Search engine
optimization guru Rand Fishkin took the stage Thursday at the Search Insider Summit in Park City, Utah to discuss ways to boost natural rankings.
"SEO is not fair," said Fishkin,
chief executive of a Seattle-based search consultancy called SEOmoz. Google generates results based on how many sites link to content, and does not guarantee that the most relevant content ranks
first.
Targeting the correct audience, or "Linkerati"--those who tend to link other sites to theirs, such as bloggers, Twitter users and journalists--can bring success in moving up the search
engine ranks. People link to stories and content with which they connect: surprising or shocking news stories, those that make them feel angry, prideful, or passionate about something, Fishkin said.
Todd Friesen, VP of search at Position Technologies, added other ways to climb the ranks, such as paid links, donating to charities and involvement in community activities. He reminded attendees
of the importance of indirect link building and staying away from running 404 pages. "When you take down a page that advertises a product, redirect the path to the next best product, rather than put
up a 404 page," he said.