Google filed US Patent Application #20050071741 March 31st,
2003 opening a small crack in their algorithm vault door. There’re a
number of things to be cognizant of.
Inbound Links
The number, quality and anchor text factors of
links are considered, and now Google seems to include historical
factors in their calculations. Other factors are speed with which a
site adds new links, and lifespan of said links. Link anchor text
needs to vary, but still remain consistent with the site's theme.
Growing links at a measured rate will keep you below the ‘optimization radar’.
Domain Names
Registering your domains for longer periods
implies that you’re more likely to be legitimate. Since they need
to change fairly frequently, spammers commonly only register
domains for one year. Registration owner address data is likely
used for Local Search calculations, and also factored in is
consistency of technical and admin contact details, which
spammers often falsify.
Click Through Rate
CTR is monitored to see if fresh or stale
content is preferred, and is also watched for an increase or
decrease that’s seasonal, or trend related. Google can monitor
and rank pages by recording seasonal CTR changes.
Content & Traffic
Page rankings are logged and monitored for
any changes, and page traffic is recorded over time. Frequency
and amount of page updates that occur, as well as number of
pages is also recorded. Changes in on-page keyword density are
tracked and recorded, as are changes to page anchor text.
Changing focus of multiple pages at once is specifically
mentioned as a factor that will attract Google spam busters.
Behavioral Factors
User behavior such as short duration visits
can be monitored. Via their Googlebar & Desktop Search,
bookmarks & favorites can be watched for modifications,
deletions or other changes.
So, what does this mean for average site owners? Be more
discerning with your link exchanges, and do not add them in
large batches, en masse. It really is all about quality. Five quality
links will serve you much better than a hundred and five with
questionable relevancy. Register new domain names for a
minimum of 2 years. Augment your site’s content by adding
small amounts on a steady basis.
The crux is to shepherd your site’s growth in as organic a manner
as possible, which details aside, hasn’t really changed much. It’s
always been about providing valuable content to your visitors,
and steering clear of methods to ‘trick’ the search engines, or
otherwise artificially increase relevancy. Like anything else, if
it’s really worth doing, then it’s worth doing right. If your
visitors’ success and satisfaction are your main concerns, success
will follow. Just keep your eyes and ears open for potential
pitfalls that exist because of less than scrupulous behavior by
search engine spammers.
Some excellent resources for keeping up on what’s happening
with the constant changes taking place in the world of search
engines:
Marketing Forum Watch
Search Engine Watch
Cameron Miller has been managing Search Engine Marketing
campaigns since September 2000, and lives in South
Florida with his wife Stacey. Contact Cameron cameron@searchwiz.com for a free site evaluation.
