***How Google Determines SERPs - Oldie but Goodie***

[niac7]

Hey guys,

I came across and old post from Matt Cutts that gives some pretty good info on how Google ranks their SERPs.

You can find it here:
Google Librarian Central - Article 12/2005 - 1

In a nutshell,

It appears that Relevance is top priority and he drops a few helpful clues on how that is determined.

He also points out that PageRank is probably the most well-known, but not the top factor in ranking results. Which is why any given search will pull results of different PRs and some lower PR pages will rank better than higher PR pages.

Also, high PR backlinks are good, but the relevance of those backlinks is better (i.e. relevant anchor text).

Pay special attention to the "Exercises for Students". You can pull some gems from those.

Also, read between the lines quite a bit, since he cannot (and would not) tell us ALL of the Search Factors. However, I think he givens the most important ones.

I've always felt like Google checks for a few top factors and whoever has the best overall score with those factors ranks first. In case of a "tie", they use other factors to determine the ranks and so on.

Anyway, this sheds a little light for newbies and may be a refresher for many veterans.

I see so many people just trying to get a Zillion Backlinks that may be irrelevant and may do them little good in the SERPs.

Even the relevant Backlinks may have overkill. You may only need, say, 78 Anchor Text Backlinks to topple your competitor (if your page is relevant enough), so why waste time and energy getting 1000 Anchor Text Backlinks.

Anyway, enjoy that link and let me know what you think.

(Obviously, Google may have new factors now, but I think that any search engine wants to provide Relevance above anything else because that is what the User expects.)

[niac7]

Originally Posted by alwiser

and I thought Google ranked results alphabetically...

Thanks for clearing that up for me. LOL

You're Welcome!

[niac7]

Also found another link just now that kind of reiterates the first one.

Corporate Information - Technology Overview

Basically, it is a combination of Relevancy and Importance of a site that determine the rank. Obviously, there are many sub-factors, but that seems to be the general idea.

[clicktechs]

How much do you think this has changed since they are supposily always changing the system (hopefully for the better)

[butters]

Originally Posted by clicktechs

How much do you think this has changed since they are supposily always changing the system (hopefully for the better)

Not a lot BL + Content = first page, finding good quality back links tho, now, thats hard.

[dburk]

Hi niac7,

You are spot on!

I'm often surprised when I see experienced marketers that haven't yet grasped this basic concept. The goal of the search engines is to provide relevant results and that is not likely to change any time soon.

The notion that PR or backlink count helps your SERP rankings is still so prevelant, I doubt it will ever go away. Backlinks are important, just not in the way some people seem to envision it. It's all about how they influence your page relevance. You don't need more backlinks to outrank your competitors, you just need more relevance. Use your backlinks to improve your relevance and win!

[niac7]

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi niac7,

You are spot on!

I'm often surprised when I see experienced marketers that haven't yet grasped this basic concept. The goal of the search engines is to provide relevant results and that is not likely to change any time soon.

The notion that PR or backlink count helps your SERP rankings is still so prevelant, I doubt it will ever go away. Backlinks are important, just not in the way some people seem to envision it. It's all about how they influence your page relevance. You don't need more backlinks to outrank your competitors, you just need more relevance. Use your backlinks to improve your relevance and win!

Thanks

Sometimes I just shake my head when I see people blindly racking up thousands of backlinks that have no Anchor Text or anything. Your Anchor Text helps determine the Relevancy.

Every Search Engine says their goal is to find the most Relevant response to the query.

Once this is understood, it is a straightforward attack to dethrone your competitors, especially if he does not understand the game.

My full-time job is with a top Bank and their SEO is non-existent. Planning to use these strategies to push the Bank higher. Lookout Bank of America.