Aug 09 2011

Is The Way We Rank Websites About To Change?

Currently, search engines rank their web pages based on a number of things, including; the number of visitors, the amount of keywords, how long the domain has been in operation for, how many back links the website has, its page rank and a few others. However, it looks like this is about to change. Here, we will explore if this is the case.

Google filed a patent (on the 24th Feb 2011), which detailed how this new system would work, and also that their current system had a few issues. They are worried that at this point there is too much focus on keyword manipulation.

The patent documents that the focus should be switched to usage data and frequency of visits, but it does say that other features will continue to be used. This patent was launched on the same day as Google Panda, which suggests that these two have been launched to stop websites bending the current rules.

What the Patent Says

The patent has been documented very clearly, and here is what it says:

  • The search engine forms a list based on link scores and IR
  • These pages are listed based on usage statistics (in whole or part)
  • Usage stats are returned on a live basis, meaning that ranking would change from second to second
  • Formed based on the number of unique visitors
  • Combine this ranking with PageRank and keywords and other bits in order to form a ‘fair rank’.

Of course, this patent means nothing currently, because it was filed with wording that allows Google to make anything from a complete overhaul to no changes at all. The frequency of visits, number of users and additional user data can all be gathered in different ways, which means that Google can essentially keep the same system or alter it to any way that they believe will be the most successful.

Visit Data

This could be:

The highest number of times a page has been visited (including repeat visits)

The number of times the page has been visited in a specific timeframe

The difference in the amount of times a page has been visited from month to month

The amount of unique visitors to the page

This information would be gathered on the IP address of the person and their host. Alternatively, a combination of cookie information and other machine based facts to associate the visitor with the website. However, the issue here lies with the amount of bots or repeat visitors to a site.

This means that the search engines (based on the patent) would have to choose from a combination of these three approaches (term based, link based and usage based). This would then be combined with the IR and link scores in order to give an accurate ranking.

Summary

There is no doubt that the way we will rank in the future will change. Unfortunately, now there are too many ways to bend the system which leaves those not in the know well behind. Hopefully, with this new system, more people will understand how to successfully boost their rankings.

Article was written by Kristian from the RFK Solutions writing team. RFK Solutions offer a range of Search Engine Optimisation services to clients all over the UK. They are SEO experts.

7 Responses to “Is The Way We Rank Websites About To Change?”

  1. Thomas says:
    August 9, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    I can never figure out their patents….its all super nerd language.

    But I do like where this is going. I have a car website that ranks on the first page for its main keywords, but a few of the websites that are above me are years old and have no new content.

    So someone looking for a certain car will usually bounce of the competition website since its from 2006.

    So if usage stat will come into play…my site should in fact jump up a few spots since it is current and more people use it on a daily basis..hopefully

  2. John Robberson says:
    August 10, 2011 at 4:29 am

    I have to agree with Thomas, it’s all nerd gobbldi gook.
    I’m a lawyer and I can’t figure out what all of the vagueness and nerd terms mean….. :-)

    I’m sure that Google will make changes again and like ships in a storm, some sites will sink, some will survive the storm and some will steer clear and have clear skies. Only the future will tell.

    But as marketers we must stay ready to make changes whenever necessary.

  3. Henry Louis says:
    August 10, 2011 at 5:46 am

    It was great thing to know. People would now again have to start discovering things to make the websites rank top in search engines.

  4. Jeff Downer Indianapolis Indiana says:
    August 10, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    I have a question. How spam proof is this proposed criteria? I don’t claim to have a way to game this approach but I am sure others who are smarter than myself would have some ideas about creating “visits” from unique visitors.

  5. jonathanfraser4 (Jonathan Fraser) says:
    August 11, 2011 at 12:39 pm

    Is The Way We Rank Websites About To Change? – http://dailyseotip.com/is-the-way-we-rank-websites-about-to-change/1789/

  6. vernon says:
    August 15, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    Yes i will also agree of what Thomas said. But for me if this led to a change, those people must notice and understand well the new system.

  7. Avadean says:
    August 16, 2011 at 9:55 pm

    great post, it would be cool to see the ranking system changed. Especially if they included visit data.