Search Ranking Factors for 2014

If you want your site to rank high on Google, you better keep an eye on the factors that influence the rankings, right? And mind you that you better keep an eye on those regularly, as they might change considerably over the years.

If you want a refresher, I recommend the 2014 Ranking Factors Study published by the SearchMetrics guys. The infographic summarizes the picture, but you can also read about how they performed the researched, how to interpret the numbers and so on.

Some highlights in case you are in a hurry:

• Website technical quality is gaining importance. In other words, if your website has HTML errors, is slow or not optimized for mobile devices, your rankings will suffer.

• Backlinks remain an important factor. However, Google is trying to put a lot more emphasis on the quality and relevancy of the links, and it’s also trying to separate natural vs. artificial backlinks.

• Social signals like Facebook Shares and Google +1s are being considered in the ranking algorithms, though their influence is not clear.

• Oldschool factors like keyword in the domain name are losing importance.

• Authoritative sites seem to enjoy extra exposure in the search rankings, so focus on building a brand around your site.