I’m just going to set the record straight before you read much further in this post. If you’re expecting a deep-dive analysis of the term-vector space model or Google architectural overviews, this is the wrong place. If I knew the formula attached to Google’s Algorithm I would be enjoying a nice martini on a beach somewhere.

Rather than digging into term weighting schematics – I’d like to take a different look at the oh-so-famous and oh-so-nebulous algorithm we so often debate.

In every way possible, Google’s algorithm is trying to mimic the behavior of a human in its decision making. And, what are the primary factors that help us to make choices on just about anything?

Relevancy and Trust.

• Relevancy tells us how much a particular option matches what we’re looking for.
• Trust tells us how much we trust the source of that option.

Seems simple – and it is.

How does Google determine relevancy?

• Page title: Does this clearly tell Google what your page is about?
• Page URL: Does this indicate the concept(s) attached to your page?
• Page content: Does this offer semantically related content attached to your key concept(s)?

Relevancy is something you have complete control over. Writing content that is thoughtful, related and targeted to specific concepts and making sure your site is structured in a way to support that is key.

How does Google determine trust?

• Age of domain and registration history: Have you been a stable site for a long time?
• Inbound links: Do you have quality and related sites linking to you with targeted anchor text?
• Historical user data: Do other users visit this page often from Google? Do they stay a long time?

You have less control over trust. The age of your domain and your ability to obtain links from quality sites has more to do with the strength of your business and less to do with the strength of your site.

Am I oversimplifying things?

Most definitely.

There are likely dozens of factors – large and small – that play into your position connected to a specific term. However, understanding these two core concepts and – more importantly – understanding what you can control connected to your SEO efforts is imperative to a successful campaign.

The recipe is pretty straightforward:

1. Be relevant. Look at your page like a human would. Is it relevant to you? Do you understand it?
2. Gain trust where you can. Get quality inbound links when possible and create a worthwhile experience for your users.
3. Have a martini.