Ranking factors are awesome—and sometimes—a little bit dangerous.
That is, chasing minor ranking factors can lead to a dangerous waste resources, while at the same time neglecting holistic SEO that actually leads to higher rankings and better traffic.
Google uses 1000s of signals to rank web pages. Nobody knows what they all are (and anyone who claims otherwise is fibbing). In fact, since the rise of machine learning, not even Googlers can tell you all the elements that influence rankings and how they interact with one another in search results.
What matters is success.
SEO Success Factors are those elements you can take action on to improve your rankings, traffic, and visibility in Google search. Many Success Factors—but not all—are based on ranking factors, and a number of them deliver bigger results than others.
As an example, while meta descriptions aren’t a Google ranking factor, crafting well-composed descriptions that improve your click-through rate (CTR) can have a positive, outsized impact on your SEO efforts.
Using a combined analysis of dozens of sources, including:
- Ranking factors studies
- SEO Experimentation data
- Expert opinion surveys
- Patent filings
- And statements from Google
… we’ve aggregated the most popular SEO Success Factors in one place. Our goal is to show you not only what works, but how to use these factors to improve your rankings and traffic.
Use this information is to prioritize the most critical factors first while working your way towards less important elements.
Next Steps
- Start with 10 Critical SEO Success Factors
97 thoughts on “SEO Success Factors”
Cyrus, great resource which is super simple to understand and digest! Have been looking for the signals that Google uses and whilst there is loads of informative posts lingering on the net that explain it in great detail yours is super easy to digest. Bravo.
Just to chip in, your right. Good quality content that answers user intent is definitely a must and crafting spot on descriptions with CTR then its how well your page is crafted
Nice resource Cyrus.
Agree with the commenter Josh above, the structure of your content helps a TON. Makes it so much easier to read, well done.
This is definitely a good guideline…there’s SO much to pay attention to when you are first starting especially – and this gives some good places to narrow your focus to.
Very well done.
Hey Cyrus, first of I would like to thank you for this valuable informative google SEO factors list and details. Great guide on how to improve website traffic & rankings. Nice distribution of factors in category and let us know in insights on how to focus on these, how to ignore and, avoid these. I learn many things from this post.
Thanks
GpDigitalmonk
Are you sure amp is useful for SEO?
The Ignore part is the most troubling, to think that I’ve spent a chunk, a huge chunk of my time believing the myths and Ignore list is unbelievable.
Thanks for this SEO success factors. I appreciate the time you used in creating this huge database of information.
Hello Cyrus,
Such a wonderful clear factor and facts of SEO success. It’s important information to know for all type of SEO and bloggers too. Hope, I have to learn a few things from your post. Thanks for that opportunity to know the SEO success factors.
Amazing post, Cyrus! Thank you so much
Great list, but how does cloaking affect your SEO? If you have a few affiliate links in place or just want to cloak naked URLs to get pretty links? Thanks!
Bookmarked, definitely one of the guides I’ll be following. Hopefully will help me in reducing my websites’ bounce rates. Thank you!
Sweet post Cyrus.
I love how the content is formatted and structured.
Good work sir.
Josh,
Hi Cyrus,
I was really looking for a post like yours. I Just want to say that your infographics are really awesome. These ranking factors helped me learn a lot.
I am still trying to understand the way structured data is actually analyzed by big G. It’s clearly critical, but while some say you need a plug-in for it, others believe you simply need to get your headings in order and have well-written quality content on the page. I’ve been trying to implement it on a few of my posts but still don’t quite understand what would be the best way to do so… What are your thoughts on best Schema and structured data implementation practices?
Awesome factors list Cyrus Shepard. Being new to SEO definitely, it will be useful for me because I learnt a lot from it.
Hi Cyrus,
I am a fan of your guidence. I keep stalking for your new content posts. Can you give some tips on how to prevent a website SERP from dropping.
Hi Cyrus!
What is your opinion about Direct traffic?
If a website get a larger amount of direct traffic it is show that people like that site and it is show that it’s an E-A-T site? Dont you think?
I mean direct traffic correlate a lot of real ranking factor, so I could see direct traffic as an important, but not direct ranking factor.
Thank you for your reply.
If Google can measure traffic through their Chrome web browser, it makes sense that they might rank sites higher if they see they are getting a lot of “natural” traffic. So I don’t think anyone can say if it’s a direct ranking factor, but increasing direct traffic usually corresponds to a related increase in organic traffic, so why not?
Hi Cyrus,
Been following you on Twitter for quiet some time and am a big fan of your content, both here and at Moz.
Although I’ve read this article before, I try to come back here often for a refresher. I think content refresher (or updating articles for freshness) is a low-hanging fruit that most of us miss.
It’s easy to keep the traffic flow constant (or increase it) than to acquire new traffic for new content.
Best,
-Swadhin
Thanks Swadhin! Appreciate you stopping by.
So links are still a critical factor for ranking 🙂 can we rank a page with unique and in-depth content without backlinks?
Thanks for this list. It is really informative.
But, can you explain how Over-optimized Anchor text affects on Google search results?
In a nutshell, it can harm your ability to rank for that particular phrase. (this effect is less seen with big, trusted brand sites with lots of trust and authority)
Did you know about natural anchor text distribution formula?
After trying numerous things over the years, I’ve realized that it all comes down to user experience. The biggest factor being CTR and bounce rates. Interesting infographic covering everything.
Fortunately, you can also take advantage of Pinterest Place Pins now. Use them to increase your exposure on Pinterest.
hi Cyrus !
such a great article thanks for sharing , seo is very impotent to success in blogging. i like your all points. happy blogging
Very nice post, but it is still hard to find the trigger that ranked us out since the update of 27 of september.
One of the best infograph to understand the whole SEO flow and ranking factors. Definitely added to my bookmarks.
Awesome Article Post ! Thanks Cyrus for sharing this amazing seo tips for better ranking and increasing page rank.Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful article .
Great Article, Cyrus. This will help us improve the website SEO sooner, and try to follow this list.
Seems that comment links on popular blogs like this one still factors greatly in backlink value. Google made a big change on 9/27/2018, though, which may change this whole scheme.
What is the importance of Cloudflare?
Not a ranking factor at all, but can help with speed + security.
Fantastic post,here are the most important Google ranking factors.
Interesting choice of levels. I’m not sure I would put site design so high up. Assuming already that the design meets the “critical” needs, such as speed and multiple-devices, I don’t think search engines pay much attention to other aspects of design.
That said, I love the whole concept, even going into the negative at the bottom. On 1,000 Infographics covering SEO success factors, this might be the first I see that dips below-ground.
Just wondering how you know that certain factors are myths?
Or are those your best guesses that they are myths? Cuz you present them as being truth (that they are indeed myths).
Hi Ty,
The factors listed here are all evidence-based, meaning only those factors that have verifiable evidence that they are indeed “myths” are included. 🙂
Nice post. Have a quibble though with some ranking factors. Freshness & readability can probably be a notch lower. Have seen older articles still ranking high. Also CTR is a vanity metric in many cases especially B2B sites where getting higher converting visitors can mean a bigger difference.
Thanks. We’ll have to agree on some points, and disagree on others 🙂
Hi Cyrus Shepard, I think You provided the great information and the nice stuff .Thanks For Sharing Such an Nice Information Which are very helpful for those who are struggling in SEO
Great content once again!
I tried figuring out how to get an embed code for your awesome Infographic, but I couldn’t find any.
How do I get the embed code for use on my blog?
Hi Khris,
No embed code needed! You’re free to simply download the image and host it on your blog (though we’d LOVE an attribution link). For example, the high-res version of the main infographic is here: https://zyppy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/seo-sucess-hr.png
Thanks!
In late 2018, topic modeling or semantic optimization is also a major factor of SERP ranking.
Hi Cyrus,
This is an amazing post. You really hit a wide array of topics and items that every SEO should pay attention to. I also really like how clean everything is and the links you provided in each section.
I’d really like to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and insight into coding for SEO. I would thrive off of a blog post that lists off the best practices for html, css, and javascript in a similar way that you do here. I’ve read and heard about Google Chrome 41 and what can be parsed by Google’s bot. For someone like me, who wants to get into coding, but wants an idea of recommendations or what to look for would be ideal.
If you have any recommendations of where to look, I’d appreciate it. Otherwise great post man and I look forward to more of your content. Really enjoyed your Web Developer’s SEO Cheat Sheet 3.0 from Moz.
Thanks!
Awesome Sean! To be honest, I wish I were a better coder myself. The best technical SEOs I know are often data junkies. In addition to understanding the basics of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, they are often versed in Python and R, among others.
I follow a lot of Technical SEOs who are amazing coders on Twitter. I’d recommend following Russ Jones, Ryan Siddle, Britney Muller, Paul Shapiro and others. Also check out the Tech SEO boost and the people involved with it, if you haven’t already.
Hey, Great read!
I research SEO methods all of the time, and I test loads of methods myself. I’ve always know this, but have seen 100% proof over time, that consistent content updates with links no and then going to relevant internal links in that updated content helps with KEEPING the rankings you’ve worked so hard to get.
Hi Cyrus,
I am Really appreciate your post. Its very informative and am getting detailed information from your one post.
Thanks.
Hi Cyrus,
Really appreciate your post. Its very informative and am getting detailed information from your one post.
Thank you Cyrus great resource.
Regarding supplemental content should there not be a ceiling to how much you add.
To butcher Einstein that said everything should be simple and not simpler. Should a post not be just right (length etc.) rather than being the longest or with the most content like with what we see using the skyscraper technique, that everyone is going for longer/more/better rather than giving what is actually/really needed. And can Google determine that?
What are your thoughts on that?
Thank you Cyrus it’s very amazing content
Hi Cyrus,
I came here through SEObytheSEA blog and It is really an amazing post to read and learn many new things about ranking on google.
Thanks for the great share.
have a good week ahead.
thanks for sharing the useful information about the 1000+ Signals of the ranking factor,i follow this factor now onwards..
Great content! Simple question… you wrote down “magical .edu and .gov backlinks”; what about real backlinks from those sources, i.e. if I land a link in useful resources pages of a .edu website?
Yep! Totally legitimate in those cases.
Hey Cyrus 🙂
Can you please tell me best source to Improve CTR and Dwell of my website
Regards,
Naeem
Check out the content produced by Larry Kim on these topics. He’s one of the best!
Lengthy Content cover in short way 🙂 . Now my plan to explore each point and apply on my webesites 🙂
Thank you cryus
Its a good article. But my question is –
Do I need to complete all 100 factors to get rank the website top page on Google? or Only Important and Critical factors?
Hi Shafiq!
Thanks for the question – it’s a good one. The answer is no, you don’t need every single factor to rank in Google. What you need will depend on 1) the keyword query 2) the competition and 3) the INTENT of the query.
Best to focus on Critical factors first. This will get you 80% of the way there.
What a comprehensive piece of work. And a really great read.
Thanks for putting it together. I’ll be off to share all over the place now.
All the best, Adam.
Thanks Adam! Means a lot.
This is an amazing piece of content Cyrus! Thanks for compiling it. Love how the first factor is about writing content that targets user queries. People tend to ignore that when blogging
Thank you Oyekunle. Good observation on people often missing the most important things first. Thanks for stopping by!
Hey Cyrus,
Added straight to my bookmarks. Thanks for putting together such a well organized and easy to follow list that helps me stay focused.
Cheers!
Thanks Jonathan! Glad you found it useful. Appreciate the comment.
Great list and infografic. But I am missing importance of canonical tag and titles (even though you write importance of CTR:s)
Fair point! Several individual tactics are combined under broader strategies.
As you note, titles and canonicals are hugely important. Titles would fall under both CTR and keyword/topic usage, whereas canonical tags would fall under both crawling/accessibility and also duplicate content.
Tough to organize everything together, but hopefully we got the important parts in there 🙂
According to JM, domain age doesn’t matter: https://twitter.com/_newsbulletin/status/852108312720048128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.seroundtable.com%2Fgoogle-domain-age-23697.html
But I guess that’s one of those indirect things – the older the domain, the more links and content it will have so it’s more that which helps that the metric {domain age}.
Thoughts?
This seems to be one of those areas were Google says things that are “technically correct” but the practical application is wholly different. Yep, Google doesn’t look at domain age, but Google also says they look at when they first saw a page/domain.
So, in theory, a site could be 3 years old, but Google only first saw the site last month. In this case, they are looking at a month’s worth of data. If the site has any links at all, for most of us, Domain Age is going to be roughly equal to the time Google first saw the site.
Controversial and we’re cutting a fine line. Hope that makes sense.
definitely a good article with valid points, sometimes email marketing and that dept over do the emails…but gotta pick and choose your battles
Great list and info graphic
Amazing piece of content Cyrus. Always on the look out for great SEO content with UX like this.
Thank you Ashley! Glad you like the UX. Cheers.
You’ve knocked it out the park with this Cyrus, very shareable and well put together. Congrats!
Thank you, Micheal! Appreciate the comment and glad you liked it. Hope we can create something more for you to stop back later.
Cyrus, this is awesome work. It is so easy to read and digest. Great work!
Thanks, Vaibhav!
it’s very useful information
Excellent guide, great list and solid foundation. My mind boggles over how much misinformation and hype around SEO being a “dark art” that still exists in 2018. Thanks for setting it straight.
Thanks, Oliver. My motto is: “All the SEO information you could ever want already exists, it’s just poorly organized.” Hopefully this post adds a little more organization.
Congratulations, Cyrus!
This SEO guide is simple and easy to understand, without oversimplification. That´s always a risk. The structure and organization is impressive too.
This guide is beyond high-quality. Intelligent self-scaling niche marketing. So hard to copy. Well done, Sir!
Thanks Trond!
Was thinking this morning how much I dislike the term “dumbing down.” If you need to simplify something complex, it doesn’t mean the person you’re explaining it to is dumber or less intelligent, they simply have less experience with the subject matter. They are likely just as hungry for intelligent and well-structured information as you are.
Regardless, thanks for the comment!
Awesome list Cyrus. These points will be valid for the future as well as everything at the end boils down to user experience.
Thanks Nehal! Glad you liked it.
Yep, user experience is becoming a HUGE SEO Success Factor.
I began my SEO career in 1996 and I have seen a lot of changes in the industry. However the critical factors for solid SEO have changed very little aside from the different devices. How many years has Google been telling us to create quality content? As a Google user however I don’t think the search results are better than 10-15 years ago. I don’t know maybe it’s just me. Thoughts on the SERPS?
That’s a ton of experience!
So true about the Critical Factors. It does seem to me that 10 years ago I spent much more time on page 2,3,4+ of SERPs, and now I’m more unlikely to go past page 1, but perhaps that’s simply my perception.
Regardless, thanks for the great comment.
Brilliant Infographic here Cyrus!
Thanks a lot for sharing, it gets straight to the point and is very well-researched.
All the best,
Tom
Thanks Tom! Appreciate your kind words. (and I put a LOT of work into the research, so I’m extra happy you noticed)
Awesome Article
Now, this is a masterclass on epic content creation.
1. Fantastic UX
2. An actual informative infographic
3. Love the Navigator
p.s. Lately, I’ve seen an inordinate amount of time spent on the web debating the use of multiple H1 tags. This is taking up valuable time that could be spent looking at kitten photos on Instagram.
Thanks Jason. I’ll pass your message about the Navigator along to our graphic designer (who happens to be my wife :). Hugely appreciate the comment.
Cyrus This is just awesome, thanks for sharing this.
Thanks Ashok! Glad you could stop by.
Really good article. Thanks Cyrus but will that apply in the future?
Absolutely, at least for the next 2-3 years, I can say with confidence. In fact, I suspect is likely more future-facing than a lot of SEO-focused advice out there today.
Thanks for a great summary Cyrus, I couldn’t agree more with the categorisation, and this made the Moz Top 10!
I do agree that the main factors will stay true for the next few years, after all they have been true for the past decade at least. But Oguz, how can anyone properly answer if it will apply in the future? If I had a crystal ball…
This is an awesome list. I think 90% of SEO is about writing unique, original, problem-solving content which actually fulfills the intention of your audience. If you write high quality, citable content, you are destined to rank higher on Google Search.
Think you nailed it 🙂