Can You Build an Algorithm-Proof Site?

That is, can you build a site that will keep ranking in the search engines despite any updates to algorithms?

This begs the question - What's an Algorithm?

Advibe Media defines it as "A set of rules that a search engine uses to rank the listings contained within its index, in response to a particular query". Let's take that a bit out of context for even more discovery.

The following mathematical definition sheds even more light on the issue. Literacy, Technology and Standards defins it as an "organized procedure for performing a given type of calculation or solving a given type of problem. An example is long division."

Ah-ha. Now that will get you scratching your noggin - Google and Yahoo are listing my site according to a mathematical formula to solve a problem?

Yep. And that gives us clues about how to get better results. We know that there's some kind of math being done. So it's nothing personal for or against our sites, it's just that when the math is said and done, some sites make the grade more than others.

We also know, given the definition in the context of mathematics, that this formula for ranking sites is being done to solve a problem. So what does that lead to when we're thinking logically?

What is a search engine's problem - and how can my site be a part of the solution? We'll talk about that next.