Is Ontology The Next Big Factor In Google's Algorithm?

When the ax comes down at Google, there are always big winners and big losers. Recently, we’ve seen the first big algorithm change of the year and many web site owners and their respective sites have fallen, much like the proverbial tree. What was it about their site that was simply too much for the new algorithm to allow anymore searchers to see? Taking a look at their sites (if you can find them) as well as the sites at the top, gives us great insight into the mind of the Google boys and the evidence is clear; the word ontology is not getting the attention in deserves.

What is ontology? The quick answer is that it is words that are related to the keywords that you are targeting. However, it’s a bit more complicated than just dusting off the old Thesaurus. The way it works is that it is an undetermined amount of words that most frequently appear on the same pages throughout the internet as the keywords you are targeting. I would assume that more weight is given to the words on pages that rank well than those that don’t. So now that we know that, how is it affecting today’s SERPs?

Logically, ontology makes a lot more sense than keyword density, which is clearly a thing of the past. Of course, Google needs to know what your site is about, and you need to tell them, but not in the way that some sites have in the past. This is a lesson learned for the site owners who have been axed from Google’s rankings. I have taken a look at a few that have been talked about in the SEO “underworld” and while it’s been - continued below ...