Ranking Report Helps Sift SEO Factors

Confused about what factors on your site actually have a measureable impact on your site’s organic Google search ranking?  Well, you are not alone; the algorithm is of course a closely guarded secret and changes all the time and SEO experts could debate for years on its actual components.

A new report from search software provider SEOMoz aims to help website owners sift the wheat from the chaff though.  Published every two years since 2005, the Search Ranking Factors report marries opinion from 132 SEO experts with actual search data from over 10,000 Google.com search results.

The report looked at a wide range of search factors, such as page-level links and domain level keyword usage, and correlated them with actual results.  Experts were asked which specific factors they considered to be important, and were also asked what elements they thought would be more or less important in future. (We, and they, know that correlation does not equal causation; two things repeatedly happening together does not mean one caused the other.  However, taken in context, the stats show some interesting things.)

As one might have expected, the data suggests social media factors are having more of an influence on search results now; for example, the number of Facebook shares, as well as the authority of tweets.

Social signals at a page and domain level as well as analysis of the perceived value of a website were thought to be growing in influence, whilst paid links and exact keyword match domain names will reduce.  So if you are overhauling your site’s web design any time soon, think about the SEO value of your social content as well as it’s engagement value.