With over 200 signals making up Google’s ranking algorithm, everyone wants to know what the top SEO ranking factors are.
You can find plenty of websites that list the top Google SEO ranking factors and you’ll probably go crazy trying to optimize your blog posts for them!
Well … today I am going to bust those myths about top ranking factors with some SEO news that will surprise you!
Google Ranking Factors are not the same for All Search Queries
With so much focus on the top 3 SEO ranking factors, I dug a little deeper to find out exactly what these are.
It’s not an easy question to answer!
The reason is there are NO top 3 SEO ranking factors.
Recently, John Mueller, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst said in a Tweet:
“We use so many factors for ranking, it really depends on a lot of things. IMO there’s no “top 3″ list. We use links, but also lots more.”
We use so many factors for ranking, it really depends on a lot of things. IMO there’s no “top 3” list. We use links, but also lots more.
— John ☆.o(≧▽≦)o.☆ (@JohnMu) September 18, 2017
He also said in response to another question in the Twitter conversation:
“… the algorithms’ job is to show relevant content, everything else varies.”
That’s not all. Google’s Gary Illyes chimed in to say:
“I didn’t give a top 3. I actually said that it very much depends on the query and the results which signals count more.”
I didn’t give a top 3. I actually said that it very much depends on the query and the results which signals count more
— Gary “鯨理” Illyes (@methode) September 18, 2017
What’s it all mean?
It means there are NO specific top 3 ranking factors that apply to every piece of content. Top ranking factors for a specific web page change depending on the search query used to find it.
Do Backlinks Matter for SEO Ranking?
We’ve heard so much about the importance of backlinks for SEO ranking. I’ve always wondered about this.
Why?
I have websites that rank on page one for hundreds of search queries and I never focused on getting any backlinks at all.
For example, here’s one of my sites that has been a Google Featured Snippet for a while now and gotten tons of traffic to that blog post.
But …
I never even promoted that page or did any backlinking to it [except from the accompanying YouTube video]. It’s also listed in a top position below the featured snippet on Google page one.
Well … this puzzled me since I see backlinks listed on so many websites as the most crucial SEO ranking factor.
So I did some digging and I found two crucial pieces of information straight from Google about backlinks.
This one, from Google’s John Mueller back in February of 2015. He stated:
“We do use links as part of our algorithm but we use lots and lots of other factors as well. So only focusing on links is probably going to cause more problems for your web site that actually helps.”
For your reference, here’s the YouTube video where he made that statement. The video should start at time 55:40.
Fast forward to 2017 and we learn from Google’s Gary Illyes:
“… there are tons of top results that don’t have links at all. billions of queries a day, lots of long tail w/o links”
I also said at Brighton there are tons of top results that don’t have links at all. billions of queries a day, lots of long tail w/o links
— Gary “鯨理” Illyes (@methode) September 18, 2017
In October 2017, John Mueller also addressed the question about getting backlinks to your site and the effect on ranking in Google. He emphasized the fact that ranking factors are different for various queries AND some blog posts rank high without links at all or just a couple of links. Watch the Google Webmaster hangout starting at minute 40:15.
There you go!
What is the Best Long Term SEO Tactic?
With so much SEO information out there, what is the best thing to do to rank in Google? I happened upon a great Podcast interview with John Mueller.
He addressed this very question and many others. You can listen to the Podcast, it’s worth every moment!
In a nutshell, John summed it up with this [paraphrased]:
Listen to your audience and make sure what you are providing is relevant to your audience. Create content that addresses what your audience is looking for instead of matching a set of SEO keywords that you want to put on your blog.
The question you have to ask yourself is this:
Is your website useful to your audience? Are you giving them what they want?
Final Thoughts
Google’s goals is always to deliver the best content that is most relevant to user’s search query.
Today I showed you some important facts about Google SEO ranking factors as well as the best long term SEO tactic. What’s been your focus for getting found in Google and what will you do going forward now that you have new information?
Leave a quick comment below, I want to hear from you!
Good to know backlinks aren’t the “necessity” that so many websites make them seem to be!
I agree Nicole! As I mentioned, I’ve ranked for many keywords without any backlinks. Google’s main goal is to deliver the best results for a user’s search query. Let that be our focus 🙂
When they started individualizing results based on who is logged in, all the mechanical SEO went out the window. If you want people to read your blog, find an audience and write for them.
Fab post! I recently started SEO on my blog and this really helps.
What a great article. I often struggle to apply all the latest SEO techniques to my blog as there seems to be a million and one things to do. I was obsessed with backlinks for a while but after reading this I think I’m better off concentrating on writing quality copy.
Thanks! Quality copy that your audience has an interest in is most important as Google wants to serve it’s audience the best results for any search query. Happy blogging!
This is really interesting! I’ve also heard lots about backlinks but have some posts be on the first page of results without any. Interesting to hear that there are, in fact, many different factors that go into it!
Google has over 200 ranking factors…so many! If you are ranking on page one – keep doing what you are doing.
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for the lesson on SEO!:) This post is helpful. I did not realize that back links are not as important as we are told in other post & in Yoast.
Best,
Christina
You are welcome Christina! Backlinks have been pushed so much in the SEO community. It always confused me because I rank for keywords and never focused on backlinks. I was happy to hear it straight from the Google webmasters!
Hope to see you here again soon
Lisa
Wow this very nice Tips For me its really helpfull,thanks mate