Hilltop - The Forgotten Google Algorithm

bybryonbrewer

10.5K followers

Updated 9 years ago

Before there were penguins and pandas, there was a hilltop (presumably for them all to slide down).

Google acquired the algorithm known as Hilltop in 2003 and immediately started using it to help return search queries.

It still forms a part of Google's algorithm and philosophy today.

What Did It Check?

Initially Google created a special "expert index" of sites that were hubs of useful links. Where a page had many links to useful sites on a given topic, it was known as an expert site.

Hilltop would scan this index for relevance to the keyword that was being searched, and help Google's main algorithm return the useful results.

Uhh What?

If a page links to many other useful "authority" sites in any given niche, it is considered an expert page and gets better rankings.

Oh..so...

So if you are producing content and you never link out to other sites, you're missing out on a big opportunity to say to Google "Hey, I'm an expert".

I've mentioned before how important on page SEO is, and external linking (linking to other sites from yours) is a big part of that. Huge.

Hilltop is the proof.

How do we implement that?

You don't want to go and create a page or two with thousands of links. Unless it's a designated resource page.

On every post/page you write, try to link to a few authority sites in your niche, or authority sites with relevant pages (wikipedia, wikihow etc).

Useful tip: Make sure outbound links have the box "open in new window" checked, so the user doesn't leave your site if they click it.

Remember that the number of outbound links isn't the only thing Google is checking. While the hilltop is checking whether or not you are an expert, the Panda is checking your site quality, the Penguin is checking that you haven't been creating spammy backlinks, and the Hummingbird is analyzing your content for its meaning.

Still, I think what's important here is to know that Google considers sites that link to other resources very important. It loves returning search results where users can get access to a wealth of information.

Useful tip: Affiliate links don't count as external links in this situation (but they won't harm your score either).