Recently Rand Fishkin of Seomoz.org brought together 37 of the world’s Top SEO experts to tackle Google’s Algorithm, the complex formula and methods Google uses to rank web pages. This ranking formula is extremely important to webmasters because finding which factors Google uses to rank their index is often considered the Holy Grail of site optimization.

Google’s ranking factors affect how and where you are listed in their search engine results or SERPs. Since obtaining top positions for your targeted keywords often spells success for your site, knowing Google’s ranking factors can be very beneficial.

Every experienced webmaster will know Google is the main supplier of search engine traffic on the web, getting listed on the first page or anywhere in the top 10 positions for popular keywords will result in plenty of free quality targeted traffic.

Briefly listed below are some of the main ranking factors you should be optimizing your web pages for in your marketing. The majority of these ranking factors will be very familiar to most webmasters who take full advantage of any and every SEO tactic which will give their site an edge over their competition.

Here are some of the main ranking factors to consider:

1. Keywords In Your Title And On Your Page
Place your keyword or keyword phrase in the title of your page and also in your copy. Many webmasters use variations of their keywords on this page and also include it in the H1 headline.

2. Keywords In Your URL
Keep your page on topic and place your keyword in the URL. Use your keyword in the H2, H3… headlines. Place it in the description and meta tags, place it in bold/strong tags, but keep your content readable and useful. Be aware of the text surrounding your keywords, search engines will become more semantic in the coming years so context is important.

3. Create High Quality Relevant Content
Have high quality relevant content on your pages. Your content should be related to the topic of your site and updated regularly depending on the nature of your site.

4. Internal Onsite Linking
Internal linking is important to your overall ranking. Make sure your linking structure is easy for the spiders to crawl. Most suggest a simple hierarchy with links no more than three clicks away from your home/index page.

Creating traffic modes or clusters of related links within a section on your site has proven very effective for many webmasters, including this one. For example, creating a simple online guide on a subject related to your site’s topic can prove very beneficial. Keep all the links connected and closely related in subject matter and don’t forget to have occasional external ‘anchor keyworded’ links coming to these internal links on your site instead of to your homepage. Deep build your links.

5. Only Linking To High Quality Related Sites
Don’t forget to link to high quality PR related sites. Linking to high quality sites shows the search engines your site is very useful to your visitors. Build relationships within communities on the topic of your site. Be extremely careful not to link to bad neighborhoods, link farms and spam sites… when in doubt, don’t link out!

Unless your site has been around for years and is well established and trusted by Google, this factor will have an adverse effect on your site’s overall ranking. Linking only to high quality content sites will give your site an edge over your competition.

6. Global Linking Popularity
One of the major ranking factors is the Global Linking Popularity of your site. You should try to build plenty of inbound links from quality sites. One simple and effective way to do this is through writing articles and submitting them to the online article directories. Only related sites will pick up and display your articles with your anchor text links back to your site. These are often ONE-WAY-LINKS.

But don’t just write articles to get links, write quality content that will help the reader first and the links will come naturally. Also remember an article is an extremely good way of pre-selling your products and gaining trust with your potential customers.

7. Anchor Text Is Very Important
Anchor text is an important factor your must not forget to use. Perhaps more importantly these inbound links should be related or relevant to your site’s topic, which will play an important role in your rankings. Don’t ignore the text surrounding your links and use different anchor text links to avoid keyword spamming.

Keep in mind, as search engines become more semantic, the whole text of your article will probably be considered your anchor text, thus making articles even more important to your rankings.

8. Number And Quality Of Your Inbound Links
Your inbound links should also come from related high Global Link Popular sites. The more links your have from these popular related sites the higher rankings you will get. Many SEO experts suggest you should have a steady stream of new sites (inbound links) added each month to keep your rankings growing. These links will age and increase your rankings after 4 or 5 months. Both quality and quantity is important.

9. Reliable Server And Service
Like any business, Google is only serving up a product (SERPs) to its customers, this service must be continuous and available at all times. Make sure you have a good reliable server because any extended downtime when your site is inaccessible to the Bots may be detrimental to your rankings. If it is down for over 48 hours, you could be dropped from the index. Ouch!

10. Duplicate Content Is A NO NO!
Make certain you don’t place duplicate content on your site. This may affect your rankings and get your pages thrown into the supplemental index. Be careful not to use duplicate title or mega tags on your pages as this will lower and disburse your internal page rankings, resulting in poor optimization.

Your overall SEO strategy should be to provide valuable relevant content and links for your visitors and the search engines. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, be extremely careful who you link out to from your site. Avoid spam sites, link farms or selling links. Although it is a bit outdated, using the Google Toolbar will still give you a general overview of a site’s PR or Page Rank.

These are some of the most common and important ranking factors Google uses to rank and display their search engine results. Optimizing your site or keywords for these factors can prove very beneficial and rewarding.

There are many more factors so you should use the link in the resource box below to get all the gory details. For any novice or experienced webmaster it makes for a fascinating read and is extremely helpful in tackling Google’s complex ranking system or algorithm. Conquer it and an endless supply of free organic traffic is yours for the taking.

By Titus Hoskins

The controversy surrounding click fraud comes up every year, but it reached a fever pitch during December’s Search Engine Strategies conference in Chicago when participants voiced concerns over experiencing fraudulent click rates ranging from 20 to 40 percent, threatening the entire paid search industry.

At the time, Google’s Business Product Manager for Trust and Safety Shuman Ghosemajumder tried to calm advertisers’ fears explaining that Google was currently “…examining ways to make its fraud-fighting efforts more transparent without revealing crucial information that might help swindlers elude detection.” Ghosemajumder did, however, express concerns over revealing too much information, fearful it would give away algorithm secrets to competitors.

Paid Search Revenues Continue to Rise
While the major search providers have always insisted the click fraud rate is a gross overestimation, a 2005 Outsell survey found that click fraud was a $1.3 billion problem for publishers. At the time, many advertiser respondents (27 percent) said they planned to cut back and/or eliminate paid search campaigns in 2006.

Outsell respondents may have intended to cut down on paid search, but they certainly didn’t follow through. SEMPO’s year-end search marketing report showed that North American advertisers spent $8 billion on paid placement programs in 2006, amounting to 86 percent of 2006’s total search spend ($9.4 billion). Seventy-one percent of SEMPO respondents said they used paid search campaigns, illustrating that there were not many defectors.

Despite advertisers’ insistent claims that the search engines don’t do enough to eliminate click fraud, paid search revenues continue to fill the coffers of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and many second and third tier search engines. Additionally, there is a huge gap in the professed prevalence of click fraud between the search providers and the advertisers and click fraud advocates.

Google Click Fraud Estimate
The rate of click fraud changes depending on whose numbers you believe. Click fraud detection agencies put the click fraud rate hovering around 14 percent, while others believe at least 20 percent of all clicks are fraudulent.

Late last month, Google issued a statement on the Inside AdWords blog that insisted invalid clicks consistently remain under 10, typically in the single-digits, and that virtually all malicious activity is found by Google’s filter. Ghosemajumder claimed the percentage of clicks found by advertiser-initiated investigations account for just .02 percent of clicks. All other accounts, he said, are grossly overestimated.

Alchemist Media President Jessie Stricchiola takes issue with Google’s assertion that it refunds advertisers promptly for fraudulent clicks, stating that “Google has been the most stubborn and the least willing to cooperate with advertisers”.

Google Click Fraud Filters
In February, Google outlined the three-layer filtration process it uses to combat and eliminate click fraud. They described the system which uses both proactive and reactive filters as follows:

1. Proactive Filters: Automated algorithms analyze and filter out invalid clicks in real-time without billing advertisers for these false clicks. This accounts for the vast majority of invalid click detection.

2. Proactive Offline Analysis: Post billing, Google uses automated and manual analysis to identify fraudulent clicks that somehow made it through the first layer of filtration. Special attention is paid to clicks occurring on the AdSense network. This is done pro-actively and without any involvement from advertisers. When false clicks are found, advertisers’ accounts are immediately credited via Click Quality Adjustments.

3. Reactive Investigations: Investigations take place when an advertiser approaches Google concerned about suspicious activity on their account. Each complaint is investigated, though Google says refunds are relatively rare. Google claims that the vast majority of fraudulent clicks, more than 99 percent, are found and thrown out within the first two stages of filtration. The third stage only includes the .02 percent of clicks where advertisers are affected by undetected cases of click fraud.

Click Fraud Detection Agency Estimates

In April 2006, The Click Fraud Index reported an industry-wide average click fraud rate of 13.7 percent. The click fraud rate was broken down as follows:

• Tier 1 searchproviders — 12.1 percent
• Tier 2 search providers — 21.3 percent
• Tier 3 search providers — 29.8 percent

Some of the newer click fraud prevention firms like Click Assurance and ClickLab offer algorithm-based programs to limit bad clicks. These programs estimate the statistical likelihood of a click being fraudulent based on behavioral variables and IP address.

Gap in Prevalence of Click Fraud
As noted above, Google admits to a < 10 percent click fraud rate, while advertisers and click fraud detection agencies believe it is more like 14 to 20 percent. Ghosemajumder explained this gap saying that many advertisers and click fraud detection agencies are looking at the wrong signals, mistakenly classifying valid clicks as fraudulent. Additionally, he believes many advertisers request refunds for clicks already thrown out during the first two layers of the filtration system.

For example, misclassification might occur when counting reloads of an advertiser’s landing page. Say the customer clicks through to the landing page, views a product page, and then hits the back button, returning to the same landing page. Without proper tagging, that one click and five page re-loads could be misclassified as 6 clicks from the same visitor. Google argues that there are hundreds of different signals that must be monitored to detect click fraud, signals that are a closely guarded company secret and known only to the Google click quality team.

By Nick Guastella

For long-time search marketers it will come as no surprise that search has become a media darling. Pay-per-click advertising is the most popular online marketing strategy, and organic search engine optimization provides top click-through and conversion performance.

Search is more popular than display ads and email marketing because of its excellent performance and ROI. Internet marketers should take note of the development in the search marketplace in order to better focus their advertising budgets.

Search is Evolving
As the Web grows exponentially, search engine databases suffer from information overload. As a result, technology and consumer search behavior adapts and changes. One of the early attempts to make search easier was the use of metadata in search. The search engine, Clusty came out in 2004 to “deliver groups or clusters of similar results rather that millions of search results in one long list.” The clusters were supposed to help users see search results by topic so they could more easily find what they were looking for.

Another of the early changes to search was the development of multiple databases within general search. Whether you go to Google or Yahoo, you’ll see category choices such as Web, video, images, local, news, etc. These are all different databases that can help you target specific queries. Google aptly named this concept its OneBox solution; you could access many different databases from one box.

Along with the development of multiple databases on niche products or subjects came the vertical search engines. These verticals are particularly useful for B2B companies. The latest trend in the evolution of the market is social search engines, which give consumers the ability to interact with search queries, putting the human touch in search results. Social search engines seek to connect people through personalization and human understanding, using community knowledge to increase relevance.

Consumers Are Key Drivers
Social search highlights an important point to remember: consumer behavior has become a key factor in driving the search economy. Consumers are performing more searches as the Web becomes legendary for finding information quickly and effortlessly. It used to be that search was second to email in Web activities, but in 2006, Marketing Sherpa reported that search surpassed email, becoming the most popular online activity. comScore reported that the number of searches in the U.S. grew by 28 percent, year-over-year in August 2006.

While search behavior is changing, the proliferation of Web 2.0 platforms and applications such as social networking, RSS and blogging are impacting search, making it even more complex. The information universe is becoming too vast and complex to catalog by keywords alone. This has resulted in the development of expanded search opportunities into local search, vertical search and social search. Many times, consumers are slow to adopt new search resources. Local and vertical search took several years to gain a foothold. Social search is still in the early stages of development.

Local Search
Local search is a key growth area. Borrell Associates estimates that local paid search spending reached $1 billion in 2006 and will reach $1.7 billion in 2007. It will continue to rise, reaching $4 billion by 2010, when it will account for 47 percent of local online advertising.

The U.S. Government estimates the number of small businesses at 24 million, all of whom are in a great position to leverage the power of local search. While many small businesses still don’t have Web sites, the promise of local search is there for the asking. These businesses spend $90 billion annually on local advertising, mostly in traditional media. This reflects the potential for online advertising growth as businesses shift money from traditional to online advertising because of its effectiveness and ROI.

Nielsen/NetRatings shows that Google is catching up with Yahoo on local searches. Verizon SuperPages and SBC’s YellowPages are also big players. As users continue to use the local search option on major engines, local search continues to gain in popularity and advertising revenue. Now is a great time for a small business to get into search engine marketing on a local level. The field is relatively open and not nearly as competitive as the general search engine results.

Vertical Search
Another good option for niche businesses is optimization focused on vertical search engines. Vertical search engines, along with the new social search engines, are beginning to lure consumer and B2B searchers away from the general search engines as the desire for more targeted answers and the ability to pose more focused queries increases. This is an indication that general search leaves many questions unanswered, resulting in lower productivity.

Vertical search engines can provide the targeting that general search engines lack. This is why they are becoming increasingly popular. The market leaders in search, Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, all are focusing efforts in the vertical space in order to respond to the needs of users. Social search is also on the rise with social search engines like Collarity and Rollyo allowing users to limit irrelevant results and benefit from the collective intelligence of previous searches.

Social Search
The interesting thing about social search engines is that they change search algorithms to include the human factor rather than depend solely on computer data. They not only include consumer-generated content, they can also include human intent. Collarity delivers search results with consumer-driven answers to queries and allows searchers to select various aspects of a search query. Rollyo allows users to create their own search engine roll, serving information from a preselected list of sites and/or from other users’ rolls. The social dimension of the Web and search engines is a fast growing phenomenon, and the major search engines are also experimenting with social search. We’ve had Yahoo Answers and Google Base in beta for a while, and Microsoft is reportedly negotiating with Eurekster for social search technology.

As search technology moves forward, new search models will continue to be launched. As the mobile Web and mobile search continue to expand, search queries will drive commerce around the world anytime anywhere, across platforms. This can only enhance the role of search in Internet marketing.

By Claudia Bruemmer