Cracking the Google Algorithm

Understanding the algorithm that determines the index of search results through Google is in fact the hottest topic of interest among the webmasters. This is a vital information as it determines where your website ranks among the search results. The higher the rank, the better chance your site has of getting a visitor.

Another factor here is the popular keywords that users are using to search for their subject of interest. So not only your site should rank high on search results but this should happen for most popular keywords also. This is the most sought after information that SEO companies are after. Every webmaster therefore must be aware what his site rank is and what are the popular keywords his users are using. Here we have been talking about Google results only as it is common knowledge that Google is the major supplier of web traffic among all major search engines in the world. Therefore understanding the "Google Algorithm" is the Holy Grail of Site Optimization.

Today we discuss the major factors that affect the site optimization and result in better search results giving your site a better ranking.

1. Keywords in the URL: Your domain name or the URL should contain your while the webpage should contain the description. Another key is to add keywords on the webpage enclosed within H1, H2 or H3 tags. This causes the search spiders to index the pages with respect to the keywords.
2. Keywords in the Title: Placing of keywords on the title tag of the page as well as the body of the page results in better search results coming out of popular search keywords. Another way to call attention to keywords and keyword phrases on the webpage is to enclose them in H1, H2 or H3 tags.
3. Good Content: The most important of the factors is good and updated content which is relevant to the topic. It is pertinent that the content is regularly updated so that it remains relevant to the users.
4. Internal Links: The website should have links to all the internal pages of the website and any page should be withing 2 to 3 clicks away from the starting page.
5. High Quality External Links: Another important factor to make your site popular with search engine spiders is to have links to reputed external sites. Take special care that the linked site is is not spam filled or is a link farm or is generally a "bad neighbourhood" website.
6. Inbound Links: Care should also be taken that your site is linked by high quality websites. This can be done by submitting articles in online article directories. The articles should have links to various relevant pages of your website. Some experts are of the opinion that you should add new inbound links to your site every month to increase your PR.
7. Reliable Server: Another very important feature critical to get better result with Google is to have highly reliable web server. If your website is not available when the spider visits, then it will not be indexed at all and your popularity as a result will suffer greatly.
8. Plagiarim: Plagiarism is detested by the Google spiders and if they find duplicate content on your site copied from somewhere else then is very difficult to get your site in their primary results.

There are many more factors in this but if you keep the above in mind while starting out then your site will go a long way in getting better results with Google.