Understanding how Google ranks pages

Although I try to resist posting entries that are nothing but links to other sites, I think all AdSense publishers who depend on high rankings in Google to drive traffic to their site should go ahead and read Aaron Wall's seminal article on search engine relevancy. Aaron is a professional search engine marketing consultant that I've mentioned here many times before who spends a lot of time writing quality material about SEO and related topics.

Pay particular attention to Aaron's section about Google and how Google thinks a site is spongeworthy. Lots of good advice about building content that Google will (eventually) trust and rank.

You know, I argued in my book (coming up on its first anniversary this weekend!) that writing good content was a lot like being back in school:

One of the things you learned in school was how to write essays and reports. You had to research (find, read, and analyze) source documents. You had to form your own thoughts on the topic and put them on paper in logical sequences. You had to check your spelling and use good grammar. You had to reference other people's ideas.

  — From Chapter 3, “Finding Something to Say”, which can be downloaded here for free

Good writers implicitly write varietally. They don't repeat words or phrases unnecessarily and work hard at using synonyms, idioms and rephrasings to add variety to the writing. This is not the SEO-friendly way to write content. Remember how last week I argued that writing for search engines is like writing your own Dick and Jane reader? I gave an example in my article on human search engine optimization about how an “optimized” paragraph would read when rewritten for a human reader who'd made it past grade school. What Aaron and others are pointing out is that Google in particular is starting to lean more towards the write-for-the-humans angle and not the write-for-the-search-engines method that so many sites employ in order to rank well in the search engines. (Of course, the other search engines aren't nearly as sophisticated, so if you're looking to rank highly in Yahoo or MSN then you don't have to worry so much about writing varietally. For now, at least.)

Print out and study Aaron's article. Lots of insight there.

Sponsored Link: OK, this one makes me laugh, although it's oddly relevant to the topic at hand. I'm talking about Secret Article Converter, which automates the “tedious process of rewriting” content. Seems doubtful to me. Perhaps something I should review for GeekAffiliate? Still seems like there's work involved. Actually, the whole topic of private label rights is something I need to discuss here in the near future. (This paragraph's not much of an advertisement, is it?)

Eric Giguere is the contextual advertising expert who wrote Make Easy Money with Google and Uncommon AdSense. You can read this blog by mail if it's more convenient for you, just send a blank email to memwg-blog@aweber.com to subscribe.

Comments