For those of you who enjoy learning all you can about just how Google chooses to rank websites, I thought it might be good to start a category entitled “Do It Yourself.” I actually have a twin purpose for doing this–it will also give me a permanent archive to direct people to who ask me the same questions over and over.
To start things off, I’m going to refer you to an excellent research study compiled by SEOmoz dated April 2, 2007 in which 37 leading SEO experts were asked for input on a variety of aspects which are believed to affect a site’s ranking in Google. You’ll find the article an interesting & valuable read.
Google Search Engine Ranking Factors
And, while we’re on the topic of SEOmoz, if you are super serious about learning SEO, let me throw a push for their premium content membership. The yearly plan is only $399 (compared to $49/month - note, pricing has changed since this post was written). You’ll have access to valuable tools including page strength, keyword difficulty, crawl test, and term target. Perhaps in a future post I’ll go into more elaborate detail on the tools. You’ll also have access to SEOmoz’s SEO toolbox (10 more tools), multiple SEO & linking guides and to the SEOmoz staff Q&A section. All of this is definitely worth its weight in gold. And I’m not even paid to recommend it 