Historically, search engines like Google have been very reticent to share and publicise information on how their ranking algorithms work. Recently, this seems to be changing, as a flurry of announcements has provided insight and definitive answers to questions that have long been a point of debate. What’s prompted this change in approach?
A little history…
In the early days of search engines, many SEO agencies focussed on discovering and manipulating loopholes and weaknesses in search engine algorithms in order to improve rankings and results. As such, search engines have always been very careful to release as little information as possible which could provide insight which may be abused by unethical SEOs.
A prime example of this kind of abuse may be demonstrated by examining the meta keywords tag. This HTML element is designed to allow a page author to tell search engines what a page is about. In the case of this website, the tag may look something like this:
[code lang="html"]<meta name="keywords" content="SEO, search engine optimisation, seo agency leeds, twentysix, twentysix search">[/code]
In the early days of search engines, it was quickly discovered that search engine algorithms looked at this tag to provide context for the page, and considered it an important factor in ranking the page for a query. As such, an unethical SEO might produce something like the following for our page:
[code lang="html"]<meta name="keywords" content="apples, red apples, shiney red apples, apples red, apples red shiney, green apples, apples green, shineyt green apples, apple pie, red apple pie, shiney apple pie, shiney red apple pie, shiney green apple pie, apple pie recipe, red apple pie recipe">[/code]
But this page has nothing to do with apples! However, it’s not hard to imagine ways in which this may be abused if the meta keywords tag were still a strong ranking factor. Thankfully, these kinds of tactics are no longer effective as search engines evolve and become more complex.
What’s Changed?
Although tactics like the one we’ve outlined above no longer work, we still don’t have very much granular information about how search engines actually rank websites. For example, we know that the contents of the meta keywords tag has been devalued due to historical abuse, but this knowledge has been gained through trial, error and testing as a community. Historically, Google and other search engines haven’t given us much information to work with. Until recently, we didn’t have any definitive knowledge as to whether the meta keywords tag is now relevant at all – and if it is relevant, how much, in what contexts, and what is the best practice for using it? Until recently, this and uncountable similar debates have taken place in SEO communities. Now Google and other search engines are coming out and giving us straight answers to all sorts of issues – just recently, Google have officially announced that they completely ignore the meta keywords tag as a ranking factor.
So why this change in approach?
If search engines keep the SEO community guessing, on its toes and researching, then the focus will always be on attempting to reverse-engineer and manipulate ranking factors. What if Google and co could instigate a paradigm shift, where they told us just enough of the basics to discount the need to probe and test for weaknesses? If they could discount common myths, confirm common beliefs, and work with the SEO community, we can change what SEO is all about.
Real, new, modern SEO is about providing value to the visitor. It’s about creating content that answers questions and provides a service, and matching that visitors query to the best possible source. It’s about more than improving rankings; it’s about creating a compelling argument that a website deserves those rankings by being an authoritative, valuable resource.
If search engines can work with us, the ethical SEO agencies, and give us enough insight to be able to define best practices and standards that are based on providing value to the visitor, and improving the website as a resource and an experience, we can make the internet a better place, and shift our focus from playing the ranking game to developing and implementing strategies to ensure that searchers find our clients websites because they are the best result for their search, rather than because an agency has taken advantage of a search engine loophole. These are the kind of visitors who build your brand, and convert every time.
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