At the end of January, Backlinko released their report the “1 Million Results Search Engine Ranking Factors Study“. The study looked at everything from content to site speed and discovered some interesting findings on what it takes to rank on the first page of Google. As an SEO agency, we found this study extremely useful so to show our appreciation, we’ve created an infographic that highlights the key findings taken from the study.
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1 Million Results – SEO Ranking Factors
This infographic was based on the data collected by Backlinko, here’s a quick summary of their findings:
1. Number of Backlinks
Backlinks remain an extremely important Google ranking factor. The number of domains linking to a page correlates with rankings more than any other factor.
2. Overall Link Authority
A site’s overall link authority (as measured by Ahrefs Domain Rating) strongly correlates with higher rankings.
3. Topical Relevance
Content rated as “topically relevant” (via MarketMuse), significantly outperformed content that didn’t cover a topic in-depth.
4. Length of Content
Based on SERP data from SEMRush, longer content tends to rank higher in Google’s search results.
5. Served over HTTPS
HTTPS had a reasonably strong correlation with first page Google rankings.This wasn’t surprising as Google has confirmed HTTPS as a ranking signal.
6. Schema Markup
Despite the buzz around Schema, the study shows that use of Schema markup doesn’t correlate with higher rankings.
7. Content with Images
Content with at least one image significantly outperformed content without any images.
8. Title Tag Optimisation
The study found a very small relationship between title tag keyword optimisation and ranking.
9. Site Speed
Site speed matters. Based on data from Alexa, pages on fast-loading sites rank significantly higher than pages on slow-loading sites.
10. Exact Match Anchors
Despite Google’s many Penguin updates, exact match anchor text appears to have a strong influence on rankings.
11. Bounce Rate
Despite Google’s many Penguin updates, exact match anchor text appears to have a strong influence on rankings.