Algorithm
What is Algorithm?

Algorithm

Algorithm (pronounced "AL-go-rith-um") is a formula or procedure thru which Search Engines can analyze a website's html and content thru a set of steps after which it can give it an specific ranking among several hundred thousand or even millions of web pages according to the provided search term. This term could be just a keyword or a key-phrase.

Actually the term Algorithm is derived from the name of the Persian mathematician (the father of algebra) Al-Khowarizmi from (780-850 AD).

Since each search engine has its own set of rules or algorithm, each one is different from the rest and this can make the optimization of websites more difficult or complex even if you know how to perform it since a page optimization must be either balanced between all the search engines in question, made specially for one specific search engine or different pages must be optimized for specific search engines within the same website. Still every so often, search engines change their algorithm and a website that was yesterday number one could very well be today number eleven. That's why in order to be on top, or at least close to the top of the pack you need to be on top of your website optimization all the time and also see how your competitors are doing in their ranking.

Even if all the search engines followed the same list of rules for ranking purposes, even a small difference in some of those rules could bring about very different results. By the way, they keep their algorithm a closely guarded secret.

Here is a partial list of what search engines generally look for or consider in a positive or negative way when their spider program indexes a site:

Backward links. (How relevant they are, their quality, ranking and how many).

Click-through. (How many times a site's link is clicked in a particular search engine - More is better).

HTML validation. (A site with a good HTML validation will get higher rankings. The reverse will lower it).

Keywords/key-phrases. (Their frequency, where they are being used, their percentage in regards to content, etc)

Number of internal links and where they link to. (How many are alive, how many of them are broken)

Number of hyperlinks. (Less is better) (How many links point to other sites, how many of them are broken)

Number of pages. (More pages with unique content is better, specially if they have been optimized).

Number of years the domain name has been paid for. (More is better).

Site's architecture. (Search engines usually don't spider too deep into a site. If you have to click beyond three times to find a page, chances are that the search engines won't spider those pages).

Site's Longevity. (More is better).

Spamming. (At best it can lower a site's ranking to some extent or significantly, depending on the degree and type of spamming and the algorithm the search engine is using. In the worst case scenario the site could be banned for life).

Each of the above examples may include many different factors that are considered by the search engines. Google's algorithm considers 100 factors when they analyze a website.

Algorithm What is Algorithm?

Algorithm
What is Algorithm?