Ranking Algorithms and Their Mysterious Metrics

Search Engine Endeavours 

Like a librarian puts the best book forward on topic, search engines like to put the most matching answer to the query...and this is their bread and butter. But in case of search engines there is a catch they like to put forward the best answer in a smooth and efficient way. As a matter of fact they put forward more than one matching answer the second one and onward being a near miss.   

The first answer nearly always gets the most clicks by virtue of it being seemingly loaded with information the visitor is searching. The response to click on first link is universal and is attributed to human nature curious as always with firm belief in the leader.  The others get clicks more on the virtue of their title and meta description which show what the page promises. There are other information pieces on the SERPs nowadays but they are not the matter of discussion here. The browser landscape keeps on changing anyway. On one page the number of results shown is ten and users rarely cross this threshold.  

Like the best book creates reputation for the library most apt answer does so for the search engines. Thus there is a die hard quest among the engines to produce the best results and instantly. This is content driven for sure but whence there is competition among the peer plethora metrics come into the picture.   

The search companies are always analysing the results that their algorithms produce and keep on with efforts to produce relevancy by analysing intent since one query may be having a different quest hence knowing the intent behind takes the search companies loser to what is being sought. 

Algorithmic History

It was just keywords that ruled the SERPs but being easily manipulated the importance of meta information was diluted. The keywords were also manipulated in the website content which resulted in changing algorithms to punish content with keywords beyond normal. Now the stress is on LSI or semantic indexing in which case the relation between the words leads to better understanding of the topic. This also addresses write ups written purely for the engines. Now stress is on writing naturally keeping the visitor in the mind.    

The links ruled the roost for some time but soon they were quantified on basis of being genuine and of quality. Thus cheap links which use to pummel an undeserving site up on the ranks were ousted.  Use Google Disvow tool to remove bad links else they will diminish ranking.

Links are a valuable for ranking provided they are authoritative, natural or subject to editorial scrutiny. Nofollow links are not that important but of late they are said to deliver hints to the ranking algorithms. Repetition of anchor text is punishable now hence use natural or long tails anchor texts sparsely along with few matching phrases. Anchor text are very informative as keyword updates to algorithms and help draw an accurate picture about the page. Off page optimization thus becomes an imperative for better performance on SERPs and increase traffic. Content wrapped links also create referrals besides increase domain authority and push up ranking . 

Speed of download is very important and responsive sites follow this metric, one among the web core vitals the download time of major element is most to impact the sites performance. The other web core vitals are the stability of onsite elements and smooth interactivity besides proper coding, safe browsing without any hindrance especially from malicious elements and scripts.          

Features like bounce rate are dependant upon contents, download time, on page attributes like videos, images and info-graphs. But content dominates on page, and if it is a perfect answer to the visitors query low bounce rate will  result. Search engines like Google are said to have inculcated over two hundred ranking metrics many of which we will never come to know. Hence the best guesswork is add relevant content, build mobile friendly website for fast download and add attributes. 

Read Google Webmaster Guidelines on the company blog or published elsewhere for guidance. The major SE Company is quite vocal about quality buildup and page experience which encompass most of the metrics.       

Best way to compete on SERPs is to make your website or portal better and better. On page experience counts so fine tune the vital elements of your website. Do not spam or find short cuts to success. No black hat Seo Techniques should be used.   

============================================

About Author

Uday provides affordable search engine optimization or SEO Services and Contents for Digital Marketing. 

He also teaches Internet Marketing in summers in Jabalpur in India his hometown. 

Uday is a freelance Naturalist and birder and mixes all vocations to make a living, 

He can be contacted at:

pateluday90@hotmail.com

9755089323

Website Promotion Content Interplay & Importance

Website Promotion - SEO - Digital Marketing 

Without website promotion you will not get business from the Internet. Without content your site will not be ranking high enough on browsers or search engine SERPs you will not get business. This applies to professionals as well who are seeking response from the Net to increase their services or business. You may be hosting a website for any purpose it may not solve your problem without high ranking and for that you require SEO or search engine optimization which is part of Digital Marketing.      

There is another option for you and that is Google Ads or any other PPC. Well if you can afford or it works for you well and good. But promotion is a long term solution which you can add along with PPC.  Not everyone can afford Advertisements hence there is no option without SEO Campaign. 

Ethical optimization practices will fine tune your website as far as coding, architecture and user friendliness is concerned. It will also help in updating or re-engineering your website contents.  

In this blog entry we are discussing contents or rather algorithm friendly contents. Without good  writing ability you cannot provide promotional services and they have to be written with the user in mind but should assist the search engines to  decipher it for indexing and ranking.  Most important aspect of your site is to be visible to relevant users, off topic visitor with no positive intent in mind will only end up using the bandwidth which can be a costly affair.   

Content is a comprehensive word in search terms, you will only rank on what you mention on the page unlike before. In earlier time you could rank on any term which your anchor text promoted. Not any more after incidence of Google bombing.  Hence before making a long list of terms to rank on make sure what your write up is speaking about. This is not a disadvantage since search has to be on topic and focused in order to  deliver. 

Remember there are lot of metrics that the bots use nowadays to index and rank. But contents and authoritative links are important. What importance the latter holds for ranking should not concern the webmaster since one major advantage of link building is getting referrals. Yes there should be a conjoint effort and include both ethical optimization and referrals. The latter helps you reach out to the customers or clients bypassing the search engines. In the current scene content should be focused on not only that meant for web pages, but also whence you are writing to create a link. If done well both efforts can lead to natural organic growth which the SEs prefer.  

If you write naturally than Semantic terms would flow in your write ups and this would help avoid infusion of search terms beyond reasoning. If a percentage of keyword is unnaturally high than you may be shown the door or the ranking for that term may plummet.  

Why Contents? 

Well contents are conversations more in use than attributes like videos, images or graphs. And this will remain. Users or visitors to a site seek answers to their query and that is best provided by contents followed by the other attributes mentioned above. Users seek quick answers to their query, and  optimization brings them the most relevant answers to their query via blog, website, videos, images, graphs and knowledge panels.    

Hence pay attention to what has been penned during the SEO Audit, wean out duplicate or repeat information, copied write up and come up with what is most relevant to the user's query. 

Webmasters

As webmaster you will not be effective until unless you learn all aspect of writing for search engines and users the latter being the most important. Hence begin practicing now if you have not yet done so, practice daily till you achieve perfection. The contents will help in Digital Marketing whence you promote them on many social media sites. Learn to  write compulsive and catchy slogans or call for action sentences. Be versatile in search engine optimization technical and content wise.     

And while you are at it learn to format and plan user friendly "UX" web pages so that the readability also increase and so does goal conversions.  

Remember a website is an investment and it has to be boosted by regular promotion. Hire a professional if you cannot do it yourself without hesitation. Businesses seek all venues for opportunities and the Net is one one them. A big one with bright future.    

========================

About Author

Uday provides affordable search engine optimization or SEO Services and Contents for Digital Marketing. 

He also teaches Internet Marketing in summers in Jabalpur in India his hometown. 

Uday is a freelance Naturalist and birder and mixes all vocations to make a living, 

He can be contacted at:

pateluday90@hotmail.com

9755089323

  

SEO & Algorithmic Conundrum

Uday provide search engine optimization service and Digital Marketing. He is a writer and writes on websites and blogs for clients. He is experienced and affordable. Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com

Mob: 09755089323

====================================================================

Indexing & Ranking

They keep changing, the Google Algorithms, new features are added and additions and changes are a constant evolutionary feature. Not all changes or additions are directly for indexing or ranking some like Penguin update act as filters in order to stem the rot or remove low quality content. Hence with introduction of Penguin Filter link schemes, low quality links, keyword stuffing all went for a toss into the oblivion. The disvow tool will help you if you have been engaging in cheap link building.

It all started with simple response to a query...keywords in tons where effective and profuse link building led to higher ranking. All this is past and quality and relevance counts more and more. No more keyword stuffing no more cheap repetitive contents in mass.   

Like a librarian which aims at delivering the best and most relevant book to member the search algorithms do that as well to the visitor. They answer queries with most relevant and apt answer. So search engines keep updating their programs that index and rank. In recent times Rank Brain aims to offer a better return to long queries hence the a land mark in natural human language processing by machines.  

Besides quality and relevancy control search algorithms consider many metrics especially from social media for ranking. This has given rise to active participation in social media by search engine optimizer for better ranking on SERPs as well as for effective digital marketing. More likes, more comments, more traffic, more followers or members and wider presence for better web saturation matters a lot. So start building bases and enhance your performance in LinkedIn, Instagram, Face Book, Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest, UGC content sites, blogs article publication forums and so on... 

Websites with relevant attributes like videos and photos, polls, comment features, search facilities all perform better on the search engine result pages.   

Only quality links matter now especially those on reputed sites and the ones with editorial scrutiny. Cheap link building techniques and keyword stuffing can lead to penalty as well as low performance on SERPs.  

In short algos will keep on changing and you as an SEO will have to be on your toes. For example mobile or smart phone search has been accorded priority hence you should advise the web designer to make a responsive website or portal. This applies to blogs as well. 

Though technical SEO does play a part in the whole process, it is contents that matter the most hence put all your energy in writing and take help of programmers or techie web designers to perfect the on site features for higher speed and better crawl etc. Be thorough with meta tags and the parameters. Have a good command over search console and analytics. 

Many on site actions by visitors helps the SEs in gouging the performance of websites and hence the visitors liking. Keep in touch with your web page speed and bounce rate. Stay away  from duplicate or thin contents, low authority websites, content farms, directories into mass Ads, and all things bad. 

If you follow ethical and qualitative practises your client websites are less likely to be affected by algorithm changes. Sleep Well!  

SEO: Ranking Factors & Rationale

SEO: Ranking 

Bounce rate, speed and link architecture also determine your success on the SERP. Gone are the days when big concerns could hire a large team of web buzzers and make links using articles and directory submissions. Forums were also in this game but there the admins were more strict so the former two gamed the algorithms no end.  

I worked in an IT concern which was much into gaming the system using my articles they could make cheap copies and get massive links...it worked. But before leaving I told them it will not work in future and it did not. Similarly with directories I could write title and description which was than manipulated by the team and submitted to thousands of directories. Then this too stopped working as I had warned...but they would not listen and the site was sent to the gallows. Anchor repetition also failed. 

Link building still works, directory submission still work, forums still work but in all the cases aesthetics have changed. No spam is tolerated by any search engines. Moreover a large number of metrics have come into picture to index and rank a website on a keyword. 

Quality link building or authoritative links means a great deal of success. if your site gathers natural links nothing like that...here people link your site because they find it useful information or action wise. If your award winning company website is linked with authoritative site offering the awards on that field you have made it. This is an example.

But this will not be the case all the time hence do build links not to game the system but to get referrals. If your site follows the SE guidelines it will not be penalized since referrals lead to web saturation that is essential for websites.  

Many of the metrics are not known by the webmasters and they may never know. But aesthetics will work...always...make the website that delivers good user experience, repeat visitors will stand as testimony.

Why would any one visit a website again and again using a keyword or set of phrases regularly until unless they are finding something useful. Even one time visitor if they stay for a reasonable time and there is an action then the website has scored a point to the search engines. One time visit with good enough time spent on it and or action is there...the purpose is solved in one go.  If you understand this you will also understand the role social media plays in ranking and building an online reputation or authority....that does count.   

By some mechanism search engines are able to make out reputation or authority of the site! Domain age is certainly one of them, hosting period and hosting stability also matters. Social media performance also matters. 

Speed is something which makes a user explore the website, a slow download is a turn off...nobody wants to wait for a site to load. A reasonable good downloading time hence is a must. It need not necessarily be the fastest.

A good architecture means a quick pathway to the targeted page without crazy maneuvers. Hence good link architecture means easy access to important pages and the action page. If you observe the funnel you will discover the pathway that a visitor or visitors take to reach a particular goal. For search engines this would also mean a good directory structure...make use of silos if necessary.  A good site map and well configured robot.txt file all are important.

Contents are foremost as far as good user experience is concerned. Hire a good content writer or be one yourself. Be it website contents, blog contents, article contents, content in user generated sites all matter...  

Contents with videos, infographics and relevant images enhance user experience tremendously. Forget about search engines if your website satisfies the user criteria it will always be the winner. There are many places on Earth that do not spend a penny in advertising but are yet successful, only because of their delivery ...news travels fast.   

A responsive website is mobile friendly which is important since quick search is most of the time taking place on smartphones. Browser compatibility, platform compatibility, content size, readability , optimized graphics and images, contrast between back ground and text, all matter. 

If you can guess all that would matter regarding the user satisfaction inculcate in your design and content without hesitation. If you can be a winner without getting into the mad race of the SERPs you have made it.     

Like reputed libraries which search for a great book by a great author search engines also seek a great website by a great owner.   

Last but least there are no cheap or quick solutions, if you are a cheapster and do not have patient... hang your portal!

Uday offers SEO Services and Website Contents in English. 

He also teaches Internet Marketing in Jabalpur.

Content: pateluday90@hotmail.com

Mobile: 9755089323

Changing Face of SERPs & WebMasters Guidelines

Overview

With paradigm shift in search engine optimisation brought about regularly at the behest of changes to the algorithms of major search engines, webmasters are facing an uphill task. While the gist of the shift is attributed to the search engines pushing the clients towards paid advertisement on which major chunk of their revenue depends there are other reasons surfacing as well.  

Though webmasters role remains central to optimisation the rein on the SERPs is now in control of the companies with popular search algorithms. There is another sacred reason for the reins loosening from the webmasters. Through the last decade of development of search on the result pages the companies like Google have been according greater weightage to quality and relevancy. This has been brought about by regular evolution of algorithms and emerging associated technologies which have made the robots much smarter.    

On the SERPs people seek answers as well as amusement and unraveling of mystery of sorts. Yes a good lot is there for simply whiling away. The result page is like a Pandora's box for you never know what you may come across - this remains in the focus of users till this day. They are not interested in seeing the same results day in day out especially the brands which they are aware of anyway. The search is also for the lesser known embedded deep in the piles of results capable of springing surprise or a rarity. Hence with decreasing role of webmasters the diversity on the SERPs is taking a back seat giving rise to oft repeated results with which the users are getting tired off. This is what I call as demystifying the Internet. There will definitely be less takers. 

Internet is like a celestial void you never know what lies in the ahead.

With greater control of the contents and the backlings,the companies have brought about these changes as mentioned here earlier. This has also meant less control of results for the webmasters and elimination of black hat techniques.

BackLinks

In contemporary the impetus on backlinks has certainly decreased but not eliminated. Greater impetus is now placed on contents and related attributes of web design like the speed, architecture, images, videos, graphics and so on. The technical side has also experienced a weightage with better coding, usability, fluid navigation and quality design being preferred. There has been efforts to maximise search results with easy navigability with introduction of knowledge box, metadata and the carousel. 

But the fact remains that only ten results are usually looked into. Hence the race for the first page. 

More and more metrics are being included in indexing and ranking algorithms. This has made the whole process of optimisation holistic. The social media presence is one of the yardstick of measures or rather a number of activities where in online reputation aids search engine as to who will reach higher for relevant search terms.

Internet Marketing 

Hence Internet Marketing is the right term for promotion on Internet. Albeit this is inclusive of SEO or search engine optimisation as a key process. It used to depend heavily on link building earlier. Though building links is imperative even if the engines devalue it, a webmaster's effort should be holistic with content creation and social media participation being the major role players in the contemporary scenario. 

Coming back to link building it is an effective method to create referrals and place content on social media apparatus. Links are easy and free advertisement medium albeit they carry less value up the SERPs but nevertheless spammy links will penalise your site as well as devalue your online reputation on the social media. 

Webmaster Alternative : Online Presence 

With ever constricting space on SERPs the webmasters have to find alternative route to expose their client site to prospective or targeted audience. This is where Internet Marketing comes into the picture. Social media activities, push on the messaging sites using email and SMS should be an associated activity. This way there will be less reliance on SERPs and costly Ads. You will be able to provide targeted exposure to the site without being much on the result pages. 

This only means that content creation is imperative without which you should be looking for another job. On the design and development side association with coders and programmers is a must that is if you know the attributes of sound design and can instruct the designer fraternity in touch to make necessary changes. 

Panda Updates: What Are They?

Panda Updates are rolled out time to time in order to prevent on page spam. Google does not like misuse of on page elements that are purely embedded for increasing the rank on SERPs. Hence the company introduced a filter that could discover spam elements on the page and deal accordingly.       

Content farms where the most targeted using this filter. Blogs and websites using inadequate contents in order to rank higher were pulled down. I had come across many blogs acting as content farms which were of very low quality written by novice writers. The articles  were used to publish on blogs, scraper sites and websites in order to rank high and eventually benefit from the published Ads.      

Google also targets such sites by making changes to its algorithms. The search engine giant has been busy cleaning up the mess. Many sites that have escaped the filters would eventually come under the net in future roll outs. 

Hence the moral of the story is that one should have unique informative contents if you wish your site to rank well and attain impressive traffic. Misuse of on page elements like H1, H2, H3 tags, repeated keywords and irrelevant and shallow literature on sites will result in rankings going down.     

Likewise link farms, as portals having too many links then is natural are also the target. Spam link architecture in order to promote few pages is also discouraged.

Though it is anybody's guess as to what content the search engine ascribes as unique. But it is simple approach that matters. No copied contents, no internal duplicate contents,  no verbosity or garbage. Be sensible in order to avoid online penalties which the search engines may impose.