PhilC - 10:16 am on Sep 25, 2004 (gmt 0)

Hi Marcia,

The engines are much further down the road of semantics than most of us probably realise. Fast had a small semantics-based search engine running quite a while ago.

In a recent discussion, I was effectively accused of being short-sighted because I am looking for what works now, but the engines are continuing to evolve, and the algos continue to change. My reply was that I *am* short-sighted because I want top rankings now - not sometime in the future when the engines have caught up to my optimisation. The engines may never catch up - they may shoot off down a difference evolutionary branch than I'd imagined and catered for. So, if off-topic links work today, they'll do for me.

I always recommend doing what it takes to get top rankings in the current conditions. The main thing that it means is to get links, links, and more links, all with targeted link text. As a 'just in case' measure, make it a point to get some of the links from on-topic pages. They may or may not be essential in the future, but it doesn't hurt to take the precaution now.