Sick of AI & ChatGPT launches?
Recently, the source code for Yandex (aka “The Russian Google”) was leaked online.
Yandex is the 16th most visited site in the world, receiving roughly the same amount of monthly traffic as Amazon each month.
I imagine you aren’t so interested in Yandex though…
So Why Mention It?
Because Yandex returns ~70% identical results as Google so we can presume it works largely the same way.
For reference, with all the components that go into a search algorithm – if it weren’t VERY similar we may have seen a similarity in results of 0.0007% instead.
Yandex was also built as a direct Google competitor.
Many ex-Google employees work for Yandex.
And SEO agencies specializing in optimizing for Yandex do “the same stuff” as for Google.
The 17,854 Ranking Factors
While it’s been reported there are 1,922 ranking factors discovered – the number is actually closer to 17,854.
That’s too much for a regular human brain (i.e. my brain) to comprehend – so I ask “what’s the jist?”
And The Jist Is:
- Don’t spam your site with ads
- Update your content regularly
- Produce fresh new content regularly
- Use a .com domain
- Focus on Traffic
- Be Hyper-Targeted
Bonus:
- Be Wikipedia (little joke for anyone who goes digging into the source code, there).
Does This Sound Familiar?
It bloody well better, because that’s what I’ve been saying for years!!
When you target ultra-low competition keywords first and rank for them (i.e. leverage existing authority) – people are able to find, visit and use your site and the search engines can start getting data on your site, letting the other factors trigger.
You will rank higher and get more traffic.
If your site directly answers somebody’s search query with precise content – you end their search journey and that’s the search engine’s goal.
You will rank higher and get more traffic.
If you have people coming back to your site again within the same month, you clearly have something people want – that’s the search engine’s goal.
You will rank higher and get more traffic.
If you have people searching out your site specifically by its brand or bookmarking your site or typing in your site directly, you must have something people want – that’s the search engine’s goal.
You will rank higher and get more traffic.
If you are producing content on subjects nobody else is then you will rank higher (hyper-targeted) and become a ‘high ranking site’ in the search engine’s eye. So produce hyper-targeted content.
You will rank higher and get more traffic.
This is all accomplished with a strong brand and hyper-targeted content.
Summary / Not-So-Humble Brag…
I know it may sound weird, how a guy who never considered himself an “SEO” manages to get tens of millions of visitors from search engines over the years; (more than most professional SEOs, in fact)…
My message has never changed at its core:
- Avoid competition
- Produce hyper-targeted content
- Focus on humans (not search engines)
The inevitable end-result is a steadily increasing stream of traffic, engaged with your site, getting what it’s looking for and remembering you for next time…
… you get a site search engines want to send MORE traffic to, because it makes them look good!
This is what search engines want – because it’s what PEOPLE want.
“Give The People What They Want” – Leo Reynolds, 2023…
(maybe that was someone else, some other time too, but whatever…)
Thanks,
Leo Reynolds
