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Search Engine Ranking Factors Update 2011

Author's avatar By Chris Soames 03 Jun, 2011
Essential Essential topic

SEOMoz have updated their search engine ranking factors compilation which they publish every 2 years. We think this is essential reading for everyone in digital marketing, not just SEO specialists since it shows how to best get success in SEO and what to target your agency on.  In 2009 the top 5 ranking factors were:

  1. Keyword focussed anchor text from external links
  2. External link popularity
  3. Diversity of external link sources
  4. Keyword use anywhere in title tags
  5. Trustworthiness of Domain based on Link Distance from Trusted Domains

*Source - SEOMOZ

Here are the key charts of ranking factors from the report [Editors note: I use this to show that page Keywords are relatively unimportant compared to anchor text and domain authority] :

While early days in the research the 2011 update from SEOMOZ is formed from surveying 132 SEO professionals and correlating data from 10,000+ keywords. Checkout slides 12 & 13 on the slideshare presentation below:

The 2011 analysis loses some of the clarity of the 2009 analysis. Key differences to take note of in 2011 are:

  • Introduction of page level social factors (is your content shareable & good enough for people to want to share?)
  • The overall value of external links has shrunk (though new fields have been added which may skew data)
  • Domain level brand metrics are introduced as a key factor'
You can read the full analysis here from Rand Fiskins presentation:
Author's avatar

By Chris Soames

Chris Soames is a Smart Insights blogger and consultant, he has worked in digital marketing for over 6 years with the last few years managing international web strategies for a leading travel brand. Now the Commercial Director at First 10, an Integrated marketing agency, he helps clients get clarity on their marketing strategy and create campaigns engineered to engage with their consumers to help drive sell-through. Most of all, Chris enjoys working with talented people who want to create great (& commercial) things not just tick boxes.

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