Algo research

... the ever pondering of the SE minds....

[Smokin Joe]

ok, I'm probably not alone here.

I have been doing this for almost a year now. I taught myself everything I know with the guide of forums very much like this one and have made several return contributions when I feel that my advice is valid.

I'm now thinking of the next step. I'd like to be able to research the engines themselves. I'd rather be able to figure out the algo's on my own, perhaps with the aid of a few to further understand the "what makes it tick" of particular SE's.

What I lack though, is a starting point. I'm extremely interested in bettering my optimization prowess and all the while having the ability to contribute on a large level to advice seekers and beginners...

umm....

any advice?

[rcjordan]

>have made several return contributions
Hi Smoke, know your posts well, both here and SEF

Have you seen this thread [webmasterworld.com] on the vector database? Seems like a likely place to start.

[JamesR]

Joe, RC's starting point is a good one -- pay attention to who is writing what article, pay attention to which papers are cited and you will start to find a few just keep popping up.

[oilman]

Hey Smoke,
One of the ways to approach this type of thing as well is to start creating pages with different criteria. The key is to vary only one parameter at a time and watch the rankings. This will help you zero in on the criteria of different SEs. I will admit this is the SEO equivalent of programming in machine language but you will learn alot.

One big downside is the waiting time for results.

And as always read, read, read.

>>bettering my optimization prowess and all the while having the ability to contribute

I have also seen your posts in SEF and here and I must say it's pretty cool to watch the evolution of someone who "gets it". Keep up the good work. I look forward to what you dig up on algos.