Signals that matter to SEO

Now I suppose most of you know that the search engines such as Google have hundreds of different ‘signals’ that determine where an individual website might rank. What this post is about is the latest updates and a few reminders of what the signals are.

First, the reminders
Links
Backlinks to your site are still one of the strongest signals to any golkven webpage (as was proven by the JC PENNY catastrophe where by they began ranking for a multitude of different search terms such as dresses and furniture – end result was that Google got notified by the NY Times and plunged the site into pergatory, but I feel this wa a bit late as the company reaped millions during last years festive season.)

On Page Content and meta tags are increasingly important
Even if you have a very good link profile, content is what draws readers and converts them into buyers.

And for some newer signals
Recently both Google and Bing announced their inclusion of social media links in their ranking algorythms. So this essentially means that you need to have a social media presence, and not just one platform, you need to have a profile in many of then, andhe profile is just the first step – you need to be active.
If you cannot commit and hour or two each day, then best hire an SEO or social media specialist who can.
My advice on which sites to be active on are: Facebook, Twitter, linkedin
Many others exist, but overall I would think these are the main ones.

Another signal of sorts is the Google extension for the chrome browser that let’s you block sites you do not want to see – mainly aimed at content farms. But I have concerns that this could be exploited and used to target ok sites and not only bad or low quality sites.

Only time will tell I guess.

Anyone else heard or know of other signals?