Making the news in online circles this month is the latest speculation about Google’s algorithms. Informed thought is coming around to the opinion that Google will change their formula for ranking websites to reflect a shift away from linking patterns, and toward traffic patterns. As the Google Toolbar becomes more and more widespread, Google can gain more credible and reliable information about traffic patterns, including how long visitors stay on a site, how many pages of a site they visit, and how often they return to a site; all of which are very useful metrics for judging the relevancy of a particular site. Google is always concerned about the relevancy of each site as its reputation requires it to supply the most relevant results to its users at all times.

There is still the question of interpreting this data; if people tend to stay on a site for a relatively short time then this could theoretically mean either that the site is so well-designed that the desired information can be easily retrieved, or conversely that the site is so badly designed that visitors leave the site before finding the information they want.

Any changes are likely to be adjustments to the current formula, which also takes into account factors such as the age of a site and each site’s tally of incoming links.

To this end LeadGenerators are developing new, effective search engine optimisation techniques to ensure that our clients continue to improve their positioning. More than ever, we consider the future to be relevant, high-quality content on the site. Better content helps search engines and human visitors alike, and the stronger your copy is, the greater your traffic should be.