Why Is SEO So Difficult?

Why Is SEO So Difficult?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis on Sunday, 19 of October , 2008 at 3:56 pm

Search engines have their guidelines. Each one, it seems, has its own set of guidelines apart from all the others. But does that really matter considering that there are really just 3, maybe 4 if you count Ask.com, search engines to be concerned with?

I don't think the number of search engines is really the issue. Even if there were only search engine, SEO would be a complex task for most websites. That's because there are so many things to think about.

Google alone has more than 150 ranking criteria that it judges in order to see whether a website belongs in its rankings and if so then where exactly in the lineup it does belong. It's more than simply looking at keywords. Among the most important ranking criteria for Google are:

・         Semantic language

・         Inbound link quality

・         Link relevance

・         Internal site architecture

・         Age of domain

・         Server, or IP, neighborhood

・         Link anchor text

・         Use of h1, h2, and h3 tags

・         Amount of page content

・         Website visitor usage

・         Frequency of updates

・         Page load time

These are not all that Google considers, but it's a good starting list of some of the most important ranking factors. It's only a beginning. Nor is this list necessarily in any order of particular importance. Semantic language and inbound link quality, for instance, are not necessarily the most important factors. But they are important factors.

Notice also what is not on this list:

・         Meta tags

・         Keyword density

・         Page design

Just to name a few. While meta tags and page design may be somewhat important to Google, other things are far more important. Google really does not care if your website is built with tables or if it uses CSS. Whether your photo is on the left or the right or top or bottom of the page is inconsequential to Google. Other search engines may "think" differently.

Search engine optimization is a complex game that requires a systematic thinking process as individualized as the web pages that need to be built. Webmasters can't get roped into thinking that one element is the most important factor for every website. What may advance one website up the rankings quickly may not necessarily work for another and that's because the webmaster must also consider his competition. While Google, or any search engine for that matter, does not care about your competition on a relative optimization basis, it does evaluate them according to the same ranking factors. And because it's a merit-based system, you or your competitor could come out on top any given day based on different ranking factors succeeding or failing against another. Don't be discouraged by SEOs complexity;