Pittsburgh Internet Marketing: Understanding How Google Ranks Websites Part I

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Chris Vendilli 4 Comments

Pittsburgh internet marketing – and internet marketing in general – is a field that is constantly evolving. For websites and businesses that depend on Google for a significant amount of their organic traffic, this is a critical concern because it means that achieving a perfect internet marketing presence is a moving-target type of goal. In order to understand how and why strategies must sometimes change, it’s important to first examine how Google ranks websites in relation to Pittsburgh internet marketing strategies.

Pittsburgh Internet Marketing: Understanding How Google Ranks Websites is a multi-part series that will examine and detail the following metrics used to calculate your standings in the SERPs or Search Engine Results Pages:

1. Domain Age and Ownership Status
2. Domain Name
3. Site Structure
4. Site Content
5. Backlinks
6. Trust and Authority
7. Social Influence

However, it should be noted that Google’s exact ranking policies and practices are not published fact. Much of the information that we know about how Google ranks websites is based upon usually general and rarely specific data directly from Google, and from established SEO experts in the industry and proprietary case study and other data. Not every metric is examined during every spidering and indexation of a website, and there may be other metrics – possibly crucial ones – that we’re not aware of.

While additions, subtractions and modifications are constantly made to the Google algorithm, the basic way that Google finds and ranks your information is by using the following two entities:

1.) The Spider and Indexation Process

Google sends out millions of “spiders” to websites and web pages all over the world. These programs ceaselessly scour the web, hopping from link to link as they scan pages and catalog content. Spiders collect a vast amount of information and index it according to a number of variables – if the content is indexed at all.

In some cases a spider or “bot” may be placed permanently on your site – especially if you publish new content regularly. In other cases your site might be visited by Google’s spiders infrequently, which may require additional indexation efforts in order for your content to be found and indexed.

2.) The Search Query Machine

When a user enters a search query into Google, complex algorithms are activated as “search bots” select and return results from the index that the search spiders built. These programs review millions of documents and web pages to determine which results should be returned for the particular search query and in what order.

Search bots must separate out any duplicate content or unrelated results, and all of this is done in a fraction of a second. What the user generally sees is a page that shows two types of search results data:

1.) Sponsored or paid advertiser results
2.) Organic search results

Pittsburgh internet marketing strategies may target one or both of these types of results. However, for the purposes of this article series we’ll only be concerned with Organic results, as these are determined almost exclusively based upon the 7 metrics mentioned previously. The next installment in this series will discuss the first four indicators that Google is likely to use in order to begin determining what your site is all about and where it stands amongst your competition for your industry’s keywords.

Because Pittsburgh internet marketing strategies require significant knowledge and continuing education, working with a professional Pittsburgh SEO and/or Pittsburgh web design firm is recommended for maximum benefits and the greatest chance for success. To get started with a free consultation right now, call the number at the top of your screen.

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