Quality search results. That’s what you want from a search engine and that's what the search engines want and need to supply for you. Search Engine Optimisation isn’t about manipulating those results, it’s about producing a resource that gives the user what they are looking for….

New factors for search engines to use to rank websites are always being discussed. Of course, Google, Bing and Yahoo aren’t going to tell us what they are using or exactly when they roll out a new algorithm but there are some factors, or signals, that most commentators think are going to become more and more important in the not too distant future. Some changes have taken place already.

Social Media
Real time responsiveness in Google results is HERE! Topics that have a surge of content on social media sites now have a real time stream of Twitter entries and news stories appearing in the search engine results page. This appears to be happening for stories that have a spike in activity and lasts only for as long as that surge in discussion goes on. It's a new and intriguing development that all SEO's will be monitoring.

Page Load Time
This makes sense as a ranking factor because Google and other search engines want to supply the user with the best experience possible, and waiting for pages to load is not a good user experience! What this does mean is that a good hosting partner could become even more crucial as things like video content are added to sites.

Clicks
It has been said that search engines already use click through data i.e. if a page is 2nd in the search engine results page (SERP) and is constantly getting more clicks through than the page in 1st place then perhaps that page should be moved up. This could be a useful factor in search because it targets the most popular sites.

Web References
Just like links count as a ‘vote’ for your site, a mention of the company name on the web could also count the same. There would obviously be different factors in working out how much a mention would mean, just like there are for inbound links. Also nofollow links could be given some link juice depending on what site they are coming from. Nofollow Blog and Forum posts definitely won’t be given any link juice but if a high ranking site such as a .gov or .org site contains nofollow links they may pick up some ranking votes.

How and when these changes come into play isn’t clear yet. We won’t be told much about timing or the weight each area is given as the algorithms are closely guarded secrets, but these signals and no doubt others will be factors to address in your SEO strategy.

Remember, Google and the other search engines are all based on giving the user the content they are looking for, if they fail to do that they fail full stop. So making sure you keep your site well written, up to date and relevant is always the most important thing!