How Google Determines and Ranks Your Relevancy

Personally, I think this graph, as reassuring and emboldening as it is, is totally bunk, (couple more commas, thrown in, for good measure).

Image via two sites I highly recommend following religiously if you are even remotely involved in web business or like cilantro: http://www.copyblogger.com/seo-copywriting-matter/ and http://www.seomoz.org/blog/perfecting-keyword-targeting-on-page-optimization

Here’s why:

1. The wedges, “Anchor text” and “Link popularity” are exactly the same thingGoogle bases PageRank based on external links (base! (one more thrown in for good measure)).

2. This is a SEO (search engine optimizers’) poll — NOT based on a Google engineer’s leaked data
Let this be very clear. This chart is built on the OPINIONS of SEO Expert Ninjas

3. Matt Cutts is reaching for a muscle relaxant due stomach cramping from laughing so hard at #2 (above)

4. Wedge “Traffic + CTR data” are exactly the same thing — WRONG.
Google measures repeat CTR from THEIR pages not YOUR server traffic. Google doesn’t care how much traffic you get. It bears ZERO weight on relevancy of your page to search query. Think logically. If your stomach Googled “hamburger,” would you rather get a McDonald’s or an In-N-Out? McD’s gets far more traffic in their drive thrus but the QUALITY of the result is what matters to Google.

5. Meta Tags!
I know, the graphic does not cite meta-tags and it shouldn’t. Because, to the credit of the graphic and those surveyed, meta tags went out with the Macarena. BUT you and I both know that these SEO Expert Ninja Samurais still use meta keyword tags. So not citing them as a 50% factor is totally disingenuous.

#6 BONUS: They left out the most import part…
Among Google’s BIGGEST ranking factors is whether or not the content is on a page that is within a property OWNED by GOOGLE. It’s true. Google would rather you visit a Youtube, Knol, or Blogspot web result. It’s further true that they’d rather you visited a Google result that has a Google adwords ad on it. I mean, come on, wouldn’t you?

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Posted via web from journik’s posterous – a grade A shouldery. (social media marketing wise)