Search Engine Ranking Factors

Every website owner wants to know the answer to the big question: what does it take to get top rankings in the top search engines? The short answer: it's complicated.

There are always many interlocking reasons why one website outranks another. Rankings are determined by a top secret, jealously-guarded, ever-adapting algorithm that's different for each search engine. Through research and experimentation, it is possible to infer a surprising amount of actionable information about how these algorithms work. All that's really required is to understand the many goals of the search engine engineers, know what they are able to know, and ultimately think like they think. (It also helps to read relevant patent applications, as long as you take them with a grain of salt.) For any specific search problem, there is usually only one best answer, and you can bet the search engines will converge on it at some point.

What follows are some of the well-known factors governing organic rankings. This list is not even remotely exhaustive, nor is it in any particular order. At different times in the past, this list would have looked very different than it does today. It is certain to change in the future.

Some Internet marketers, so-called Search Engine Optimizers (SEOs), charge for revealing their "secrets" to high search engine rankings. Many of them would even charge for information like the list above. In fact, there are few secrets to high rankings, as any honest SEO will tell you. Understanding the fundamentals is very important to high rankings, but the real value is in intelligent research and its applications. Before selecting an SEO firm, you should know what research they plan to conduct on your behalf, and how they plan to use this information to help your website achieve higher rankings.

ClickScience has been following (and perhaps spurring) search engine development from before the birth of PageRank. We know the history of search algorithms because we were experimenting with them as they changed over time. We are well aware of which optimization and ranking techniques are obsolete, which will incur a penalty or ban, and which are safe and essential. We do not sell rankings "secrets" or offer trivial advice. Our work product consists of highly skilled research and development carried out on behalf of your website, along with plain-English explanations of our strategies. Our goal is always to build your bottom line by minimizing your costs and building sustainable organic traffic.