July 12, 2006 Comments
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It's only been about a month since I wrote an article explaining in simple terms just why the Google Sandbox doesn't exist. Obviously I'd love to think that a few little words from little old me could convince an entire world, but we all know that's not gonna happen. So, the sandbox debate continues to power on. With that in mind, I thought I'd link to a very interesting read over at Todd Malicoat's blog that I'd missed up until today. Basically, Todd explains why it's Trustrank and a Trustbox rather than a Sandbox that account for the challenges faced by some web site owners.
Todd's article does an excellent job of explaining the progression of search engine algorithms toward the ability to judge not just the density of keywords or the number of links, but toward judging the actual quality of a site.
From Todd's post...
I figured it was about time for a rant on the trust of domains (mainly in Google), and when I spent some time on a recent roadtrip listening to some excellent Strikepoint podcasts, I really knew it was time. DaveN has some fantastic commentary on just how important trust is in ranking in google these days. I’m not sure exactly which episode it was (I listened to three or four and they were all very insightful), but Dave, Mikkel, or JasonD talk about 85% of search rankings these days being attributed to trust, and about 15% being onpage, and it is painfully true. With a few links to a highly trusted domain, and some body copy a site can rank for just about anything whether it is topically related or not.
There are examples everywhere on the web of just how critical trust is right now to top rankings. Don’t get me wrong…trust is a very good thing, and a great signal of quality, but depending almost solely on it is not the solution, as depending nearly solely on links was not the best solution.
Two or three years ago:
SEO = Content + high PR links
Created: a micro-economy of link buying solely for google rankings
Now
SEO = Crusty trusted domain + content
Will create: use your imagination.
That said, Todd goes on to point out that just as an increased value in link value led to the buying and selling of PR, there's also a risk that an over reliance on trust could cause similar problems.
The over dependency on trust is the very same thing. It is going to cause trust to be abused in the very same way links were. We are already seeing the proliferation of subdomain spam, and after that is remedied there will still be the issue of hosting advertising space on a website.
It's a long article and takes some time to digest, but it's well worth the click an the brain-power.
Jennifer Laycock is the Editor of Search Engine Guide, an educational web site aimed at translating the search marketing world into something that small business owners can understand. Jennifer specializes in common sense search engine marketing, viral marketing and customer outreach via social media and blogs. A former search marketing consultant and in-house trainer, Jennifer’s clients have included companies like Verizon, American Greetings and Highlights for Children. Her primary clients now are a little girl named Elnora and a little boy named Emmitt.
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