Factors Behind the Listings on Google's Search Results
Do you know exactly how Google decides what website to put at the top spot of its search results? Do you know how it differentiates between two websites and decides which is better? Do you understand all the factors that lie behind the listings on Google's search results?
Truth be told - no one knows the answers to these questions entirely, except perhaps for the people working for Google itself. Right now, Google's algorithm (i.e. the method that they use to determine what results are displayed) is a closely guarded secret, though some of the factors that are used to determine it have started to show.
Right here and right now, we're going to reveal the factors behind the listings on Google's search results, so that you can understand just how it all ties together!
1. Keywords
Needless to say, keywords play an important role in search engine results (as you would well expect!). Basically, Google tries to return results that are as 'relevant' to the search as possible. Thus if your website is using the keyword in question strategically, it is bound to be deemed more 'relevant'.
2. Backlinks
Right now, almost every other factor seems to have taken a backseat to backlinks. Google uses them a lot in a sort of 'voting' system. Mind you the 'votes' aren't all equal, and indeed it ties in to another concept known as Page Rank (which we'll discuss soon enough!).
End of the day though, Google figures that if one website links to another then it means that they figure that its something worth linking too, i.e. they're 'voting' in favor of the content of that website.
3. Page Rank (PR)
Google's Page Rank is still fairly new-ish, but its certainly grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years. Essentially, Google now categorizes every website in its database with a number from 0 to 10.
That number represents how high an 'authority' the website in question is, and websites that are higher in authority naturally stand a better chance of appearing near the top of search results for any keyword.
Also, backlinks from websites of high authority are a lot more valuable too!
By this time you should have a clear idea of what lies behind the way in which Google determines which website gets the top spot of their rankings. Understanding this process can help you in many ways, not the least of which being that you now know what you need to do yourself to climb Google's ranks!
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