A great place to peruse to see the latest trends are the forums . Historically, search engine marketers created optimized pages for each particular search engine. This is no longer viable, as mentioned, because it yields duplicate content. Rankings must be achieved in all search engines using the same web pages. Furthermore, calculations such as “optimal keyword density” and “optimal page content length” for the various search engines are almost entirely obsolete. Calculations like these demonstrate a gross oversimplification of modern search engine information retrieval algorithms.

 

With these disclaimers out of the way, it is time to briefly discuss the most important and consistently considered factors as a quick primer for the web site developer. We group the factors that affect search engine rankings into the following general categories:

 

  • Visible on-page factors
  • Invisible on-page factors
  • Time-based factors
  • External factors

 

You can find a great synopsis of the relevance of the various factors, in the opinion of a number of various experts, at http://www.seomoz.org/articles/searchranking- factors.php.

 

On-Page Factors

 

On-page factors are those criteria of a web page that are dictated by the contents of a web page itself. They are critical to a search engine marketing campaign, but less so than they were historically, because they are very easy to manipulate. Because there are obvious incentives for spammers to do so, search engines have begun to place importance on other factors as well. That is not to say that on-page factors are not important, however.

 

It is useful to further divide on-page factors into two categories — those that are visible and those that are invisible. The former are much more important than the latter. Many search engine marketers believe that the latter are now devalued to the extent that they are mostly not worth bothering with.

 

This is because they can be so easily manipulated without influencing page presentation at all. Spam can be carefully hidden in a web page in this way. A search engine’s confidence in such factors being honest or accurate, therefore, is low. In short, the search engine’s algorithms regard visible content with more confidence, because the user will actually see this content.

 

Any content that is hidden using CSS or other forms of subterfuge, regardless of intent, may be regarded as an invisible factor and devalued. At worst, if employed excessively, the page or site may be penalized as a whole.

 

Visible On-Page Factors

 

The visible on-page factors covered here are the following:

 

  • Page title
  • Page headings
  • Page copy
  • Outbound links
  • Keywords in URLs and domain name
  • Internal link structure and anchors
  • Overall site topicality

 

Page Title

 

The page title is a string of text, defined by contents of the <title> element in the <head> section of the HTML document. The title is visible both in the title bar of a browser window, as well as the headline of a search engine result. It is arguably one of the most important factors in search engine optimization because it is both an important factor in search engine rankings, as well as a critical call to action that can enhance the click-through rate (CTR). Vanessa Fox of Google states, “Make sure each page has a descriptive <title> tag and headings. The title of a page isn’t all that useful if every page has the same one.”

 

One of the biggest mistakes web developers make is to set the title for all pages on a web site to the same generic text. Frequently, this text is the company name and/or a slogan. In this case, at best your pages will be indexed poorly. At worst, the site could receive a penalty if the search engines see the pages as duplicate content. Be sure all pages on a dynamic site have unique and relevant titles.

 

When writing titles, it is also wise to insert some targeted keywords. You should not lose sight, however, that a title is also a call to action. Even if a title successfully influences a search engine to rank a page highly, that ranking effectiveness is then multiplied by your CTR. Keyword stuffed titles are not always effective for CTR, though they may rank well. As a reminder, these keywords should also appear in the document’s copy. People will also frequently use a page title for the anchor text of an inbound link. Anchor text is an important off-page factor, and its beneficial effect.

 

Page Headings

Page headings are sections of text set off from web page copy to indicate overall context and meaning. They are usually larger in size than the other copy within the document. They are typically created using <Hx> tags in HTML, where x is a number between 1 and 6. They have been abused in the past to manipulate search rankings, but they are still an important on-page factor, and they also serve to help the user navigate a page.

 

Page Copy

 

It is intuitively clear that a page that contains the keywords that a user is looking for should be relevant to his or her search query. Search engine algorithms take this into account as well. Keyword insertion, however, should not be done in the excess. Mentioning the keywords in various inflections (plural, singular, past, present, and so on) is likely beneficial, as well as varying word order (“chocolate chip cookies” versus “cookies with chocolate chips”). Excessive and contrived keyword repetition— “keyword stuffing” — however, could actually be perceived as spam.

 

Because the search engine algorithms are unknown, “excessive” is an unfortunately vague qualifier. This is one of the times we will reference something requisitely in an imprecise manner.

 

SEO copywriting aims to produce content on a web site in such a way that it reads well for the surfer, but also targets specific search terms in search engines. It is a process that legitimately, without the use of spamming techniques, seeks to achieve high rankings in the search engines. SEO copywriting is an art, and it takes time to master. There is no magic solution that will make it easy to create copy that is persuasive, contains relevant keywords a few times, and sounds like it is not contrived specifically to do so. There are a few tricks, and a few useful hints, however.

 

One of our favorite tricks is to use the end and beginning of a sentence to repeat a keyword subtly.

Example: “Miami Hotels: You may want to try one our fine hotels in Miami. Hotel accommodations at the Makebelieve Hotel will exceed your wildest expectations.”

 

The copy should also contain words that are related, but not necessarily inflections of your targeted key phrase. For example, a search engine algorithm would likely see a page on cookies that also contains the words “chocolate chip” or “cakes” as relevant. This tends to happen naturally with well-written prose, but it is worth mentioning.

 

Outbound Links

 

Search engines will evaluate the links that a document contains. A related link on a web page is valuable content in and of itself, and is treated as such by search engines. However, links to totally irrelevant or spam content can potentially hurt the rankings of a page. Linking to a “bad neighborhood” of spam sites or even lots of irrelevant sites can hurt a site’s rankings.

 

Keywords in Page URL and Domain Name

 

It is likely that keywords contained by a URL, both in the domain name or in the file name, do have a minor but apparently positive effect on ranking. It also likely has an effect on CTR because keywords in the URL may make a user more likely to click a link due to an increase in perceived relevance. The URL, like the page title, is also often selected as the anchor text for a link. This may have the same previously mentioned beneficial effect.

 

Internal Link Structure and Anchors

 

Search engines may make the assumption that pages not linked to, or buried within a web site’s internal link structure, are less important, just as they assume that pages that are not linked well from external sources are less important than those that are. Linking from the home page to content that you would like to rank can improve that page’s rankings, as well as linking to it from a sitemap and from various related content within the site. This models real-world human behavior as well. Popular products are often prominently featured in the front of a store. One horrible way to push pages down the link hierarchy is to implement pagination using “< prev” and “next >” links, without linking directly to the individual pages. Consider the example of the fourth page of an article that is split into four parts. It is reached like this:

 

Home Page >> Article Part 1 >>Article Part 2 >> Article Part 3 >> Article Part 4

 

This fourth page is harder to reach not only by humans (who need to click at least four times), but also by search engines, which would probably consider the content in that page as less important. We call the effect of this link structure “death by pagination,” and we suggest two possible approaches for mitigating the problem:

 

1. Don’t use simple pagination. Page with “< prev” and “next >” links, but also add links to the individual pages, that is, “< prev 1 2 3 4 next >.” This creates a better navigation scheme to all pages.


2. Add a sitemap with links to all the pages.

 

Overall Site Topicality

 

The fact that a web page is semantically related to other pages within a web site may boost the rankings of that particular page. This means other related pages linked within a site may be used to boost the rankings of the web site as a whole. This tends to happen naturally when writing quality content for a web site regardless.

 

Invisible On-Page Factors

 

Invisible on-page factors are, as you correctly guessed, parts of a web page that are not visible to thehuman readers. They can be read, however, by a search engine parsing a web site. Invisible page factors include:

 

  • Meta description
  • Meta keywords
  • Alt and title attributes
  • Page structure considerations

 

Meta Description

 

For the most part, the importance of a meta description lies in the fact that search engines may choose to use it in the SERPs, instead of displaying relevant bits from the page (this is not guaranteed, however). Speaking from a marketing point of view, this may improve CTR. A meta description may also have a minor effect on search engine rankings, but it is definitely not a critical factor in that regard. Here is an example:

 

<head>

<meta name=”description” value=”The secrets to baking fresh, chewy chocolate chip cookies that make you wish thousands of calories were actually good for you!” />

...

</head>

 

 

Meta Keywords

 

This criterion is widely regarded as totally unimportant because it is completely invisible and subject to manipulation. It is wise to place a few major keywords as well as their misspellings in the meta keywords tag, but the effectiveness of targeting misspellings this way has been disputed:

 

<head>

<meta name=”keywords” value=”chocolate chip cookies, baking chocolate chip

cookies, choclate, cokies” />

...

</head>

 

Alt and Title Attributes

 

Because these tags are mostly invisible, they are likely not an important ranking factor. Many assert that their value is higher on hyperlinked images. They are important, however, for screen readers and text-based browsers — that is, for accessibility and usability in general, so they should not be ignored for that reason alone. Neither of these attributes will make or break you, but blind visitors using screen readers will thank you in any case. This is a case where accessibility, usability, and search engine optimization coincide. The descriptions should be short. Keyword stuffing in an alt tag will irk blind users using screen readers, and possibly “irk” the search engines as well. Alt tags can only be used in image tags, whereas title attributes can be used in most tags. Here is an example of the alt attribute in an image:

 

<img src=”/images/chocolate_chip_cookie.jpg” alt=”a picture of a really big

chocolate chip cookie”>

 

And the title attribute on a link:

<a href=”/chocolate_chip_cookie.html” title=”a really big chocolate chip cookie”>

 

Page Structure Considerations

 

Search engines use block-level elements, for example <div>, <p>, or <table> elements to group related text. Using block-level elements indiscriminately for layout, as illustrated in the following example, may be harmful:

 

<div>Dog</div>

<div>food</div> is likely to be less relevant than:

<div>dog food</div>.

 

Time-Based Factors

 

Try as you might, but the only criterion that cannot be manipulated in any way is time. Old men and women are often sought for their knowledge and experience. And the price of wine is directly proportional to its age for a reason.

 

This is a useful analogy. Because time cannot be cheated, an old site that slowly accumulates links over time and regularly adds new knowledge is what we term “fine wine.” Search engines tend to agree, and give the deserved credit to such fine wines.

 

Many users previously purchased expired domain names that used to house an older popular web site in the interest of tricking search engines into thinking a site is not new. Search engines are now aware of this practice and reset the “aging-value” of any site that is housed by an expired domain name, as well as devalue its preexisting links. In fact, there may also be a penalty applied to such expired domain names. There are still opportunities, however, in buying domains directly from users with old existing web sites.

The time-based factors that are used as ranking factors are the site and page age, and the age of the links referring to it. The registration length of a domain name may also influence rankings.

 

Site and Page Age

 

A web site that has existed for many years is likely to rank better than a new site, all other variables held constant. Over time, a web site that gradually adds valuable content acquires trust. This models human behavior as well — a shopper is more likely to shop at a store that has existed for many years and provided good service than a new store with no reputation at all.

 

Likewise, a page that has existed for a long time may rank better, both because it probably acquired links over the years, and because search engines may consider age a factor on the page level as well. There are some conflicting views on this, however, and many also suggest changing and updating content on a page over time as well, because it indicates that the site is active and includes fresh content.

 

Link Age

 

Links that are present on other sites pointing to a web site acquire more value over time. This is another instance of the “fine wine” analogy. Over time, a link actually appreciates in value.

 

Domain Registration Length

 

Search engines may view a long domain name registration as an indication that a web site is not engaging in spam. Domain names are relatively inexpensive on a yearly basis, and spammers frequently use them in a disposable fashion. The domains eventually get permanently banned and must be abandoned. A search engine spammer would typically not register a domain name for more than one year, because registering for more than that disrupts the economics of spamming. Search engines are aware of this. Therefore, if possible, it may be wise to register your domain name for more than one year. It certainly cannot hurt.

 

External Factors

 

Many external factors can influence the search engine rankings of a web site. The following pages discuss these:

 

  • Quantity, quality, and relevance of inbound links
  • Link churn
  • Link acquisition rate
  • Link anchor text and surrounding copy
  • Reciprocal links
  • Number of links on a page
  • Semantic relationships among links on a page
  • IP addresses of cross-linked sites
  • TLD of domain name for a link
  • Link location
  • Web standards compliance
  • Detrimental “red-flag” factors

 

Quantity of Inbound Links

A site with many inbound links is likely to be relevant because many people voted for it by placing the link on their sites. There are some caveats here with regard to whether the links are detected to be part of an artificial link scheme, and quality is also a concern as explained in the next section. However, more is generally better.

 

Quality of Inbound Links

 

A popular web site that links to you prominently that itself has many inbound links and a good reputation is likely to mean more than a link from a random page from an unimportant web site with few links. There is no absolute definition that describes “quality.” Search engines themselves struggle with this definition and use very complicated algorithms that implement an approximation of the human definition. Use your judgment and intuition.

 

There are certain exceptions to this rule, as MySpace.com (or other similar social web sites with user-generated content) may have many links pointing to it as a whole, but a link, even from a popular MySpace profile sub page, may not yield the results that would seem reasonable from a direct interpretation of link popularity. The same may also be true for Blogger.com blogs and other subdomain-based sites. This may be because search engines treat such sites as exceptions to stem artificial manipulation.

 

Relevance of Inbound Links

 

A search engine is likely to view a link from a semantically related web page or site as more valuable than a link from a random unrelated one. Usually, a series of links with very similar anchor text from unrelated sources is an indicator of an artificial link scheme, and they may be devalued. Too many links from irrelevant sources may result in a penalty. This has led to speculation that competitors can hurt your web site by pointing many such links to your web site. Google states in its Webmaster Help Center, however, that there is “almost nothing a competitor can do to harm your ranking or have your site removed from our index” (http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=34449). The verdict is out on MSN Live Search, as documented at http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/006666.html

 

Link Churn

 

Links that appear and disappear on pages are likely to be part of a linking scheme. The rate at which these links appear and disappear is termed “link churn.” If this happens frequently, it may be regarded as spam. Those links will either be devalued, or at worst your web site will be regarded as spam and penalized. Unless you are participating in such a scheme, this should probably not be a concern.

 

Link Acquisition Rate

 

An algorithm may view the acquisition of many thousands of links by a new site as suspicious, if not also accompanied by relevant highly ranked authority sites. Usually this is an indicator of a linking scheme. This consideration was affirmed by Google engineer Matt Cutts in one of his videos at http:// www.mattcutts.com/blog/more-seo-answers-on-video/.

 

Link Anchor Text and Surrounding Copy

 

Inbound links that contain semantically related anchor text to the content they point to have a positive effect on rankings. The copy surrounding the link, if present, may also do the same. Some even posit that this copy is as important as the link anchor text itself. Links with such surrounding copy are widely believed to be valued more by search engines, because links without copy surrounding it are frequently purchased and/or less indicative of a vote. Manipulating link anchor text and the surrounding copy, if done en masse, can be used to manipulate search results by creating a phenomenon called “Google bombing” (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Google_bomb). One popular example of this is illustrated, at the time of writing, with a query to Yahoo!, Google, or MSN, with the keyword “miserable failure.” The top result is the White House’s official biographical page for President George W. Bush, which doesn’t contain either of the words “miserable” or “failure” in the copy, but is linked from many sites that contain the words “miserable failure.” This particular Google bomb, and a few related ones, are described at http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miserable_failure.

 

Reciprocal Links

 

A long time ago, webmasters used to trade links strategically to achieve radical improvements in rankings. This created an artificial number of self-serving votes. Over time, search engines became wiser and they devalued such reciprocal links. In response, search engine marketers created link-exchanging schemes with multiple parties to avoid detection. Modern search engines can detect such simple subterfuge as well. That is not to say that reciprocal linking is bad, but it should be balanced by several one-way links as well. The combination of the two models something more natural-looking and will result in higher ranking.

 

Number of Links on a Page

 

A link on a page with few outbound links is generally worth more than a link on a page with many outbound links. This concept is also implied by the formula for Google’s PageRank.

 

Semantic Relationship among Links on a Page

 

A search engine may assume that a page with many links to pages that are not semantically related is a links page, or some sort of page designed to manipulate rankings or trade links. It is also believed that even naming a page with the word “links” in it, such as links.php, may actually devalue links contained within that particular page.

IP Addresses of Cross-Linked Sites

 

It is sometimes useful to think of an IP address as you do a phone number. For this example’s sake, format a hypothetical phone number, (123) 555-1212, differently—as if it were an IP:

123.555.1212

 

The first number, 123, is the area code, the second, 555, is the exchange, and the third, 1212, is the number within that exchange. The numbers go from most significant to least significant. 123 probably indicates “somewhere in this or that state.” 555 means “some county in the state,” and so on. So we can assert that the person answering the phone at 123.555.1212 is in the same neighborhood as 123.555.1213.

 

Likewise, IP addresses located in the same C class — that is, addresses that match for the first three octets (xxx.xxx.xxx.*) — are very likely to be nearby, perhaps even on the same server. When sites are interlinked with many links that come from such similar IP addresses, they will be regarded suspiciously, and those links may be devalued. For example, a link from domainA on 100.100.1.1 to domainB on 100.100.1.2 is a link between two such sites. Done excessively, this can be an indicator for artificial link schemes meant to manipulate the rankings of those web sites. Matt Cutts affirms that Google scrutinizes this sort of interlinking in his video at http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seoanswers- on-google-video/. Perhaps you host quite a few sites with similar themed content for whatever reason, and do not wish to worry about this. There are a few vendors that offer hosting in multiple C classes. We don’t have experience working with any of these providers, and do not make any recommendations. This is just a list of hosting services that we’ve found that offer this particular service. Many of them also offer custom nameserver and netblock information.

 

 

TLD of Domain Name for a Link

 

It is widely believed that .edu and .gov domain names are less susceptible to manipulation and therefore weighed more heavily. This is disputed by some search engine marketers as the actual factor, and they assert that the same effect may be as a result of the age (most schools and governmental agencies have had sites for a while), and amount of links that they’ve acquired over time. Matt Cutts coincides with this view (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/another-two-videos/). It is mostly irrelevant, however, what the underlying reason is. Getting a link from a site that fits this sort of profile is very desirable — and most .edu and .gov domains do.

 

Link Location

 

Links prominently presented in content near the center of the page may be regarded by the search engines as more important. Links embedded in content presented near the bottom of a page are usually less important; and external links at the bottom of a page to semantically unrelated sites may, at worst, be a criterion for spam-detection. Presentation location is different than physical location. The physical location within the document was historically important, but is less of a factor more recently. Ideally, the primary content of a page should be early in the HTML source of a web page, as well as prominently displayed in the center region of a web page.