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LocalRank

LocalRank is another piece of Google technology. It holds US patent number 6,725,259, granted on the 20th April 2004 to Krishna Bharat. Bharat is also one of the researchers behind the Hilltop algorithm. The process is relatively simple. An initial set of results is found based on search keywords. These results are then ranked according to their interconnectivity. This has the implication that the content of the interlinked documents is related and should exclude the simplest forms of cross-linking and link-spamming. It has been suggested that LocalRank forms a part of the Florida/Austin update, perhaps using a corpus of 1000 results from the initial keyword search. However there is no confirmation of this.

The implication of LocalRank is that SEOs will now have to find inbound-links from related authority sites, directories and even from direct competitors rather than just concentrating on link quantity and anchor text. This will require a greater understanding of clients and their market segments rather than SEO tricks. Effort should be expanded in finding thematic portals and directories. For competitive keywords LocalRank favors larger, well structured informational sites with excellent content and strongly themed inbound-links.

LocalRank

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