It has been discussed in the blogosphere, on a study by SEOmoz, which indicates on more weight factors in the positioning of a site.
here the list (copied) for you to see:
1. Using keyword in the Title (4.9)
2. Popularity (link) a global Web (4.5)
3. Anchor Text of backlinks (4.4)
4. Internal structure of the links (4.1)
5. Age of a Web (4)
6. Thematic list of the web / pages linking you regarding your keyword (3.9)
7. Popularity (links) on a page within the community theme (3.9)
8. Using keywords in the page (3.9)
9. Popularity (links) global page / site that links you (3.7)
10. Thematic list of pages that you link (3.6)
Of all the changes, I would rescue one of the differences that make them among the same study but on different dates, one in 2005 and the other for 2007, called Global Link Popularity (translate as the popularity of links Global).
Overall, it appears that the “external” factors such as the popularity of sites with general issues, are having a lot of market acceptance and in turn, achieving good positions in the lists of results within the major Search engines .
This differs with what by 2005 was considered one of the factors positioning very important to have a site of some very specific topic and expect some important position.
From an SEO standpoint, this situation fills me “hypothesis head”, especially when I think of those websites that nature can not take more than a certain level of content.
That is, small Web sites that compete fairly competitive markets, will now have to expand its niche in a certain way, and make your Web site a valuable source of information in a generic way rather than in detail.
In a way, this can contribute directly to offer Web sites with relevant content and make the user experience more rewarding. But they also require a change of mindset focused on building better websites, “open horizon” to contribute to positioning and expect positive results.