Improve Search Engine Rankings – SEO Ranking Factors

Posted • June 16, 2009 • Comments Off

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SMX Advanced 2009 Seattle – SEO Track – SEO Ranking Factors In 2009 Rand Fishkin

Post from Search Engine Optimizician.
smx advanced Improve Search Engine Rankings SEO Ranking Factors How much does the “H1″ tag really matter, versus the number of links pointing at a domain?
Do “authority” sites always have an advantage over other sites with less reputation?
Is brand recognition now a bigger issue?

On and off-the-page factors that influence web search, what remains useful and what new signals are growing in importance. Part 1 of 3

Rand Fishkin and Gary Pool
Rand Fishkin, CEO, SEOmoz

Search Ranking Factors Survey
Answered by 70 Top SEOs Worldwide

Keyword Usage

Keyword use anywhere in the title tag
(very strong to significant impact)
Keyword as the first word or words of the title tag
(very strong to significant impact)
Keyword in the Root Domain
(very strong to moderate impact)
Keyword in subdomain
(moderate impact)
Keyword in page folder
(moderate impact)
Keyword in page name
(moderate impact)
Keyword in page’s query
(weak impact)
Keyword in page’s extension
(not used)
Keyword in description tag
(weak impact)
Keyword in meta keywords
(not used)
Keyword anywhere in the “H1″ tag
(significant to moderate impact)
Keyword as first words in the “H1″ tag
(significant to weak impact)
Keyword in other “H” tags [H2-6]
(moderate impact)

H1 Tags (Low Correlation w/ Rankings).
Alt Text (Higher Correlation w/ Rankings).
Keyword in URL (Very High Correlation).
Keyword Location (Data Says Closer is Much Better).

While I agree with most of the statements above I would question the “H1 Tags (Low Correlation w/ Rankings)”. Just because they aren’t used properly doesn’t mean that if they were used correctly they wouldn’t have more of a correlation.

Non-Link Factors

Freshness and recentcy of page creation
(significant impact)
Historical content changes
(significant to weak impact)
Advertising on the page
(not used)
Google AdSence on the page
(not used)
Meta description tag
(moderate to not used)
Query parameters in the URL vs. static URL format
(moderate to weak impact)
Substantive, unique content on the page
(very strong to significant impact)
Links pointing to other URLs on the domain
(significant to weak impact)
External-pointing links on page
(weak impact)
HTML validation to W3C standards
(weak impact)
Ratio of code to text in HTML
(weak impact)
Use of Flash elements or other plug-in content
(not used)

Substantive, Unique Content is Very Important.
W3C Validation Not Very Important.
Code to Text Ratio Not Very Important.
Static URLs Somewhat Better Than Dynamic.

Once again I will have to disagree with W3C Validation as not being “Very Important”. I will agree while it is not as important as some of the other on-page factors I feel it is of value. See the Matt Cutts video clip.

Importance of Link Metrics

Global link popularity of the domain
(very strong impact)
Trustworthiness of domain
(very strong impact)
Link diversity of the domain
(very strong impact)
Links form hubs or authorities in a topic specific neighborhood
(very strong impact)

PageRank may be important, but TBPR not a great predictor.
Domain Authority may be important, but metrics need work.
TrustRank concepts may be important, but metrics need work.
Domain Diversity may be more important than experts think.

Interesting, I think I am in agreement with all of these statements.

Subdomains vs. Root Domains
Subdomains likely DO NOT inherit all of the ranking benefits of the Root Domain, but neither are they completely separate entities.

Google’s Algorithm
Links, as they pertain to the domain and the individual page, are vastly superior in importance to the page’s content.

Geographic Ranking Factors For Country-Specific Targeting

ccTLD of the root domain
(very strong impact)
Geographic location of the host IP
(significant impact)
Links from other domains targeted to the country or region
(significant impact)
Registration of the site with Google Local
(moderate impact)
Address associated with the registration of the domain
(weak impact)
Address in on-page text content
(moderate impact)
Geographical location of visitors to the site
(weak impact)
Geo-Targeting preference set inside Google Webmaster Tools
(moderate impact)
Geo-Tagging of pages via meta data
(moderate impact)
Content language used on site
(significant impact)
Manual review/targeting by Google
(very strong impact)

Country TLD
Language
Links
Host IP Address
Manual Review
GG WM Tools Geographic Target Settings
Registration with Google Local

Links will decline in importance, but remain powerful, as newer signals rise from usage data, social graph data and other sources to replace them.

So there you have it. My notes and views on Rand’s presentation at SMX Advanced in Seattle June 2009.
Parts 2 and 3 featuring the presentations from Laura Lippay and Marty Weintraub are in the hopper.

Late,
Gary Pool

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