In the past couple of years, Google has been making some serious changes to the way it ranks websites in search results. The goal has always been to provide users with the most relevant and useful results possible, but the means by which Google has gone about achieving this have changed quite a bit.
One of the biggest changes has been the shift from keyword-based ranking to what’s known as “semantic search”. Semantic search is all about understanding the searcher’s intent and the context of the search, rather than just the individual keywords that are used.
This has led to a number of changes in the way Google ranks websites, including an increased focus on content quality. In particular, Google has said that it’s now looking at the “authority” of the content, as well as things like how often it’s shared and liked.
All of this has led to a lot of speculation about what exactly Google is looking for when it comes to content. And while the company has never been very forthcoming about the specifics, a new patent application from the search giant provides some insight into how it might be using “authority” as a ranking factor.
The patent, titled “Authoritative Content Determination,” was filed back in 2012 but only recently published. It details a method for determining the “authority” of a piece of content, based on a number of factors, including:
The number of times the content has been shared
The number of “likes” or other endorsements it has received
The number of links pointing to the content
The number of people who have +1’d the content
The number of times the content has been bookmarked
The number of times the content has been saved
In other words, it looks like Google is looking at pretty much every metric that it has at its disposal to try and determine the quality of a piece of content. And while the patent doesn’t specifically mention SEO or search rankings, it’s not hard to see how this could be used as a ranking factor.
Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that patents don’t always turn into reality. But this one seems like a pretty good indication of where Google is headed with its content quality efforts. So if you’re looking to improve your SEO, it’s definitely worth paying attention to.