The Orion Algorithm and Your SEO Efforts
Mark Nenadic
Every so often there is a new development that is so enormous that it
changes the way the entire SEO-using world works with their websites
for optimization and proper promotional structuring. Most recently was
the purchasing of the rights to the Orion Algorithm by Google. Equally
important is that Yahoo! and MSN have both taken an interest in the
Orion Algorithm and vied for its ownership.
The Orion Algorithm - for those of you who aren't working for a search
engine - is something that has actually been kept quite secret. Its
specifics are not known, but what is understood is that it is a new
technology for the performance of search engines. It allows search
results to be immediately displayed as expanded text extracts so that
users will know the relevant information without having to actually
check the site to make sure that it is what they are looking for. The
option to visit the website is, however, still quite available if the
user chooses to opt for it.
To web designers, search engine optimizers, and other website owners,
it means that there will likely be another shift in the way that
websites are ranked and indexed. Furthermore, the traffic to the
website will be much more specific to that site's target market, as
fewer people will land there only to find that it is not what they are
looking for.
For users in general, this will mean that the results that are
displayed using Google searches will be much more similar to those
found at Ask. It will allow users to judge the site's content compared
to what they're looking for without having to click the link. It will
make searching much simpler and more practical for users who will be
able to review everything all in one place. Then, when they come upon
the site or sites that interest them, they may still click the link and
find out what the site is all about in more depth.
This means that the Orion Algorithm is essentially an entirely new way
of evaluating websites with regards to the search terms that are used
for them. Instead of ranking the website based on the search phrase
being used by the user, the Orion Algorithm may also dig a bit deeper
into the phrase, searching also for related phrases. This concept,
while not entirely new for directories, is the first of its kind for
the standard search engines that are typically used on the internet.
This will mean that search engine optimizers will need to change their
overall strategy so that they will now appeal to search engines in
different ways.
Among the techniques that may be utilized in searching with other
relevant terms with the Orion Algorithm are the following. Their
relevancy and weight has not been determined, as the Orion Algorithm is
being held in the deepest secrecy. However, knowing what we do about
Orion, it is logical to believe the following:
1 Directories are the least likely to be considered using relevant
phrases. Though they may be utilized for supplementary keyword sources,
they will not likely be considered as results in themselves. The
drawback presented by this approach is that there will therefore not be
as many cross-referenced popular keywords as there are currently due to
the results brought up by directories with a search engine query.
2 Thesaurus are relatively unlikely to be used for discovering related
phrases since the technique rarely works for related keyword phrases
that are used with searches. It may be possible for single word
searches, but as soon as multiple words are used, or even when acronyms
are employed, it is much more difficult to find proper terms using
thesauruses.
3 Search behavior is also unlikely to be used in order to document
relevancy for future searches. The concept is sound, as it would allow
search behavior patterns to be collected and then predicted. However,
this would not allow for decent results until the search engines have
had enough time to compile adequate results and then assess the
behaviors that have been recorded.
We may never know precisely what goes into the Orion Algorithm, but
search engine optimizers "as always" will continue testing new results
for creating sites that are most likely to achieve superior search
engine ranking results.
Mark Nenadic
Mark is the director and face behind 15Degrees-North
http://www.15dn.com
where you will find articles and resources to help with Search Engine
Optimization, Internet Marketing and Web Design.
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