TRAFFIC
And which is the best check and balance?
The answer is aggregated click-through data
to a website and/or a page, which accounts
for every ranking keyword over all time for
a domain.
Aside: at one stage I got very interested
in click bots (and worked with Irish
Wonder, the black-hat SEO specialist),
on search results, and did a number of
experiments which proved click-through-
rate manipulation worked.
Google was smart enough to realise
people gaming CTR on search results was
going to be a serious issue and sensibly
be re-auditioned.
The older the site, the harder it is for
it to be re-auditioned because Google
doesn’t trust that site so much if it has
failed in the past.
The other critical part is on-site
optimisation and content, which is taken
care of by RankBrain.
Because of the artificial intelligence
algorithms Google uses, it can understand
the context of content far better than ever
before. That means Google has more
chance of ranking the right content which
will get the most engagement.
“I’m very confident that no-follow links from high-authority
sites are a valuable signal to Google when it comes to
trust rank”
changed their algorithms too – indirectly –
to account for CTR on search results.
This way, a spike of click-throughs to a
page wouldn’t necessarily affect rankings.
I think what Google looks for is the
expected click-through rates set against the
actual click-through rates for a given page
and/or a site. So, if your website is getting
more click-throughs than expected, Google
sees the content has merit and will give you
trust, which then takes you through to...
Putting the SEO puzzle together
As you probably know by now, in my
opinion, the SEO ecosystem is more about
meritocracy than anything.
For example, within online casino, all
casinos are principally the same. So what
separates ranking sites from non-ranking
sites? In the case of casinos, I argue it’s
mostly brand awareness driving click-
through rates and links from authoritative
sites – whether follow or no-follow – and
therefore rankings.
Auditioning
Have you ever noticed how a fresh website
ranks pretty easily? That’s because Google
auditions them.
In order for Google to test your website,
it needs to get engagement data. The best
way to give it a chance of being engaged
with on search results is by lifting it up
through the search results as a test.
If your site gets the necessary engagement,
it will hold its rankings and maybe climb up
further. If it’s not an engaging website, your
side will slip back and you will have to get
a slew of links in order to attract Google’s
attention once again and allow your site to
16
iGB Affiliate Issue 64 AUG/SEP 2017
The $5,000 question
Having been around the SEO scene for 14
years, I have an allergic reaction to handing
over $5,000 for 10 follow links on sites that
I don’t have real confidence in.
My biggest problem is that I’m
unconvinced that accumulating page
rank is where money should