How Google Determines the Importance of a Web Site

"Every time you create a link,” Google founder Larry Page told the hushed audience, “you’ve created a citation. But if you just try to count citations on the Web, which is what a lot of search engines do, you run into problems.

"The important of a web site, particularly a web page, is based on the sum of all pages linking to it. That if Yahoo linked from their homepage to your homepage that’s a big deal."

Linking Citations

Based on this simple linking-citation system, people have set out to game (trick) Google into thinking that their web site is more important than it really is. Other spamming tricks include link-farms, 2-3-4 way linking, dynamic IP spoofing and so on.

Patrolling the Web for Spammers

The important thing to remember is that Google has always identified these problems early on thanks to the legions of webmasters who troll the Internet on constant alert to any flux in the Google search results. Spammers might enjoy a high-rank for a short time but this will be merely a blip on the ranking radar.

Google's answer to this is, “We employ an ever dynamic, ever-changing way of measuring the true importance of a web site”. This is why I have continually stress that webmasters should build web pages for users and not search engines. And if you trade links, trade with web sites that you feel would be of benefit to your visitors.

It’s as simple as that. If your web site has been constructed using ‘best practices’ established by Google webmaster guidelines, and not trickery, you should be able to obtain a respectable ranking in Google and the major search engines.

Cutting Through the Clutter

When someone types a word or phrase in the Google search box several things happen:

* Google looks for web page information
* Google analyzes, categorizes and sorts the web page information
* Google returns results based on its analysis

Therefore, you have to look at your web site as if it were one participant in the crowd at the Wood Stock. Imagine yourself as the Google search engine looking out over a sea of web sites trying to determine which are the 10 most relevant web sites that match the search word or search phrase.

In a millionth of a second, Google sifts through billions of web pages and assigns what I call ‘Google Brownie Points’ based on:

* The age of a domain (How long it has been live on the Net)
* The amount of pages, text and linked text related to the query
* The amount of links in your site pointing to relevant web sites (out-bound links)
* The amount of links pointing to site from other relevant web sites (in-bound links)
* The amount of human visits to a web page or web site across the Internet

There are probably 1000 more calculations that Google uses, but no one knows for sure. Not even a Google engineer could answer that question because the Google search algorithm is always being tweaked and improved by different departments and Google teams.

Barebones and Brass Tacks

Let’s review the bare bone basics of good page rankings:

* Build search engine friendly web site pages. (Don’t forget the title tag and meta-description)
* Have a healthy portion of content on every page (HTML Text)
* Trade links with relevant web sites that are of use and value to your visitors

It is important to be proactive in your quest to obtain a good search engine ranking. Keep in mind you do not have to do this all at once, but get in the habit of growing your Internet presence by performing the following:

* Grow your web site by adding more pages with more content
* Submit your web site to relevant directories
* Write informative articles. Place the articles on your web site and publish your articles to web sites like, ezinearticles.com and searchwarp.com

If You Have Something to Say, Then Say It

In the long run, it's all about content. So talk it up and type in down. You don’t have to do it all at once. Keep a word document on your desk top and add to it each time you have a break in your day. Some people like to jot down their thoughts in a written journal, so keep it close by.

If you sell potted plants and have the best prices in town, then toot your own horn! Put this ‘content text’ in your web site.

"We have the best prices for potted plants in Virginia Beach."

The next time someone types the search phrase in Google or other major search engine
“ best prices for potted plants in Virginia Beach”, chances are your web site will get ranked on the first page of Google.

Search engines LOVE content. Period.

About the Author
Rick Vidallon is President of Visionefx, a Web design company based in Virginia Beach, Va. They provide services to national companies as well as small to medium businesses throughout the United States. Rick can be reached at (757) 619-6456 or rick@visionefx.net.