Jump Higher: Analyzing Web-Site Rank in Google
Lisa Zhao · Information Technology and Libraries · 2004
What makes a Web site rise top of a search-engine retrieval? The deluge of information and short attention spans of have made this question vital. The research reported in this paper aims analyze characteristics of Web sites that may have enabled them rise top of a search-engine retrieval. The author searched Google by using selected keywords--cataloging department--over a period of ten weeks, and then examined characteristics of top twenty retrievals each week determine which characteristics had greatest influence on retrieval rank. ********** The number of Web sites has grown rapidly. According Office of Research, Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), from 1998 2002, annual increase of public Web sites (sites providing free, unrestricted access--or at least a significant portion of their content--to all) was between 35 percent and 55 percent and number grew from 1,457,000 3,080,000. (1) Private sites (sites whose contents are intended for a restricted audience; restriction can be explicit as in fee payment or authorization, or implicit) increased 12 percent (315,000) in 1998 and 29 percent (2,489,000) in 2002. Provisional Web sites (sites in transitory or unfinished states, offering content that is, from a general perspective, meaningless or trivial) increased over 30 percent every year, from 864,000 in 1998 3,143,000 in 2002. In such a rapidly enlarging ocean of information, how reach top in search-engine retrievals is a serious matter for information providers. engines are a gateway information services including digital libraries and IR. (2) But Web searchers will not look at a Web site buried in a retrieval and are not patient enough look through even a fraction of their search Huberman observed that the average number of pages surfed at a site was almost three, typically requested only one page. (3) Several analysts have estimated that the average users' patience lasts between four ten seconds. (4) Echoing proliferation of online information, users' search behavior is changing a short style. In their research, Spink, Jansen, and Bateman found that users (in average) ask short queries and that they view two three pages of results. (5) An advice from Web site of grokdotcom.com also pointed out that your average prospect will view two three pages before moving on, so at best, you're two clicks away from dead in water unless you help them get where they want go quickly. (6) When Web searchers have such short attention spans, as Bury stated, the ranking of search results is very important, as most won't bother look beyond first twenty results or so ... if search engine doesn't return mostly relevant results in first twenty, user gives up on search and loses faith in that search engine. It's obviously important a Web site be listed in first twenty results for relevant search terms, otherwise that Web site will receive very little traffic from search engines. (7) Web Sites, Search Engines, and Their Features Google is currently a well-known and well-used search engine. According Search Engine Watch, Google has been twice-voted most outstanding search engine by Search Engine Watch readers. (8) On September 2, 2003, Google reported it indexed 3.3 billion textual documents. (9) Claiming to serve over 70 million searches each day through its own site and its affiliates, Google can arguably be called most important and powerful search engine of today. (10) Each search engine keeps secret algorithms it uses rank Web sites. These ranking algorithms are sophisticated, may combine many factors, and are tuned in various ways. Although some literature has focused on ranking algorithms of search engines, no one has really given an authoritative description of them. …