I THINK GOOGLE.com - Search Economy and Search Philosophy

Note - Patent Claim #	Factor #	POSITIVE ON-Page SEO Factors	Brief Note
50		KEYWORDS	Google patent - Topic extraction
HOT	1	Keyword in URL	First word is best, second is second best, etc.
HOT	2	Keyword in domain name	Same as in page-name-with-hyphens
		Keywords - Header
HOT	3	Keyword in title tag	Keyword in Title tag - close to beginning Title tag 10 - 60 characters, no special characters The Florida Update EVEN penalized for this, as part of the OOP. That was absurd, but effective.
-	4	Keyword in description meta tag	Shows theme - less than 200 chars. (Was part of Google Florida OOP) Google no longer relies upon this tag, but frequently uses it.
-	5	Keyword in keyword metatag	Shows theme - less than 10 words. (Was part of Google Florida OOP) Every word in this tag MUST appear somewhere in the body. If not, it will be penalized for irrelevance. NO single word should appear more than twice. If not, it is considered spam. Google purportedly no longer values this tag, but others do.
		Keywords - Body
-	6	Keyword density in body text	5 - 20% - (all keywords/ total words) Some report topic sensitivity - the keyword spamming threshold varies with the topic?
-	7	Individual keyword density	1 - 6% - (each keyword/ total words)
HOT	8	Keyword in H1, H2 and H3	Use H1 font style (Was part of Google Florida OOP)
-	9	Keyword font size	In strong, bold, italic, etc.
-	10	Keyword proximity (for 2+ keywords)	Adjacent is best
-	11	Keyword phrase order	Does order in the page match order in the query? Anticipate query - match word order.
-	12	Keyword prominence (how early in page/tag)	Most important at top of page, in bold, in large font
		Keywords - Other
-	13	Keyword in alt text	Should describe graphic - Do NOT fill with spam (Was part of Google Florida OOP - tripped a threshold - may still be in effect to some degree as a red flag, when summed with all other on-page optimizations).
-	14	Keyword in links to site pages (anchor text)	Links out anchor text use keyword?
		NAVIGATION - INTERNAL LINKS
SITE	15	To internal pages- keywords?	Link should contain keywords. The filename "linked to" should contain the keywords. Use hyphenated filenames, but not long ones.
SITE	16	All internal links valid?	Validate all links to all pages on site.
SITE	17	Efficient - tree-like structure	Two clicks to any page - no page deeper than 4 clicks
SITE	18	Intra-site linking	Appropriate links between lower-level pages
54		NAVIGATION - OUTGOING LINKS
55	19	To external pages- keywords?	Google patent - Link only to good sites. Do not link to link farms.
56	20	Outgoing link Anchor Text	Google patent - Should be on topic, descriptive
61, 62	21	Link stability over time	Google patent - Avoid "Link Churn"
-	22	All external links valid?	Validate all links periodically.
-	23	Less than 100 links out total	Google says limit to 100, but readily accepts 2-3 times that number. ref 2k
		OTHER ON-Page Factors
-	24	Domain Name Class	.edu seem to be given the highest status .org sites seem to be given high status .com sites excel in encompassing all the spam/ crud sites, resulting in the need for the highest scrutiny/ action by Google. Perhaps one would do well with the new .info domain class.
-	25	File Size	Absolutely do not exceed 100K page size. Small files preferred <40K (lots of them).
	26	Hyphens in URL	Preferred method for indicating a space, where there can be no actual space One or two= excellent for separating keywords Four or more= BAD, starts to look spammy Ten = Spammer for sure, demotion probable?
6, 7 12, 13	27	Freshness of Pages	Google patent - Changes over time Newer the better - if news, retail or auction! Google likes fresh pages. So do I.
8, 9	28	Freshness - Amount of Content Change	New pages - Ratio of old pages to new pages
27	29	Freshness of Links	Google patent - May be good or bad
-	30	Frequency of Updates	Frequent updates = frequent spidering
-	31	Page Theming	Page exhibit theme? General consistency?
-	32	Keyword stemming	Stem, stems, stemmed, stemmer, stemming, stemmist, stemification
-	33	Applied Semantics	Synonyms, CIRCA whitepaper
-	34	LSI	Latent Semantic Indexing - Speculation, no proof
-	35	URL length	Keep it minimized - use somewhat less than the 2,000 characters allowed by IE - less than 100 is good, less even better
		OTHER ON-SITE Factors
5	36	Site Size - Google likes big sites	Larger sites are presumed to be better funded, better organized, better constructed, and therefore better sites. Google likes LARGE sites, for various reasons, not all positive. This has resulted in the advent of machine-generated 10,000-page spam sites - size for the sake of size.
4	37	Site Age	Google patent - Old is best.
3	38	Age of page vs. age of site	Age of page vs. age of other pages on site

Note: For ALL the POSITIVE On-Page factors listed above, PAGE RANK can OVERRIDE them all. So can Google-Bombing.

Note	Factor #	NEGATIVE ON-Page SEO Factors	Brief Note
BAD	39	Text presented in graphics form only No ACTUAL body text on the page	Text represented graphically is invisible to search engines.
BAD	40	Affiliate site?	The Florida update went after affiliates with a vengeance - flower and travel affiliates were hit hard - cookie-cutter sites with massive inter-linking, but little unique content. Subsequent updates have also targeted affiliates.
BAD	41	Over optimization penalty (OOP)	Penalty for over-compliance with well-established, accepted web optimization practices. Since the Florida update, if you simply cannot achieve top position, your only alternative to first page SERP exposure may be Google AdWords (you pay for exposure).
BAD	42	Link to a bad neighborhood	Don't link to link farms, FFAs (Free For Alls) Don't forget to check the Google status of EVERYONE you link to periodically. A site may go "bad", and you can end up being penalized, even though you did nothing.
BAD	43	Redirect thru refresh metatags	Don't immediately send your visitor to another page other than the one he/ she clicked on.
BAD	44	Vile language - ethnic slur	Including the George Carlin 7 bad words you can't say on TV, plus the 150 or so that followed. Don't shoot yourself right straight in the foot. Also, avoid combinations of normal words, which when used together, become something else entirely - such as the word juice, and the word love.
BAD	45	Poison words	"Links" in title tag, etc. Here is my list of Poison Words for Adsense. This penalty has been loosened - many of these words now appear in normal context, with no problems. But watch your step.
BAD	46	Excessive cross-linking	- within the same C block (IP=xxx.xxx.CCC.xxx) If you have many sites with the same web host, prolific cross-linking can indicate more of a single entity, and less of democratic web voting. Easy to spot, easy to penalize.
BAD	47	Stealing images/ text blocks from another domain	Copyright violation - Google responds strongly if you are reported. ref egol File Google DMCA
BAD	48	Keyword stuffing threshold	In body, meta tags, alt text, etc. = demotion
??	49	Keyword dilution	Targeting too many unrelated keywords on a page, which would detract from theming, and reduce the importance of your REALLY important keywords.
??	50	Page edit - can reduce consistency	Google patent - Google is now switching between a "Newer" cache, and an "Older" cache, frequently drawing from BOTH at the same time. This was implemented to frustrate SEOers. Did your last edit substantially alter your keywords, or theme? Expect noticeable SERP bouncing.
6 - 7	51	Frequency of Content Change	Google patent - Too frequent = bad
32, 33	52	Freshness of Anchor Text	Google patent - Too frequent = bad
??	53	Dynamic Pages	Problematic - know pitfalls - shorten URLs, reduce variables, lose the session IDs
??	54	Excessive Javascript	Don't use for redirects, or hiding links
??	55	Flash page - NOT	Most (all-?) SE spiders can't read Flash content Provide an HTML alternative, or lose out.
??	56	Use of Frames	Spidering Problems with Frames - STILL
-	57	Robot exclusion "no index" tag	Intentional self-exclusion
-	58	Single pixel links	A red flag - one reason only - a sneaky link.
-	59	Invisible text (Google is now devaluing some pages)	OK - No penalty - Google advises against this. All over the place - but nothing is ever done. (The text is the same color as the background, and hence cannot be seen by the viewer, but is visible to the search engine spiders.)
-	60	Gateway, doorway page (I see changes here - not only does the doorway page disappear, but the main page gets pushed down, as well - this is a welcome fix.)	~~OK - No~~ penalty - Google advises against this. Google used to reward these pages. ~~Multiple entrance pages in the top ten SERPs - I see it daily. There they are at #2, with their twin at #5 - 6 months now.~~ ~~Reported numerous times.~~
-	61	Duplicate content (YOUR'S) ~~Duplicate content (THEIR'S) below (Highjack)~~	OK - No penalty - Google advises against this. Google picks one (usually the oldest), and shoves it to the top, and pushes the second choice down. Currently a big issue with stolen content - the thief usurps your former position with YOUR OWN content.
-	62	HTML code violations (The big G does not even use DOCTYPE declarations, required for W3C validation.)	Doesn't matter - Google advises against this. Unless of course, the page is totally FUBAR. Simple HTML verification is NOT required (but advised).
-		Since the above 4 items are so controversial, I would like to add this comment: There are many things that Google would LIKE to have webmasters do, but that they simply cannot control, due to logistical considerations. Their only alternative is to foment fear and doubt by implying that any violation of their "suggestions" will result in swift and fierce demotion. (This is somewhat dated - G is getting around to fixing these things.)	IN GENERAL, this works pretty well to keep webmasters in line. The fallacy of this is that even the casual observer can readily observe continuing, blatant exceptions to these official pronouncements. SPAM reports elicit no response, unless specific-case, knob-tweaking penalty imposition is authorized. There are many anecdotes about GG "taking care" of a problem. Google states that they do not provide hand-tweaked "boosts", but are silent about hand-tweaked demotions. They occur, fer shure. To believe otherwise is naive. Wouldn't YOU swat the most obnoxious flies? I would. Avoid any Google blacklist which may exist.

Note	Factor #	POSITIVE OFF-Page SEO Factors	Brief Note
		INCOMING LINKS :
HOT	63	Page Rank	Based on the Number and Quality of links to you Google link reporting continues to display just a SMALL fraction of your actual backlinks, and they are NOT just greater than PR4 - they are mixed.
-	64	Total incoming links ("backlinks")	Historically, FAST counted best (www.alltheweb.com). No more - Yahoo (parent) broke it. In Yahoo search, type in: linksite:www.domain-name.com linkdomain:www.domainname.com Try MSN - http://beta.search.msn.com Use link:www.domainname.com
-	65	Incoming links from PR4+ pages	What Google used to count (report). Now, what Google reports seems almost random, frequently changing.
-	66	Acceleration of link popularity (used to be a good thing ...Martha)	Google patent Link acquisition speed boost - speculative Too fast = artificial? Sandbox penalty imposed if new site?
		FOR EACH INCOMING LINK :
-	67	Page rank of the referring page	Based on the quality of links to you
HOT	68	Anchor text of inbound link to you	Contains keyword, key phrase? #1 result in SERP does NOT EVEN need to have the keyword(s) on the page, ANYWHERE!!! What does that tell you? (Enables Google-bombing - search for "miserable failure")
	69	Age of link	Google patent - Old = Good.
	70	Frequency of change of anchor text	Google patent - Not good. Why would you do that?
	71	Popularity of referring page	Popularity = desirability, respect
-	72	# of outgoing links on referrer page	Fewer is better - makes yours more important
-	73	Position of link on referrer page	Early in HTML is best
-	74	Keyword density on referring page	For search keyword(s)
-	75	HTML title of referrer page	Same subject/ theme?
28	76	Link from "Expert" site?	Google patent - Big time boost (Hilltop or Condensed Hilltop) Recently reported to give a big boost !
-	77	Referrer page - Same theme	From the same or related theme? BETTER
-	78	Referrer page - Different theme	From different or unrelated theme? WORSE
-	79	Image map link?	Problematic?
-	80	Javascript link?	Problematic- attempt to hide link?
		DIRECTORIES :
HOT	81	Site listed in DMOZ Directory?	HUGE boost - it is said that Google's directory comes STRAIGHT from the DMOZ directory. You MUST get into dmoz. Be careful who you approach with the old spondulix. It is almost impossible to get into DMOZ. This site cannot get in, after waiting over 2 YEARS (28 months). Not even in the lowest, most insignificant category, "Personal Pages". I guess I just don't "measure up" to the other 20,000+ sites in this category.
-	82	DMOZ category?	Theme fit category? General or geographic category? Both are possible, and acceptable.
HOT	83	Site listed in Yahoo Directory?	Big boost - You can get in by paying $299 each year.
-	84	Site listed in LookSmart Directory?	Boost? Another great vote for your site.
	85	Site listed in inktomi?	Use Pure Search to check your inktomi position.
-	86	Site listed in other directories (About, etc.)	Directory listing boost (If other RESPECTED directories link to you, this must be positive.)
-	87	Expert site? (Hilltop or Condensed Hilltop)	Large-sized site, quality incoming links
HOT	88	Site Age - Old shows stability	Google patent Boost for long-established sites, new pages indexed easily The opposite of the sand box.
-	89	Site Age - Very New Boost	Temporary boost for very new sites - I estimate that this boost lasts from 1 week to 3 weeks.
-	90	Site Directory - Tree Structure	Influences SERPs - logical, consistent, conventional
-	91	Site Map and more site map	Complete - keywords in anchor text
-	92	Site Size	Previously, many pages preferred - conferred authority upon site, thus page. Bigger sites = better SERPs Now, fewer pages preferred, due to proliferation of computer-generated pages.
-	93	Site Theming	Site exhibit theme? Use many related terms? Have you used a keyword suggestion tool? A thesaurus?
		PAGE METRICS - USER BEHAVIOR:	Currently implemented through the Google tool bar?
34, 35	94	Page traffic	Google patent - # of visitors, trend
15,16,21	95	Page Selection Rate - CTR	Google patent - How often is a page clicked on?
36, 37	96	Time spent on page	Google patent - Relatively long time = indicates relevance hit
45, 46	97	Did user Bookmark page?	Google patent - Bookmark = Good
47	98	Bookmark add/ removal frequency	Google patent - Recent = Good?
	99	How they left, where they went	Back button, link clicked, etc.
		SITE METRICS - USER BEHAVIOR :

I am a Human Being and I Think Google