Google Equivalency Score Algorithm

One of the changes that is expected to affect SEOs, businesses, and websites in the coming months is the expected launch of the “Google Equivalency Score Algorithm.” Besides adding one more acronym to our lexicon, what does the arrival of ESA mean for us?

Currently, a Quality Score is apportioned by Google to keyword optimised ads. This is an indicator of the ads’ value and relevance to searchers. The higher your Quality Score, the higher your ad will place in the SERPs, the higher your cost will be, and the higher your ROI is. The Equivalency Score is expected to work in the same way.

Currently, many sites occupy the top spot and refuse to vacate the premises. With ESA, pages that rank equally for search terms will be displayed randomly. In other words, say five sites rank for “leather gloves.” Instead of Great Leather Glove Emporium having a monopoly on the search term, Google randomly gives one of the five sites top billing. On another search, another of the five will be given top spot, and so on. Equivalent businesses are listed randomly.

Now, if you’re the owner of the Great Leather Glove Emporium, this is not great news. You like your top spot. But if you own The Leather Glove Store, it can have a huge impact for you. Being number one for a given keyword means more traffic and revenue for your site.

Again, this is conjecture because Google hasn’t rolled out ESA yet, but it is expected that the search engine will take into account on-page elements, such as URL structure, speed, navigation structure, and content, and off-page elements, such as links to your site from industry pages, social media, and other reputable sites. Your site will be given a score, and this is used to determine if you are “equivalent,” or equal to other sites within the same keyword search. Pay attention to tightening these on- and off-page factors to get your score up.