Ranking Factors Data 2011: SMX Elite Sydney

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Google’s Ranking Factors 2011<br />Early data from SEOmoz’s survey of 132 SEO professionals and correlation data from 10,0...

SEOmoz Makes Software! We don’t offer consulting.<br />

Understanding, Interpreting & Using Survey Opinion Data<br />Everybody’s wrong sometimes, but there’s a lot we can learn f...

#1: Opinions are Not Fact<br />(these are smart people, but they can’t know everything about Google’s rankings)<br />#2: N...

Understanding, Interpreting & Using Correlation Data<br />This is powerful, useful information, but with that power comes ...

Methodology<br />10,271 Keywords, pulled from Google AdWords US Suggestions<br />(all SERPs were pulled from Google in Mar...

Correlation & Dolphins<br />Dolphins who swim at the front of the pod tend to have larger dorsal fins, more muscular tails...

Correlation IS NOT Causation<br />Earning more linking root domains to a URL may indeed increase that page’s ranking.<br /...

How Confident Can We Be in the Accuracy of these Correlations?<br />Because we have such a large data set, standard error ...

Do Correlations in this Range Have Value/Meaning?<br />A factor w/ 1.0 correlation would explain 100% of Google’s algorith...

Are You Ready for Some Data?!<br />

Overall Algorithmic Factors<br />These compare opinion/survey data from 2009 vs. 2011<br />

In 2009, link-based factors (page and domain-level) comprised 65%+ of voters’ algorithmic assessment<br />http:/googleblog...

In 2011, link-based factors (page and domain-level) have shrunk in the voters’ minds to only ~45% of algorithmic component...

Page-Specific Link Signals<br />These metrics are based on links that point specifically to the ranking page<br />

Most Important Page-Level Link Factors<br />(as voted on by 132 SEOs)<br />My guess: Some voters didn’t fully understand t...

In the rest of this deck, we’ll use linking c-blocks as a reference point, hence the red <br />This data is exactly what ...

Correlations of Page-Level, Anchor Text-Based Link Data<br />No Surprise: Total links (including internal) w/ anchor text ...

Rand’s Takeaways<br />#1: SEOs Believe the Power of Links Has Declined<br />(correlation of link data w/ rankings has fall...

Domain-Wide Link Signals<br />These metrics are based on links that point to anywhere on the ranking domain<br />

Most Important Domain-Level Link Factors<br />(as voted on by 132 SEOs)<br />C-Blocks: Likely the same vote interpretation...

Correlation of Domain-Level Link Data<br />Nice Work! Excluding the “c-blocks” issue, voters + correlations match nicely.<...

Rand’s Takeaways<br />#1: Google May Rank Pages, But Domains Matter Too<br />(the closeness of correlation data and the op...

Something Funny About Nofollows<br />These compare followed vs. nofollowed links to the domain + page<br />

Correlation of Followed vs. Nofollowed Links<br />Nofollowed Matters? Many SEOs have been saying that nofollow links can h...

Correlation of Followed Links toNofollowedLinks(i.e. Are nofollowed links well correlated w/ rankings only because they’r...

On-Page Signals<br />These metrics are based on keyword usage and features of the ranking document<br />

Most Important On-Page, Keyword-Use Factors<br />(as voted on by 132 SEOs)<br />My guess: Some voters didn’t fully underst...

Correlation of On-Page Keyword-Use Elements<br />Curious: Longer documents seem to rank better than shorter ones<br />Keyw...

Correlation of On-Page Keyword-Use Elements<br />The theory that AdSense use boosts rankings isn’t supported by the data<b...

Rand’s Takeaways<br />#1: Very Tough to Differentiate w/ On-Page Optimization<br />(as in the past, the data suggests that...

Domain Name Match Signals<br />These signals are based on data from users of Twitter, Facebook & Google Buzz via their API...

Domain Name Extensions in the Search Results:<br />Google may not love .info and .biz, but they like them better than Cana...

Spearman’s Correlation with Google Rankings for<br />Exact Match Domain Names June 2010 vs. March 2011<br />Whoa! The infl...

Rand’s Takeaways<br />#1: Exact Match Domains May Not Be as Powerful<br />(though it’s possible that both number reflect c...

Social Signals<br />These signals are based on data from users of Twitter, Facebook & Google Buzz via their APIs<br />

Most Important Social Media-Based Factors<br />(as voted on by 132 SEOs)<br />Curious: For Twitter, voters felt authority ...

Correlation of Social Media-Based Factors(data via Topsy API & Google Buzz API)<br />Amazing: Facebook Shares is our singl...

Percent of Results (from our 10,200 Keyword Set) in Which the Feature Was Present<br />It amazed me that Facebook Share da...

Correlation of Social Metrics, Controlling for Links(i.e. Are pages ranking well because of links and social metrics are s...

Rand’s Takeaways<br />#1: Social is Shockingly Well-Correlated<br />(it’s hard to doubt causation, particularly after read...

Highest Positively + Negatively Correlated Metrics Overall<br />These are the features most indicative of higher vs. lower...

Top 8 Strongest Correlated Metrics<br />Exact match domain is actually not in the top 8, but I thought I should include it...

Top 8 Most Negatively Correlated Metrics<br />Be concise and to-the-point; it’s good for users and for your rankings <br ...

Top 8 Most Negatively Correlated Metrics<br />One of the most surprising finds in our dataset. We double-checked to be sur...

Which Domains Appeared Most Frequently in Our 10K+ SERPs?<br />

Top 20 Root Domains Most Prevalent in our 10,200 keyword set<br />(top 30 rank positions)<br />SEOs may be disappointed to...

What do the Experts thinkthe Future Holds?<br />

What Do SEOs Believe Will Happen w/ Google’s Use of Ranking Features in the Future?<br />While there was some significant ...

IMPORTANT!<br />Don’t Misuse or Misattribute Correlation Data!<br />Think of correlation data as a way of seeing features ...

Q+A<br />Download at:<br />http://bit.ly/rankfactorssydney <br />You can now try SEOmoz PRO Free!<br />http://www.seomoz....

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