Google search is the king of search. They continue to improve the way search results are presented to searchers. On February 23, 2011, Google introduced an algorithm known as Panda that affected the search rankings of 12% of all sites on its index. In order to better organize website pages indexed, Google instituted a new algorithm called Penguin in 2012. Penguin is not a replacement for Panda; it is an ally to help punish bad behavior and reward excellent content. Google used solely to rely upon keyword density to rank sites, giving added preference to those with good LSI keywords. This practice encouraged web masters to pollute the Internet with content stuffed with geographically relevant keywords. Penguin was introduced to change SEO for the better, but Google is still improving the web by encouraging good behavior. On August 27, 2013, Google introduced the Hummingbird algorithm. Hummingbird has continued the practice of significantly reducing the emphasis on keyword density. The following 200 factors heavily influence the Google algorithms and subsequently, the entire profession of SEO and online retail.
Here are Google's 200 SEO Ranking Factors
- Domain Age
- Keyword Appears in Top Level Domain
- Keyword As First Word in Domain
- Domain registration length
- Keyword in Subdomain Name
- Domain History
- Exact Match Domain
- Public vs. Private WhoIs
- Penalized WhoIs Owner
- Penalized WhoIs Owner
- Keyword in Title Tag
- Title Tag Starts with Keyword
- Keyword in Description Tag
- Keyword Appears in H1 Tag
- Keyword is Most Frequently Used Phrase in Document
- Content-Length
- Keyword Density
- Latent Semantic Indexing Keywords in Content (LSI)
- LSI Keywords in Title and Description Tags
- Page Loading Speed via HTML
- Duplicate Content
- Rel=Canonical
- Page Loading Speed via Chrome
- Image Optimization
- Recency of Content Updates
- Magnitude of Content Updates
- Historical Updates Page Updates
- Keyword Prominence
- Keyword in H2, H3 Tags
- Keyword Word Order
- Outbound Link Quality
- Outbound Link Theme
- Grammar and Spelling
- Syndicated Content
- Helpful Supplementary Content
- Number of Outbound Links
- Multimedia
- Number of Internal Links Pointing to Page
- Quality of Internal Links Pointing to Page
- Broken Links
- Reading Level
- Affiliate Links
- HTML errors/WC3 validation
- Page Host’s Domain Authority
- Page’s PageRank
- URL Length
- URL Path
- Human Editors
- Page Category
- WordPress Tags
- Keyword in URL
- URL String
- References and Sources
- Bullets and Numbered Lists
- Priority of Page in Sitemap
- Too Many Outbound Links
- Quantity of Other Keywords Page Ranks For
- Page Age
- User-Friendly Layout
- Parked Domains
- Useful Content
- Content Provides Value and Unique Insights
- Contact Us Page
- Domain Trust/TrustRank
- Site Architecture
- Site Updates
- Number of Pages
- Presence of Sitemap
- Site Uptime
- Server Location
- SSL Certificate (Ecommerce Sites)
- Terms of Service and Privacy Pages
- Duplicate Meta Information On-Site
- Breadcrumb Navigation
- Mobile Optimized
- YouTube
- Site Usability
- Use of Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools
- User reviews/Site reputation
- Linking Domain Age
- # of Linking Root Domains
- # of Links from Separate C-Class IPs
- # of Linking Pages
- Alt Tag (for Image Links)
- Links from .edu or .gov Domains
- PR of Linking Page
- Authority of Linking Domain
- Links From Competitors
- Social Shares of Referring Page
- Links from Bad Neighborhoods
- Guest Posts
- Links to Homepage Domain that Page Sits On
- Nofollow Links
- Diversity of Link Types
- “Sponsored Links” Or Other Words Around Link
- Contextual Links
- Excessive 301 Redirects to Page
- Backlink Anchor Text
- Internal Link Anchor Text
- Link Title Attribution
- Country TLD of Referring Domain
- Link Location In Content
- Link Location on Page
- Linking Domain Relevancy
- Page Level Relevancy
- Text Around Link Sentiment
- Keyword in Title
- Positive Link Velocity
- Negative Link Velocity
- Links from “Hub” Pages
- Link from Authority Sites
- Linked to as Wikipedia Source
- Co-Occurrences
- Backlink Age
- Links from Real Sites vs. Splogs
- Natural Link Profile
- Reciprocal Links
- User Generated Content Links
- Links from 301
- Schema.org Microformats
- DMOZ Listed
- Yahoo! Directory Listed
- Number of Outbound Links on Page
- Forum Profile Links
- Word Count of Linking Content
- Quality of Linking Content
- Sitewide Links
- Organic Click Through Rate for a Keyword
- Organic CTR for All Keywords
- Bounce Rate
- Direct Traffic
- Repeat Traffic
- Blocked Sites
- Chrome Bookmarks
- Google Toolbar Data
- Number of Comments
- Dwell Time
- Query Deserves Freshness
- Query Deserves Diversity
- User Browsing History
- User Search History
- Geo Targeting
- Safe Search
- Google+ Circles
- DMCA Complaints
- Domain Diversity
- Transactional Searches
- Local Searches
- Google News Box
- Big Brand Preference
- Shopping Results
- Image Results
- Easter Egg Results
- Single Site Results for Brands
- Number of Tweets
- Authority of Twitter Users Accounts
- Number of Facebook Likes
- Facebook Shares
- Authority of Facebook User Accounts
- Pinterest Pins
- Votes on Social Sharing Sites
- Number of Google+1′s
- Authority of Google+ User Accounts
- Verified Google+ Authorship
- Social Signal Relevancy
- Site Level Social Signals
- Brand Name Anchor Text
- Branded Searches
- Site Has Facebook Page and Likes
- Site has Twitter Profile with Followers
- Official Linkedin Company Page
- Employees Listed at Linkedin
- Legitimacy of Social Media Accounts
- Brand Mentions on News Sites
- Co-Citations
- Number of RSS Subscribers
- Brick and Mortar Location With Google+ Local Listing
- Website is Tax Paying Business
- Panda Penalty
- Links to Bad Neighborhoods
- Redirects
- Popups or Distracting Ads
- Site Over-Optimization
- Page Over-Optimization
- Ads Above the Fold
- Hiding Affiliate Links
- Affiliate Sites
- Autogenerated Content
- Excess PageRank Sculpting
- IP Address Flagged as Spam
- Meta Tag Spamming
- Unnatural Influx of Links
- Penguin Penalty
- Link Profile with High % of Low-Quality Links
- Linking Domain Relevancy
- Unnatural Links Warning
- Links from the Same Class C IP
- “Poison” Anchor Text
- Manual Penalty
- Selling Links
