Google Quality Rating Secrets
Google’s internal procedures for rating and ranking websites are almost never revealed to the public other than via a public statement by Matt Cutts. However, in a recent leak, Google’s secrets on how they determine their search engine quality ratings was leaked to the public. Here is some insight into how Google determines its quality ratings so that you can use it to your benefit.
The latest leak in Google’s Quality Rating Guidelines is Version 5.0 of the document. Apparently Google has changed a number of factors that appear the guidelines from the previous version of the document. The guidelines are currently 160 pages long and are available on scribd.com. Google has not yet removed the document from the site. Seeing as a leak of these guidelines has occurred previously, more than likely they are going to be removed at some point so have a look while you still can.
Google quality ratings are not a metric that is used to rank websites. Instead, they are used to assist quality raters, which are third-party people that are hired by Google to review search results. These quality raters use the guidelines in order to determine whether they feel that Google’s algorithm is delivering the best and most relevant search engine results. In turn, Google likely uses the opinions of these raters to determine where to make adjustments to its search algorithms. These adjustments come in the form of periodic algorithm updates which have been given names such as Penguin and Pigeon in recent years.
These quality guidelines are important for you to review if you are trying to figure out how to optimize your website for SEO. They can tell you what items Google deems most important to relevant search results. They also give you an idea of what to avoid so that you do not waste your time with strategies that aren’t going to help improve your rankings. In addition, it is also important to compare the quality guidelines actual wording with the announcements that Google occasionally makes regarding its search engine results.
While the guidelines are excellent to review at the present moment since they have just been released, it is important to note that they may not contain completely accurate information. Previously it was determined during a leak of past versions of the Guidelines that Google had intended to release the guidelines to the public. It was then discovered that internally, Google had a different version of the guidelines than was given to the raters and subsequently leaked to the public.
In addition, it is not clear exactly how the quality guidelines translate to the decisions that Google makes in terms of items to update in its search engine algorithm updates. However, these guidelines should provide you with enough general information to give you an idea of whether your SEO strategy is pointed in the right direction.
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