Google uses over 200 ranking factors in their algorithm. If you draidn’t know now you know!
But what are they, exactly?
Well, here’s a complete list. Some are proven. Some are controversial. Others are purely SEO nerd speculations.
The Basics
What makes one site rank above another is simply an algorithm calculation.
And, while link building has always been the belle of the ball when it comes to ranking, it is NOT the most correlated factor.
No, the most impactful ranking factor is getting diversification of all the listed factors.
The More, The Merrier
The more of the Google ranking factors you use the more it helps:
- Outrank big competitors in search.
- Survive the onslaught of Google updates because you’re focusing on all ranking factors.
This list was first released as a simple infographic in 2015, and it has got what you want- the top 200 Spearman-correlated Google ranking factors, this includes the technical on-page SEO.
These factors are based on statistics. But beware! Over-optimization is a thing, so read more about it.
Remember these top listed factors only have what webmasters have observed impacts their rankings but Google is a data giant and they’ve several hidden factors in addition to the following that impact your rankings.
Google released an official statement during September 2023 DOJ investigation that ranking factors include user data metrics no one else has.
If you’re ready to uncover the mystery of Google’s ranking factors, let’s get started.
The Complete List
1. Is Inner Page
- Your interior web pages are easier to rank (e.g., product pages, contact pages, blog posts) than homepages.
- SEO on the homepage is a hard to do right.
2. Number of Top 50 Shared Factors Used
- There are some 50 top shared factors for a given page and how many of these are used sure determines rankings.
- This tells you- the more diverse the ranking factors used the higher the ranking.
3. Number of Top 100 Shared Ranking Factors Used
- So you can guess this isn’t any different from the top 50 but this has 100 factors.
- Higher-correlation is more important.
4. Number of Yake or Entity Keywords Used
- An entity means a keyword with proper context and it preferably matches user intent.
- The number of disambiguating and still relevant keywords means a lot.
5. Search Result Has Publish Date
- Recently published content is preferred. Old content can still be indexed but it’s normal for these pages to not contribute much to rank on search engines.
6. The sheer number of Ranking Factors Used
- Think of the absolute and total number of nonzero factors used throughout the URL.
7. How many Top 200 shared Ranking factors are used?
- You know what happens to the top 50 and top 100? This is the same.
8. Keywords in the HTML Tag
9. Keywords in Body Tag
- Look at the number of keywords in the body tag.
- Ahrefs Referring Domains
- Counts the different domains sending links to your page.
- More referring domains = higher rankings.
11. Ahrefs Referring Class C Addresses
- Again count the number of these class C networks going to the target page.
12. Ahrefs Referring IP Addresses
- How many IP addresses are associated with other domains?
- Domains owned by the same person aren’t allowed to manipulate the count.
13. Ahrefs Rank
- This directly speaks about your backlink profile quality.
- Higher AR basically means better backlink quality and higher rank.
14. Ahrefs Referring Pages
- Count how many referring pages you’ve got.
15. Ahrefs NoFollow Backlinks
- How many nofollow backlinks do we have pointing to the target?
- The claim oftentimes is that nofollow backlinks are not significant but they’ve been shown to post a part.
16. Ahrefs Text Backlinks
- Backlinks with relevant anchor text are counted here. The “click here” ones don’t matter.
17. Ahrefs Backlinks
- How many dofollow backlinks are directed to the target?
18. Keywords in Div Tags
- The % of div tags in the total body text is also significant.
19. Keywords in H1-H6 Tags
- Only counts the number of relevant keywords in H1-H6 tags.
20. Relevant keywords in H1, H2, and H3 Tags
21. Keywords in P Tags- count the number in paragraph (P) tags.
22. Entities in H2 Tags- count the number of iterations
23. Number of Ahrefs Dofollow Backlinks
24. Entities in H3 Tags
25. Keywords in LI Tags- counts the keywords in list item (LI) tags.
26. How many keywords do you’ve in the natural sentences of your article’s body?
27. Keywords in H1 and H2 Tags
- Check how many keywords appear in your H1 and H2 tags.
28. Keywords in A Tags
- Identify the keywords in the A tags (hyperlinks you know).
29. Entities in Sentences- how many entity iterations in natural sentences?
30. Entities in Title Tag
- The title tag appears as the page title in SERPs. The number of entities here affects your Google ranking.
31. Entities in HTML Tag
- The root HTML tag is important. Count the entities found here to predict your ranking.
32. Keywords in H2 Tags
- Keywords in H2 tags are also important for header tag optimization.
33. Number of Distinct LSI Words in Sentences
- LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) words are synonyms and context-related terms. Count them in your sentences.
34. Term Frequency
- Measure how many times a given term appears on the target page.
Find the rest of the Google’s ranking factors here to complete the list.