Before we look at the 2011 update, let’s mind ourselves about the original 2009 results (illustrated below).
The top 5 ranking factors contained 4 link building factors, with only one position in the top 5 pertaining to on-page content (in this case keyword use anywhere in the title tag).
Top 5 Ranking Factors from 2009:
The more notable points from the 2011 update are as follows:
- Social signals cannot be ignored as a ranking factor – they are highly correlated!
- For Twitter links, authority counts more than number of links; whereas for Facebook, number of shares is more important than authority of sharers
- The importance of page level linking metrics has increased
- The influence of exact match domains has declined considerably
- Number of linking root domains is consistent as a ranking factor
- Keyword based factors are generally less well correlated compared with links
- Longer documents may well rank better than shorter ones (but what about usability?)
- Long titles and URLs should be avoided
- Linking IP addresses and C-blocks cannot be ignored as a ranking factor
- Number of Google AdSense slots on the page is a negative ranking factor as is response time and domain name length
- Nofollow links may well help with ranking!
Before looking at the presentation, bear in mind that this is early data taken from 132 SEO professionals. And furthermore, as stated on slide 4, opinions are not facts!