SEO surprises, tips and insight in SEOmoz report

Search engine marketing is often seen as a snake oil science in which people like us charge people like you to apply SEO voodoo to a website in the hope that more visitors will turn up. In fact it is less of a science and more of set of negotiations around an arms reduction or trade agreement; experiments certainly but in a landscape which shifts as participants make moves.

Within this landscape there is almost unlimited advice and opinion and the sheer number of websites that offer their two-pennyworth make it hard to see what is shared opinion or just gossip. One of the few clear voices in this field is SEOMoz; full of tools and reports that while not giving us the answers, certainly help you think about the questions.

A recent study (April 2nd 2008) for example assembled a group if experts and asked them to rate the most important factors in SEO. The results are fascinating. Here are just a few of the conclusions we have drawn from them:

1. External links matter too: make sure they help extend a visitor journey.

2. Keywords in titles matter most.

3. META keywords don't matter as they are ignored by most engines

4. Internal cross-links matter: think continuous visitor journeys.

5. Link reputation spreads within a site: aim to generate links to all important areas, not just the home page

6. New domains will struggle more than old ones

7. Link names matter and should contain keywords: especially inbound links (hard to fake)

8. Trust and authority are becoming more important than link reputation.

These and almost 100 other findings affect the ways we should be building and marketing successful sites. Clients are going to need help to see the woods for the trees.

Read the full report Search Engine Ranking Factors (subscription required) or talk to us about it.