Internet Marketing
SEO GUIDE

SEO Algorithms

Description:Some aspects of learning how websites are ranked in the search engine results are more complicated than others. A good example of this is the use of algorithms. They go into more depth than robots, but they also provide a greater understanding of how sites are ranked.

The term algorithms brings to mind mathematical problems, and even so far as the internet is concerned that isn't very far from the truth.

Search engines make good use of their own algorithms to help them figure out how different web pages should be ranked in the search engine results. Although different search engines will use different algorithms - created in house and regarded as top secret to prevent any webmasters from figuring out how to please each individual search engine and manipulate their ranking as a result - they all have the same basic goal.

An algorithm is designed to work out which pages are the most relevant when compared to the search engine query that a person types into the search field. The pages that it decides are the most relevant will be ranked at the top, and less relevant results will be ranked lower down.

In fact, the word ?relevant' applies to much of what an algorithm does. It evaluates the relevance of web pages, and it does so by looking at the content of those pages and deciding how relevant it is when compared to the information that the searcher is looking for.

Just as robots explore and travel across the internet via the links leading from one site to another, algorithms also recognize links and rank sites depending on the relevance of the sites they link to. For example, assuming all other things are equal, a site about deep sea fishing that is linked to other sites about deep sea fishing will be ranked higher than a site about football that is found to be linked to sites about knitting, cooking and selling cheese. These are extreme examples, but they illustrate the point about relevance very clearly.

This is why it's so important to make sure the sites you are linking to and from contain similar content to your own. Knowing that algorithms work on the whole concept of relevance actually makes it easier to ensure your website can become more search engine friendly, because you now know how to appeal to them in just the right way.