subject: Performing well in Google rankings [print this page] Performing well in Google rankings Performing well in Google rankings
Relevance is the primary factor to bear in mind when optimising one's site. It is not enough for a web page to contain the keywords which have been queried, it must also adhere to factors of reliability, popularity, relevance, and clarity of content.
The top five ranking factors or algorithms of 2009 were:
Keyword focused anchor text from external links
External link popularity
Diversity of link sources
Level of keyword usage within the title tags
Trustworthiness of domains based on the amount of links from other trusted domains
One theme which appears to dominate here is that of linkbuilding. Link structures of a website are hugely significant in the performance of that site, insofar as they inform Google to a great extent of the popularity and reliability of the domain. The greater the number of relevant inbound and outbound links on a site, the better, with the keyword here being"relevant". It is in no way beneficial to simply associate a site with numerous links to and from pages with no connection to the original site.
It is worth noting that although a level of local or topic specific links is advantageous, in order to really get ahead it is necessary to ascertain links to and from more globally recognised websites. However, it is desirable to have links from sites which are topically related to your own, rather than from more generic or off-topic sites.
Keyword research is another significant factor to be aware of. It is necessary to determine which keywords would optimise the level of traffic being directed to your site. A balance between competition levels and popularity is the main aspect to take into account, with a low competition/high popularity balance being the ideal combination.
These are just some search engine optimisation techniques which should be considered when attempting to climb those Google rankings. With hundreds of ranking factors in play, it is difficult to address all of them, however, with some knowledge of SEO strategies one is able to make some headway on competitors: even if your efforts result in your site rising only a couple of places, every step counts in the world of search engine optimisation.
