There’s an interesting search engine optimisation discussion going on at the moment on a WebmasterWorld.com forum relating to some rumoured changes taking place this month with Google and its search algorithm.

Basically, a lot of people are reporting Google SERPS changes with their sites and the only apparent weighting criteria that seems to be different is the freshness of both the content and the inbound links.  If this is a true update (albeit a minor one), it further emphasises the need to ensure that :

a)    Your web site is updated with fresh content frequently – this is where artefacts such as blogs and news releases can really help

b)    Link building is an activity that needs to be maintained consistently and continuously.  It does no good in the long run to spend a few months link building and to then do nothing for the next 12 months.