New details about the methodology behind Google Blog Search results have been making the rounds of the blogosphere.
According to the patent application, Google’s Blog Search uses two main criteria to determine how a post gets ranked:
1) A blog quality score, which measures the quality of the entire blog based on factors like feed subscriptions, incoming blogroll links, PageRank of the blogs and other usual factors used for regular pages.
2) A post quality score, which measures the quality of the individual post by measuring the frequency and relevancy of keywords, among other factors.
So what can you do to make your blog more searchable (aside from writing nice, keyworded post titles)? Here’s the rundown on the positive and negative factors Google Blog Search uses written by SEO By The Sea, who kindly decoded the patent application’s tech-speak [en español aquà por TechTear] :
THE GOOD
popularity of the blog,
Implied popularity of the blog,
Inclusion of the blog in blogrolls,
Existence of the blog in high quality blogrolls,
tagging of the blog,
References to the blog by other sources,
A PageRank of the blog, and;
Other indicators could also be used.
THE BAD
Frequency of new posts,
Content of the posts,
Size of the posts,
Link distribution of the blog,
The presence of ads in the blog, and;
Other indicators may also be used.
Check out the SEO By The Sea post for more details on each of those factors.
Danny…be careful with the goods/bads! some of the things listed in the “bad” column–such as frequency of blog posts–is subjective. I can, though, assure you that if you’re posting only once a month, it’s not going to help your blog’s seo….
Also, the existence of the blog in high-quality blogrolls is a difficult one to track, too. What’s meant by “high-quality blogrolls?” A-lister blogs? There’s a whole lot of controversy about that one–that’s been brewing and bubbling for many a year now. All sorts of stuff about “link whoring” and “gatekeeping”. if you’ve got the time to research it, it’s interesting stuff.
Also, google’s algorithms can squash you in a very short time and with no notice. It’s why many good web designers will tell you that they can’t guarantee SEO. One never knows when Google’s dice will roll against you.
You’re right on the frequency thing; I suppose that could run both ways!
Also, I’d suggest that “high-quality blogrolls” implies the linking blog’s PageRank, as well as how “vertical” that blogs subject matter is in relation to yours. For instance, if you toss me a link, it’s great because you write about online media and your copy will be littered with the appropriate keywords. But if a site about Britney Spears throws me a link, that might not be so hot for me. Also, if I get too many low-quality links (the result of spamming and link farming), it could potentially degrade my ranking.