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Think You Know SEO? Figure Out Google's Algorithm Along With Me Right Here!

by Mike Williams
15 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Last I heard Google had 200 variables it uses to decide how much it likes your site.

Google's algorithm has always been a "black box"...until now.

Let's expose it. Use your experience getting site ranked in Google.

Start listing all the factors Google takes into account these days followed by a % of how important it is to the overall ranking.

If you can't provide a % that's okay. Just provide the variable and we'll let others fight about how important it is.

Will this be an exact science? Hell no! But will it create a really cool and useful guide to SEO! Hell yes!


I'll start.

Keyword density on the page being ranked (I'm my view Google likes 3-5%) = 10%
Age of The Site=10%

Each of these could break down to more than one variable possibly. Let's see where this goes.
#algorithm #alongs #figure #google #seo
  • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
    I guess I'll start with the one that everybody thinks of right off the bat:

    Backlinks.

    Quality/Authority of backlinks.

    Quality/Authority of the page the link comes from.

    Quality/Authority of the entire site the link comes from.

    Amount of Quality/Authority backlinks.

    Timeliness of the link generation.

    Content of the page the link comes from.

    Link text used on the link.

    65% - 70%
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  • Profile picture of the author ioksane1987
    I just put up pages, add content, put links into them... that's seo.

    Trying to figure out how Google works with KW density and age of backlinks and all this blah blah. is like trying to figure out how the world started or if god is real. Don't worry about it... just live your life, run your business, or you'll just get spots.
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  • Profile picture of the author AverageGuy
    there are many technical books about google algorithm. you can find some on amazon. the foundation of the algorithm is: back link. The more backlinks you got, the better chances you will rank higher. all others are just the adjustment of the algorithm. so, the first thing for SEO is: get more backlinks.


    david
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    • Profile picture of the author ExRat
      Hi,

      Wrong part of forum -

      Adsense / PPC / SEO Discussion Forum
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      Roger Davis
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Williams
      Originally Posted by AverageGuy View Post

      there are many technical books about google algorithm. you can find some on amazon. the foundation of the algorithm is: back link. The more backlinks you got, the better chances you will rank higher. all others are just the adjustment of the algorithm. so, the first thing for SEO is: get more backlinks.


      david
      I think that may be starting to change as links got easier and easier to get from sources that didn't really care how good your content is...they already moved towards quality of links over quantity and now I think they may be moving a little bit away from links altogether and more towards user interaction...
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      • Profile picture of the author AverageGuy
        yes, easier to get back links now. however, back link is still the key. check any technical books about google, they all said this.

        because of google's algorithm, any local changes in the network will not have much impact on the entire rank system. that's why they can manual remove some back links and will not result bad effects on too many sites' rank.

        however, the problem is: user feedback is not reliable, and easier to be manipulated. google may adjust their algorithm using user relevence feedback, but it will only change rank a little bit, still can not change the fact, google is based on backlinks.

        david

        Originally Posted by Mike Williams View Post

        I think that may be starting to change as links got easier and easier to get from sources that didn't really care how good your content is...they already moved towards quality of links over quantity and now I think they may be moving a little bit away from links altogether and more towards user interaction...
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Williams
          Originally Posted by AverageGuy View Post

          yes, easier to get back links now. however, back link is still the key. check any technical books about google, they all said this.

          because of google's algorithm, any local changes in the network will not have much impact on the entire rank system. that's why they can manual remove some back links and will not result bad effects on too many sites' rank.

          however, the problem is: user feedback is not reliable, and easier to be manipulated. google may adjust their algorithm using user relevence feedback, but it will only change rank a little bit, still can not change the fact, google is based on backlinks.

          david
          Thanks man. You sound like you know your stuff so I'll defer.

          But within "backlinks" there are obviously many subvariables e.g. PR of the backlink...age of the backlink...relevance of the content on page linking in...am I right?
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgeO7
    Heading Tags with Keywords in them.
    Always have one H1 and only one
    Multiple H2
    Multiple H3

    Lead off the first and last paragraph with your primary page keyword and make it BOLD

    On page links to content should use keywords and be BOLD

    Google LOVES a sitemap, so add a sitemap.xml to your website.

    Register your domain for more than one year. This tends to show your permanence to Google. One year or less doesn't get much relevance and is pretty much a "throw-away" domain.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Williams
      Originally Posted by GeorgeO7 View Post

      Heading Tags with Keywords in them.
      Always have one H1 and only one
      Multiple H2
      Multiple H3

      Lead off the first and last paragraph with your primary page keyword and make it BOLD

      On page links to content should use keywords and be BOLD

      Google LOVES a sitemap, so add a sitemap.xml to your website.

      Register your domain for more than one year. This tends to show your permanence to Google. One year or less doesn't get much relevance and is pretty much a "throw-away" domain.
      Fantastic. Google is shaking in it's boots as it's precious black box is being exposed... But maybe that's nothing new...as AG said: there are already books on the topic. But I ain't much for booklearnin'...
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  • Profile picture of the author GeorgeO7
    By the time the SEO books are in circulation... Google will have revised their algorithm again.

    There is no better place to learn than right here... right now!
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike McBride
    Better minds than ours have built a cottage industry trying to figure this out, and really can't come up with a definitive answer. And as Jeff Hope has pointed out, it's entirely possible that there are multiple algorithms.

    Why waste time "trying to figure it out," when we could be spending our time far more productively creating content, products, and sites that will put money in our pocket NOW?

    ExRat: I'm sure you're right. But I don't know how to move it now and I'm glad it's here so we can get as many responses as possible before it's moved.
    And that's just another variation of the reason/excuse people give when posting stuff here rather than in the proper forum, which is why the main forum is such a mish-mash of, well, #$!^
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  • Profile picture of the author bladerunner
    Unless you work for Google that's a very bold claim SEO expert.
    I dont even bother thinking about how google works, i let google think about how i work.
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