Google Gives Web Page History More Importance

The Google patent application submitted in March, 2005 has generated a good deal of debate among search engine optimization experts. The patent document contains many general suggestions about the direction Google wants to move their search criteria and ranking techniques in the near future.

The document points out two areas in particular in which "there remains a need to improve the quality of results generated by search engines." (0009) These two areas are

(a) artificially inflated rank due to spamming techniques, and

(b) stale documents that rank higher than fresh ones, and therefore "degrade the search results".

Google's ingenious proposal is to deal with both of these problems by focusing on the history of web documents and web links. Assuming they have the technology to record such a massive amount of information, their objective seems to be to keep a detailed record of the pattern of changes within web pages.

This should address the spam issue by revealing unnatural patterns of change. Too many links too quickly suggests "unnatural" linking activity has been taking place. Significant links that come and go might suggest that expensive links are being purchased on a temporary basis and are not "natural".

And it should address the "staleness" issue by looking at the way specific pages have been updated. If a page that has ranked high in specific searches has not been updated for a period of time, this will be seen as a reason to downgrade the importance of that page. Other pages with more activity, more up to date information, and more linking activity, all other things being equal, will rank higher.

History is more important than ever

This means Google either already gives, or intends to give the "history" of documents more significance. And not just the date when the document is created, or most recently changed. They also propose tracking the pattern of the changes in content, changes in anchor text of links, changes in numbers and quality of inbound links, changes in quality and number of outbound links, changes in other pages within the same associated group of documents, and even changes within the pages linking to a document.

On top of that, they propose tracking user habits and patterns over time. How users got to the page in question, how long they stayed there, how many times the particular page was clicked on when it was presented in a search...a very impressive (bewildering?) array of factors.

In fact this is an ingenious attempt to solve the "spam" and "staleness" problems at the same time. The major assumption is that up-to-date "relevant" content -- the kind the search engines are supposed to be giving us -- will be regularly updated, will be inter-connected by an ever-increasing (and regularly changing) group of inbound links. In other words, links will come and go, changes will happen gradually, and "spikes" in either traffic or increased link activity will be sure signs of spamming activity.

Conclusions

Whether all of these measures will ever be fully implemented or not is beside the point. These suggestions make sense, and will be adopted to some extent by all search engines. The future has been defined, and it is up to creators of websites and online marketers to make the most of it.

The most important conclusions we can take from the patent application is that the history of our pages matters. In practical terms, this means:

-- Rapid and wholesale changes in content will be looked upon with suspicion

-- Rapid increases in numbers of inbound and outbound links will trigger red flags

-- Changes in anchor text that alter or remove its relationship to on-page content will be suspect

-- Lack of regular and steady (but not radical) changes will get your pages labelled "stale"

-- Links that were valuable last year (or month?) will not be as valuable this year (or month) because they are becoming "stale".

In other words, webmasters and internet marketers must keep adding content, keep upgrading their pages, keep improving and adding new ones, continue to get new links, and freshen up their old ones if they can.

But they should not do any of it too quickly.

Think of this "history" component as a method of measuring change. It may seem ridiculously vague, but this is the reality we have to deal with.

In the new world order, change has three speeds: Too Slow, Too Fast, and Just Right.

Rick Hendershot publishes the Linknet Advertising Network, a group of more than 35 websites and blogs offering web owners advertising and link promotion opportunities.

---

How are Directories Different from Search Engines?

Directories are important to your ranking and success with Search... Read More

5 Reasons Why Link Swapping Is Killing Your Website

I created my first website in 1995 - it was... Read More

10 Website Blunders Guaranteed to Send Your Visitors Elsewhere

When you build your website you need to have a... Read More

Types of Keywords

Keyword can be classified into three categories :-Single word Keyword-Multiple... Read More

Reciprocal Link Exchanges - A Foolproof Technique That Will Never Die

On the Internet, links are very important for websites to... Read More

How to Test a Keyword for Success!

Finding the successful keywords is crucial in order to get... Read More

Success Is Simple: Five Steps to Online Success

The Internet can be a confusing place to do business.... Read More

Tips to Maintain your Website to Keep Visitors Coming Back

When you design a website you should create it so... Read More

5 Innovative Ways To Advertise Your Web Site

1. Directory Linking Create a directory of web sites on... Read More

Ten Heavy Duty Online Sales Grabbers

How to improve conversion rate for your website? How to... Read More

How To Quickly Make Money With Your Website?

Quickly making money with a website is the dream of... Read More

How To Turn Visitors Into Posters

So your having a hard time turning your visitors into... Read More

Web Site Promotion: How To Use The Power Of Perpetual Marketing To Heat Up Your Sales

You may ask, what is perpetual marketing?Perpetual marketing means when... Read More

The Importance of Page Content

The Importance of Page ContentThe content of a page is... Read More

Five Fun Ideas That Increase Online Traffic

1. Using Hidden Links to increase subscribers or for a... Read More

How Do I Promote My Website?

If you are a small business owner with a website,... Read More

A Novel Free-For-All Idea

Almost anyone who has tried submitting to free-for-all sites will... Read More

3 Reasons Your Website Might Fail To Attract Enough Customers

Virtually all website owners concentrate their efforts and energy into... Read More

Get Thousands Of Clicks To Your Website For Free

Do you want to advertise about your website?Wait and have... Read More

Web Site Promotion: 10 Reasons Why Your Web Site Is Not Making Money

Do you know why your website is not making money... Read More

Free Online Advertising: 10 Dynamic Secrets To Make Your Ad Stand Out And Ignite Sales

No matter what you're marketing or promoting, if your Ad... Read More

The 5 Key Steps To Promoting Your Website

Promoting your website can seem like a daunting, complicated task.... Read More

The Power of News!

Have you even been to CNN's website? Odds are you... Read More

Online Advertising: Three Smart Online Advertising Secrets To Promote Your Online Business

The shortcut to succeed in business is to do what... Read More

Hit the Target with Bullseye Marketing

Let's see here... as of today Google states it has... Read More

Seecrets on Website Promotion: Results of Open Source Marketing Plan after 2 Months

This author's open-source marketing plan, as announced on June 29,... Read More

4 Simple Tips for Targeted Traffic

Here are 4 of the most easiest and... Read More

About Testimonials and Customer Focused Sites

Think about it, when you browse any web site, you... Read More

Website Promotion ? The Power of Writing Articles

I've been operating two small retail Websites for several years... Read More

Streamline Your Training Costs with Streaming Media

Streaming Media?now a well accepted Internet technology. Yet streaming is... Read More

How to use Free Website Submission Services

After you have built your website the next natural step... Read More

Online Promotional Strategies For Start Up Entrepreneurs

As a small business owner are you looking at promotional... Read More

Why You Should Learn HTML

Do you have a website or are you planning on... Read More