I've read this somewhere and I copy pasted it to my harddrive, I don't take credit for it, but I don't know the original source anymore. 1. Make sure the type of html you use is fully described above the <HTML> tag at the top of each page, especially the index.html page such as "<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" >" 2. Make sure your name, address and telephone are public (when you get your domain name).. so many people are afraid to do this-- and it's critical if you want the SEs to recognise you. SEs think of it this way: only people who have something to hide, hide their info. If you don't like your street address made public, use a PO Box. 3. Make sure all your links are working. 4. Use a CSS style sheet or otherwise use a uniform method of formating or theming each page. 5. Avoid an introduction page... they won't really destroy your SEO, but they're not good for it, either. 6. Include a site map page. 7. Include a "history" or "about" page
I don't agree with the public domain thing. I don't really think it makes a difference with SEs. Style sheet is correct, but it should specify external CSS. The rest I agree with, but there's a lot more that could be added.
Here is a theory: Google is looking for relevant pages. One of the possibilities to recognise them is to learn about the author. When an author isn't affraid to publish his adress he isn't affraid that the content is linked with him as a person. This could be an indicator that the content is good.
I don't know about #2, being public, but I like it. When your name is prominant, you act in a way to uphold your reputation. By keeping your name hidden, apart from your website, the website does not have an honest driving force. You can't bet your name on an unknown author, right? I bet my name on #2 as a good idea, but not good enough. The algorithms need to be small in order to crawl efficiently. #2 could be in the algorithms, you never know! I don't think so, because if engines wanted this idea in the algorithms they would just give quality points to the more easily accessed Author meta tags, email addresses and contact pages.
The trouble with number 2 is that it can lead to problems if you own lots of sites, particularly if you rely on Adsense for income. The nightmare scenario is as follows: 1) Your SEO efforts are successful, and you outrank the competition in the search results. 2) Your competition gets mad that you've moved in on their market, so they find out who you are from your domain reg, and see what other sites you own. 3) List of sites in hand, the person click-spams all your sites, generating click fraud alerts, and your Adsense account gets banned. I've seen it happen many, many times, and Google has invariably been utterly unsympathetic. It's less of an issue if you only have one site, but if you have a large portfolio, I recommend strongly against public registration for this reason.