Off-Page Criteria

For a long time, search engines were working only with these ranking criteria, trusting in webmasters' indications. But due to numerous attempts to manipulate search results, new methods and algorithms had to be found.

Search tools then implemented new ranking criteria called off-page criteria, which are not based on data provided in the pages but on information that can be obtained from sources other than the website submitted. Here are some examples:

• Link density and popularity. The more Web pages that offer links to your website, the higher the link density becomes. And the higher the quality or fame of the websites linked to yours, the higher the link popularity will be.
  
  
• Click density. The more visitors who click on a link to a page in search results, the better the page ranking for the requested keyword will be.
  
  
• If the search tool is hybrid, i.e. a combination of a directory and a search engine, your website will have more chances of achieving a better ranking in the search engine part if it has already been accepted in the directory component.
  
  

For certain terms frequently queried (mp3, sex, music, travel, cinema, etc.), an engine can display a choice of websites selected by editors rather than relying on its relevancy weighting feature. In such situations, it may be impossible for you to have your website automatically placed.