contact information on your website.

8. Keywords: Make sure your website is optimized using your keywords. This means any alt tags for images, meta page information and existing content at the very least of things. Remember to naturally optimize your website based on the content of each page of your website.

9. Bounce Rate: Although bounce rate might not seem important if Google sees that nobody hangs out on your website for more than a few seconds before they leave this could be a ranking problem over time. Make changes to get visitors engaged with your website. Simple things, like video, newsletter sign up, call to actions, etc will help improve your bounce rate over time. Make sure you have proper tracking on your website, such as Google analytics.

10. Outbound links: Make sure the websites that you link to are 100% relevant to your business and industry. If you sell animals toys but you are linking to a site that sells shoes that is not very relevant and over time could really impact your rankings. Bottom line is if it makes sense to link to another site, then do so, but remember you could be sending your visitors away from your site.

11. Inbound Links: I know this was a list of my top 10, but I felt I had to mention inbound links. The key here (speaking as a white hat SEO person), don’t buy or exchange links. Market and promote your business online to build visitors to your website over time. If you do, then the relevant links will follow!

**Note: As the Google (and yes there are 2 other major search engines!) algorithm changes there are always new ranking factors that come into play, such as the page load time and many others. I am sure when I re-do this list a year from now, there may be another one or two additional factors.

Source by: Google SEO Ranking Factors
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Google SEO Techniques

SEO Techniques are a set of specific tasks that would be performed by a Search Engine Optimization Company, when employed by a Client who desires high search engine positions to attract targeted traffic, with the intention of increasing their conversion rates and brand awareness.

Effective Website Optimization should enable the Search Engines to Index a site, utilising the most relevant keywords, related to the content which is promoting the goods and services offered by the Client. Implementing successful SEO Techniques require's an extensive knowledge of logic and a very good understanding of the targeted market sector.

Search Engine Optimization must be focused towards Human visitors in order to achieve good quality traffic and conversion rates. Page Content should be specific, informative and relevant to a search query. Writing relevant, quality content is one of the most important factors or SEO Techniques, which will unlock the doors of your website to real visitors.

A website is a visual and graphic interface to a Company. The web designer will incorporate many skills including graphic design and expert coding to represent the Clients goods and services, to reflect the quality, expertise and brand of the Client. The foundation of strong SEO Techniques should be developed prior to the website design stage by an SEO Specialist. The combination of a professional web designer and SEO professional working in tandem will result in an effective Internet platform, for Search Engine Marketing.



The are many methods of installing good SEO Techniques, but be aware that there are bad techniques that should not be used and avoided at all cost.

Bad techniques include Hidden Text, Optimizing Irrelevant keywords, linking to bad neighbours, keyword stuffing and Doorway or Gateway Pages. These methods of SEO will reveal very little relevant traffic, bad conversion rates and have a high chance of getting your website banned from the search engine index. These methods are often used by "so called" SEO companies offering services at very, very cheap rates.

The Development of your Internet Marketing Strategy is an ongoing process, when optimizing for natural relevant search engine results. The SEO specialist will become an integral part of the Marketing Team.,

Studying Market Trends and the analysis of competitors and consumers, combined with extensive keyword research will form the basis of the optimization methodology and will outline the SEO Techniques required for the Internet Marketing Strategy.

Key factors to combine within the SEO Project Plan are as follows;

Domain Name - Short names are easier to remember ! Include short Primary Keywords ! without hyphens were possible.

Domain Extension - .com or .net For the Global Market. Use .co.uk for UK Country specific traffic

Host Location - If your attracting UK business host in the UK.

URL Names - include relevant keywords - unique to each page.

Robots.txt - A file which permits or denies access to robots or crawlers to areas of your site.

Navigation Structure - Keep it simple.

Meta Tags - Title and Description. - Unique detail for each page, related to page content.

H1 Tags - Use for the short on page content description.

H2 and H3 Tags- Use for Headings for sub category's within the Content

Page Content - Critical Component.

Keyword Visibility - Within page Content.

Image Alt Tags - Helps with Accessibility.

Privacy Policy - Assures trust and confidentiality.

The site should confirm to the W3C standards.

Create and submit sitemap's - formatted in either .xml -.htm - .txt.

Create and submit RSS feeds to relevant feed directory's

Create and submit Articles

Find relevant websites within the same market sector or niche and form a link partnership.

Submit your website to relevant or industry related directory's.

A link exchange should be formed by utilising relevant keyword Anchor Text.

Utilise relevant Social Networks and Forums related to your Market Sector.

Utilise Blog sites relevant to your Market Sector.

The above factors are proven SEO Techniques, that will help increase targeted traffic from achieving good or high ranking search engine positions.

Source by: SEO Techniques
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SEO Ranking Factors

Search Engine Marketing and SEO have always been very dynamic fields. Search engines make changes all of the time. Sometime they announce their changes, sometimes we are left to guess at them. In either event, more often than not, we are left largely to our own devices in terms of assessing the impact of these changes and what to do about them - if anything.




This makes sessions related to ranking factors pretty popular at shows like SMX Advanced. This year was no exception and I was able to get a few minutes with one of this years speakers, Rand Fishkin, to chat about the state of SEO ranking factors.

One of the more interesting things Rand and I agreed on was the fact that it’s 2009 and a lot of today’s fundamental ranking factors, are very similar to the same stuff that worked in 2005, 2006, 2007 and so on. In other words, a lot of the basic things have been pretty consistent.

That said, I thought it might be useful to run down a quick list of some of the things that matter most and least in terms of ranking in 2009. We’ll start with the Important Things:

Title tags - This one is a no brainer. Good title tags have long been recognized as one of the single most important on page SEO elements of any web page. What makes a good title tag? A good title tag specific to each individual page is absolutely essential. Beyond that, as Rand pointed out, having your ‘important terms’ appear early in your title tag also has a significant impact.

Anchor Text - Anchor text is the visible text of a link. Having inbound links is the overriding number one search factor but not all links are created equally. Say you have people linking to your page about blue widgets. If the text in their content reads “Fantastic Blue Widgets can be found here!” it makes a big difference in which words they link to your page. If they link the words ‘Blue Widgets’, it’s going to do you a lot more good than if they just link the word ‘here’.

This is important to keep in mind with your own internal linking too. Avoid using generic, nondescript terms like ‘home’ and ‘here’ and ‘main’ when you link to your own pages.

Quantity of Domains Linking - This one is interesting. if you have 10,000 inbound links and your competitor only has 7,000 inbound links but still seems to outrank you consistently, this could be the reason. Number of links is important, but the number of unique domains those links are coming from is also very important.

You may have 10,000 inbound links but maybe your links all come from 5,000 unique, separate domains. Your competitor may only have 7,000 inbound links but if they have 6,000 coming in from separate domains... they will get you most every time.

Social Media/Mobile - we talked a little bit about social and mobile. Social and to some extent mobile too can be hard to quantify. The fact of the matter is though, these are absolutely 2 hugely explosive categories. Facebook, Twitter and other social giants are continuing to grow in users and usage. Effective social media management can be a tremendous source for generating buzz, those all-important inbound links and just plain direct referral traffic.

Those are a few ranking factors Rand and I discussed as important, so what are some things people might be spending too much time worrying about? Here are some of the things we talked about in terms of being ‘not so important’:

H1 Tags - A couple of years ago, making use of H1 and H2 tags on selected areas of your HTML code kind of came into vogue. The rationale was the search engine spiders interpreted H1 tags as a signal that ‘hey, this text is important because it’s bigger’. Of course the proliferation of .css meant that you could throw H1 tags pretty much anywhere and everywhere on your page and just take care of how things looked to people with stylesheets.

That this was ever an effective ranking tactic or strategy is somewhat debatable. However, currently, while H1 tags aren’t going to hurt you, they don’t seem to be much of a factor.

Keyword Density - This one might surprise you a little bit. Keyword density is kind of a joke. It is in fact NOT desirable to work 500 instances of your target keyphrase into the text of your target page. I know this seems counter intuitive to some, but I for one was very glad to see this claim supported by some data in the Ranking Factors session.

If your page is about Blue Beach Widgets, you have Blue Beach Widgets in your title and you have pages linking to your blue beach widgets page with the terms ‘blue beach widgets’ in the anchor text THAT is good.

You do NOT have to whore out the content of your page to have ‘blue beach widgets’ repeated 50 times in the description. I know you have seen these pages... they look like:
“Bob’s Blue Beach Widget Emporium has the finest selection of blue beach widgets on the web. Our blue beach widgets are so much better than our competitor's blue beach widgets, that all of our blue beach widget customers all think our blue beach widgets are the best blue beach widgets ever. So if you need a blue beach widget, or have a friend that needs a blue beach widget, tell them to visit the blue beach widget emporium to find the best blue beach widgets in the blue beach widget business”

This has to stop people. It makes your site read like a bad skit on the Muppet Show. This kind of thing makes me cringe, and it’s ruining the Internet. Well maybe it isn’t ruining the Internet like MTV ruined America, but it does make for some horrible web pages. I still hear SEOs talking keyword density to site owners. If you are a site owner and some SEO comes talking to you about increasing your keyword density, do everybody a big favor and throw something at them. Please.

W3C Validation - Ah, my old arch nemesis W3C Validation. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times... but I’ll say it again: if you want your site to validate W3C, by all means... do that. If having code that passes W3C validation makes you sleep well at night, then, my friend... you go get that done. I am all for people having W3C valid code, if that’s what they want.

That said.... in terms of SEO and search engine ranking, the simple reality is: IT DOESN’T MATTER. It never has mattered and I daresay it never will matter. Can it hurt you to have valid code? Certainly not. Should you pay a designer and extra 30% to design your webpage to be 100% W3C compliant and valid? That’s up to you. But before you do, consider this: of the top 100 websites online, MAYBE 8 (and I am being exorbitant in that estimate) of them pass W3C validation. Amazon doesn’t pass, eBay doesn’t pass, Twitter doesn’t pass, heck neither do Google, Yahoo or even Microsoft’s new Bing.

Oh Yeah!!!!If your page renders in all the browsers, if you don’t have a bunch of broken links, in other words if your webpage looks like a webpage and can be read... that’s all you need here folks. Search engines could not possibly care less, in other words if “document type does not allow element "div" here”. They just don’t. They never will. W3C might help get you listed in some directories (maybe?), it has some practical applications in terms of accessibility, and you could maybe argue that it can help you diagnose some page render/load time issues. Personally I think it’s most common application however is to inflate the bottom line estimate for web designers that can talk you into a cup of the W3C Validation Kool Aid.

So there are a few things Rand and I discussed that matter more and matter less in regard to search ranking factors in 2009. I’m sure we left plenty of things out, so if you want to add your opinion to either list, feel free to do so in the comments section.

Source By: Google News
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Yahoo SEO Techniques



Different Search Engine Means Different Algorithm

All search engines have their own algorithms to determine the value and, therefore, positioning of websites. While the majority of SEO work tends to concentrate on Google because of the sheer weight of searches they receive it would be foolish to discount or ignore the other major search engines. Yahoo is considered one of the big three along with Google and MSN and by concentrating a little more time and effort on Yahoo optimization it is quite possible to gain a good amount of traffic. With ultra competitive keywords it may actually provide an easier way to generate search traffic than gearing all your efforts solely towards Google.

The Most Important Yahoo Optimization Factor

The first, and most pertinent point is that Yahoo judges content to be the most important factor in their algorithms. They do still consider inbound links and other factors but they are attuned to the way of the content site and they love sites that provide keyword-optimized content in large mass. While that may make it sound easier than concentrating on generating a huge base of inbound links as you would for Google, Yahoo optimization presents its own challenges and its own unique quirks that you should consider.

Looking At Keyword Density

Because of the relevance that Yahoo places on the content within your site, the keyword once again becomes a vitally important aspect of your research. While Google have been striving to promote sites that use organic content and webmasters and SEOs have been optimizing with around 2% to 3% keyword density Yahoo prefers a much greater density level. The danger, of course, is that giving Yahoo what they want may cause Google to deem your content as being keyword stuffed but there is another difference between the two algorithms that can help to counteract this problem.

Using Stems, Inflexions, And Variants Of Keywords

Yahoo is very heavily language based. This means that it is, strictly speaking, more aware of the nuances of the written language. It will include synonyms and inflexions of a keyword when considering your keyword density; something that Google does not consider to the same extent. This means that it is possible to optimize for both without diminishing your ranking with one another.

How To Optimize For Yahoo Without Getting Penalized By Google

Google likes a density of around 2% and Yahoo likes a density as high as 7% or even 8%. This means that you can effectively use 4 variations of a single keyword or phrase and a density of 2% for each. This offers further advantages. With Google you are now gearing your content towards four different keywords and offering the level they want, and you are still providing Yahoo with the much higher density rate that they require. Because you can include plurals and further stems of keywords this means you can write in a much more natural tone.

Using The Near Forgotten Meta Tags

One area that a lot of SEO professionals and webmasters alike now tend to overlook is the Meta tag. However, Yahoo appears to still give consideration to the keyword and description tags in particular. This is quite rare in the case of most search engines and Google certainly do not look for keywords in your Meta tags. Do not attempt to dupe Yahoo, though, and only include keywords that genuinely appear on your page and are relevant to your topic.

Regular, Fresh Content Is King

You’ve probably heard the saying that “content is king” and this is even truer when considering Yahoo optimization. The more content you provide the better. This may mean making regular additions to your site but it will generate the kind of results you are looking for. Blogs are also a very good way to continue adding relevant content to your site that Yahoo will smile down on.

The Lazy Yahoo Bot

Compared to other search engine spiders the Yahoo bot is a comparatively lazy animal. It doesn’t crawl as often as other bots and it certainly doesn’t crawl as deep into your site to find all of your pages and index them. This means you should pay extra attention to creating a legible sitemap and keeping it updated as regularly as possible. Yahoo has a sitemap submission feature that is similar to Google’s and using this is heavily recommended to try and ensure that Yahoo stays on top of the infrastructure of your site and ranks you accordingly.

Inbound Links And Controlling Them Yourself

Inbound links are still important to Yahoo, but again a lot of emphasis is placed on content. Textual relevance seems to be one of the most important factors so having control over your inbound links and being able to determine the pages where they appear and the anchor text of each is important. Perhaps the best way to generate inbound links for Yahoo optimization is to use the article directories to your benefit.

Yahoo Optimization Conclusion

Google may be the search engine that everyone talks about and optimizes for but ignoring Yahoo would be foolish. This is especially true because while the Yahoo algorithm is quite different to the Google one and other algorithms, it is still quite easy to optimize for both. The most important factors to remember are to use relevant Meta tags for every single page of your site, include as much content and update your site with new content as often as possible, and update a sitemap both on your website and with the Yahoo sitemaps function.


WebWiseWords specializes in SEO writing geared toward any search engine or any SEO guidelines. They can create website content pages, articles, blog entries, and more that utilize search engine optimization rules to help promote your site with all of the major search engines, not just Google.

Source by: Yahoo Techniques


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