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Report: The Top Search Ranking Factors For 2015

This article is more than 8 years old.

A solid understanding of current ranking factors is key to achieving consistently high search rankings and organic search traffic. Searchmetrics has just released their 2015 Search Ranking Factors and Ranking Correlations report, which sheds light on which factors are most important for ranking in 2015.

In this article, we’ll assess the most significant findings of the report, which analyzed top ranking results in Google.com; looking at both top 10 and top 30 ranking positions to see which factors impacted both sets of results. I’ve also provided actionable advice for incorporating these factors into your own website and content.

Technical Ranking Factors

One of the most significant technical ranking correlations was the presence of a meta description on the page: 99% of the top 30 results analyzed utilized one. The quality of the descriptions were not noted in the results, implying that even a generic description may positively impact your rankings.

For best results, be sure to include unique descriptions for each page, indicating the main topic of your content. A strong meta description will aid not only in terms of optimizing for organic rankings, it will also help increase click-through rates.

Heading tags were again found to be highly correlated with rankings, with the presence of an H1 tag being the most significant. The use of H1 and H2 tags not only provide more complete information to search engines, they also provide better structure to content; and this in turn provides a better user experience.

I was particularly interested in the continued decline in keyword-based domains (e.g., www.keywords-here.com). According to the report, the prevalence of keyword domains in the top 30 results continues to decline. Since the Exact Match Domain (EMD) update of 2012, brands should no longer try to incorporate keywords into their domain, unless it’s directly tied to their brand or is a natural fit. According to the report, “[W]ith respect to correlation, keyword domains as a ranking factor have lost their former positive effect”.

There appears to be a trend toward interior website pages ranking higher, as opposed to home pages: “This is in line with Google’s development and endeavors to constantly direct the user to the best page on a site – the page with the answer.” Around 90% of results in the #2-30 spots were interior pages, while 30% of #1 results were home pages. This is likely due to what the report refers to as the “brand factor”, whereby sites with high authority and strong brand signals tend to rank highly, even if they neglect certain ranking factors, as covered in “Why Modern SEO is More About Building a Brand.”

Focus on keeping your content on your root domain; 75% of top-ranking results are on root domains as opposed to subdomains.

User Experience

For the first time, Searchmetrics analyzed the user experience of top ranking pages; this relates to the on-page optimization of links, images, videos, structured content, etc., as well as to user signals such as click-through and bounce rates.

Some significant findings were:

  • More top-ranking landing pages contained images than in 2014; in fact, they contained approximately 25% more images.
  • A new factor that was analyzed this year was font size. Top-ranking pages consistently used an average font size of 14 pts in the navigation bar and header, and 12 pts in the content.
  • Elements that help to organize content, such as buttons, menus and lists appear to be correlated with higher rankings. Additionally, the analysis found that the more points a list had, the higher the rankings.
  • Surprisingly, pages with integrated video have continued to fall in the rankings (see chart above). YouTube videos, on the other hand, take 8 out of 10 spots in US video-related SERPs, so use YouTube to host your videos for the best chance of getting them to rank in organic search results.
  • User signals like bounce rates and click-through rate (from Google search results) are playing an increasing role in rankings. How users react to content signifies to Google whether your content is doing an adequate job of meeting expectations.

Content

As the foundation of your site, understanding how to match your content to user intent is paramount. This report provides some significant insight into how to optimize your content both for users and the search engines.

Optimal word count has increased since 2014, from an average count of 902 words per page in 2014, to 1140 words for the top 30 results, and 1285 for the top 10. The report authors warn against the temptation to simply increase your word count: “Don’t just write more. Use information about the structure and context of topics to optimize your content”.

Not surprisingly, the importance of keywords in the description has continued to decrease; although the actual keyword count within content appears to have increased (likely a natural result of increased word counts). “Proof terms” and related keywords such as LSI terms play an increasingly important role within content; we are continuing to see a shift from targeting keywords to covering a topic or theme in a more holistic way: “The significance of the factor “keyword” continues to decline in most sectors. Instead it is a question of holistically optimizing topics, i.e. rationally associated groupings of keywords and the concept of entities.”

Keywords in internal links continue to correlate with high rankings, although this connection isn’t quite as strong as in 2014. The number of internal and external links containing a page’s given keyword also fell. The authors’ advice on the use of keyword-rich links: “In principle, the keyword with which a page is to be ranked should not be linked by the page. And above all not externally! This is because the relevance of this term is then assigned to another page.”

Social Signals

The relationship between social signals - likes, shares and comments on social networking sites - to high rankings continues to be somewhat murky. While Google has explicitly stated that social signals are not a ranking factor, we are continuing to see a correlation between high search rankings and strong social signals.

The report authors point to the indirect benefits of social signals, including driving traffic and increasing brand awareness. They also point out that a high number of social signals may point to a site that regularly adds new content; and we know that this “freshness factor” plays a role in search rankings.

Mobile Ranking Factors

While this report didn’t specifically focus on mobile ranking factors (Searchmetrics will be releasing a new report later this year which will outline these factors), they did find a significant increase in overall mobile traffic: 25% in 2015 up from just 10% in 2013.

They also found that while the percentage of top-ranking mobile-friendly websites has increased, the impact of the so-called Mobilegeddon update has not been nearly as far-reaching as many expected. Following the update, 71% of ranking URLs are mobile-friendly, compared to 68% before the update.

Inbound links

While inbound links have always played an extremely important role in rankings, it has become evident that their role and value in achieving top rankings is on the decline. While there is still a clear correlation between quality and quantity of links and high rankings, all the evidence suggests this relationship is trending downwards.

Links with keyword-rich anchor text continue to decline among top-ranking sites (these are the primary target of Google’s Penguin algorithm), and links that use branded anchor text or naked URLs are increasing, signaling a move toward more naturally-occurring link structures. The authors write, “These changes are related to the attempts by Google to combat “unnatural” link formation – these include penalties against link networks and their customers as well as the rollout of Penguin and its iterations.”

Older links appear to be more valuable, or may simply indicate that a site is more established, and brand mentions continue to play an increasing role in rankings; indicating that Google is getting better at recognizing and valuing non-linked references. For more on this, see “Implied Links, Brand Mentions and the Future of SEO Link Building.”

Final Thoughts

Understanding exactly which factors are still relevant in 2015, as well as which factors are poised for growth – or decline – can give you an edge when it comes to creating content, structuring the technical elements of your site, and engaging in link building efforts. I’d encourage you to read through the report to gain a full understanding of current and trending ranking factors for your site.

Which factors did you find most surprising in this report? Share below!