With respect to Google SEO. This year I have noticed changes across many websites, quality backlinks alone are not having as much impact as they used to. It seems to me that Google is now placing more focus on the content of the website. .... I know that content has always been important, but now it seems to have more weighting for SEO. This theory is based on experience of websites in two niches, I know this is only a small sample but I wondered if anyone else is experiencing similar?
Yes, it does seem that on-page factors are playing a large role in Google's search results, which benefits me since I love to provide quality content whenever possible. I'm not surprised with all the different link programs if Google is moving more relevancy towards on-page optimization.
this is something which I have been thinking for a long time. maybe one way backlinks from [related/themed] authority sites with very high PR and a limited total number of outgoing links will be well received by Google.....but surely, surely, Google knows [and factors in] that sites are adopting varying tactics to garner hundreds of links jut for SEO purposes? we have a PR of 2, and only have officially 2 incoming links according to Google [there are 700+ on Yahoo and others] but we rank page 1 number 1 on google for 'advert ideas' with competition of 2.4 million, and page 1 number 7 for 'advertising tips' with over 31 million competition. we also rank high for a load of other key phrases. just my thoughts..... anyone else think this way?
I had a chat with a friend [an SEO expert] a few weeks ago and he told me that Google is focusing a lot on on-page optimization... Even when we do on-page optimization, these days, as we know, keyword stuffing is a very bad idea. Using keywords in Hot-Spots and making the content user-friendly is the way to go... At least this is what I have experienced recently.
I feel that on page SEO is becoming weighted far heavier in Google's algorithms now than other search engines.