The search engines use a variety of factors to determine a website's ranking. In the past, this mostly involves crawling web pages for certain keywords. That's why keyword density (ie. the number of times a certain keyword is repeated in the content) has become a primary factor. However, this algorithm is definitely prone to abuse. A lot of modifications have occurred since then.

Just recently, link building has become the central focus of a marketer's strategy. While this is still important, together with keyword density, a new trend is emerging in the SEO field: personalisation and localisation of search engine results. As the term implies, the search engine results page (SERP) for a person based in Australia will be different from that of a person based in the United Kingdom. It can go beyond that. Even people within the same area can receive different results based on their searching preferences and history.

Now, for website owners, the question is "How can I make my website rank high for selected key phrases for people in the UK?" This is where web hosting UK comes in. The search engines really make an effort to track the location of your web host. This is based on the assumption that majority of websites choose a server that is in their area.

Apart from web hosting UK, you should also consider include inserting the name of your locality (ie Glasgow, Edinburg, London, etc) in the keyword phrase. For instance, if you're selling auto insurance then the keyword should ideally be "auto insurance Glasgow" or "auto insurance Edinburg". You can include more than one city in your keyword depending on the geographic coverage of your business.

And as stated beforehand, the number of links your website has is always relevant. But there is an added twist in the search engine algorithm these days. Take note that they will also consider the geographic area where your links are coming from. When your links is mostly derived from car dealers from the UK, for instance, you are most likely to rank higher in the Google UK's results page than you would in the US, if you even rank prominently there at all.

The search industry is certainly evolving. It is crucial to record all these developments to improve your ranking and to avoid losing what you already gained. The use of keywords and link building in the new programs don't come as a surprise. However, who would have thought, a year or two ago, that web hosting UK will also be taken as part of the equation?