Google SEO

The consensus is that there are more than 200 factors with which Google ranks web pages. There is no reliable definitive SEO list of these 200 factors; however, Google does patent some of these algorithms. From their patent can be gleaned some useful information. The list below is an explanation of some of these patented items.

Keyword in URL - The URL or web page address should have the keyword in it. As an SEO strategy the keyword in the first position is best, the keyword in the second position is second best and so on.

Keyword in domain name - This is similar to the keyword in URL above; however, there is a unique feature which search engine optimization (SEO) should account for. Within Google ranking, the preferred method for indicating a space is by the use of a hyphen. While strategic SEO placement of one or two hyphens is good, use of more than four hyphens is bad.

Keyword in title tag - This is an obvious SEO technique. The SEO strategy to follow in this case is to position the keyword near the start of the title tag. Also the title tag should be less than 60 characters long with no embedded special characters.

Page rank - Page rank is based on the quantity and quality of the links. Page rank is a combination of popularity and value. For SEO this means that the preference is for the search engine to catalog links to several sites. The greater the number of links cataloged, the more popular. This equates to quantity. The SEO process must keep in mind that these linked sites are checked for relevance to the content requested. This is the quality aspect.

Inbound link anchor text - Anchor text is the phrase that users click on to reach a web page. For SEO purposes the anchor text must the optimized keyword.

Link from an expert site - Not all web sites are created equally. Sites which contain expert content provide a higher ranking boost. The search engine optimization (SEO) effort here is to find these expert sites and obtain links to them.

Site age - Basically, the older the site the more stable it is considered. If the site is not already mature there are several SEO techniques to age a site. Beware that most are black hat techniques.

The fact that Google may have 200 plus factors to rank web pages should not daunt the owner. Even though there is no reliable list of these 200 factors, SEO consultants are cognizant of these factors. It is important to discuss the prioritization of these factors as they relate specifically to the owners situation. As equally important is to determine which of these factors will be addresses by the SEO consultant. Just remember that although Google has a strong Internet grip on searches, is not the only game in town.