We would like to introduce a new search engine optimization technique which we’ve nicknamed PASEO for Performance Adjusted Search Engine Optimization. The technique uses the external references, the tag-cloud concept and internal search to reinforce content within a site and encourage improved natural search rankings.

How does it work?
By parsing out referring URLs for search terms, PASEO calculates which terms are the most popular for a particular page. The same method is used by all the major search analytic tools. These terms are then listed in order of importance on the destination page. Clicking on any of the terms listed on the page will drive the visitor into an internal site search which helps the user locate relevant content for the end user.

The dynamically ranked PASEO tags help build relevant text links; thereby providing a positive feedback loop for when the search bots come to re-index page content.

Is this Black Hat?
No, it is not. We fully believe that PASEO tagging helps the visitor locate more relevant content, quicker. The technique is akin to tag clouds with the fundamental difference being that tags aren’t assigned by the end-user, rather they are driven by external influences.

Example.
Have a look at the Imulus homepage page tags on the bottom left corner; compare these tags to the page tags on our Solutions page.

Considerations.

• Given that PASEO is analyzing the referral URL it is wise to setup exclusions for terms which you may find undesirable.
• This technique isn’t foolproof and we feel others could expand on the concept by blending PASEO tag rankings with a combination of other Web 2.0 methods to tweak the results to be more relevant.