Dominated by the Domain:
1. Myth of the Aging Domain
Google engineer, Matt Cutts claims that in
Google algorithm domain age is an insignificant factor. Good content matters more
than the domain age in the long run.
2. Usage of Keywords in Domain
Having keywords in the domain is a relevant
signal where the keywords appearing in the content, albeit well incorporated,
positively affect the search results.
3. Use Keyword as First Word of Domain
Get the extra edge over others by starting the
domain name with the targeted keyword! This is a crucial and an indisputable
keyword ranking factor that can boost your site’s ranking on the search
engines.
4. Domain Registration Length
Google’s Matt Cutts said, “To the best of my
knowledge, no search engine has ever confirmed that they use length of
registration as a factor in scoring. If a company is asserting that as a fact,
that would be troubling. The primary reason to renew a domain would be if it’s
your main domain, you plan to keep it for a while, or you’d prefer the
convenience of renewing so that you don’t need to stress about your domain
expiring.”
Link: https://moz.com/learn/seo/domain
5. Keyword in Sub-domain
One of the important keyword ranking factors is to include keywords in
the subdomain. Moz’s 2011 panel agrees that this fact can actually help boost
rankings.
6. Importance of Domain History
Google uses a VERY smart algorithm; the domain
history decides whether you are “good” or “bad”. It talks about who you are on
the World Wide Web, and Google stands by the site with good content and repute
from the get-go.
7. EMD (Exact Match Domains)
EMDs still make a difference and are one of the deciding
elements for Google SEO ranking factors. However, the Google algorithm reduces
the ranking of low-quality “exact-match” domains in search results. EMDs
provide the quality site an edge over others.
8. Battle of the Titans – Public vs Private WhoIs
A controversial topic is that, Google has never
released a statement claiming either one to be better than the other. However,
Matt Cutts, quoted, “…When I checked the whois on them, they all had “whois
privacy protection service” on them. That’s relatively unusual. …Having whois
privacy turned on isn’t automatically bad, but once you get several of these
factors all together, you’re often talking about a very different type of
webmaster than the fellow who just has a single site or so.”
Best Suggestion – Always be honest with search
engines.
9. Penalty for WhoIs Owner
Once “Google” identifies a person as a spammer,
it scrutinizes other sites owned by the same person.
10. Country Code TLD
The country code TLD boosts search engine
ranking for the particular country, but limits the site’s ability for global
ranking.
On-page Optimization:
11. Keywords in Title
Keeping the keywords in the title is a smart
move, if you are looking to increase your SEO ranking.
This can be a strong On Page SEO signal to boost page ranking.
12. Title Tag Starting with Keyword
According to Moz data and Backlinko, title tags
having keywords at the beginning perform much better than when the keywords are
used at the end of the title tag.
13. Keywords in Description
Using keywords in descriptions is quite relevant
and does make a difference, although it isn’t hugely important.
14. Keyword in H1 Tag
H1 tags are the “second title tag” of Google and
by incorporating the right keyword in the H1 Tag, the Google SEO rankings get a
boost.
15. Frequently Used Keyword in Phrase Document
Using keywords in content frequently can boost
up SEO rankings. However, it is advisable not to go overboard, as it may
adversely affect the write-up and the ranking may suffer.
16. Length of Content
Longer content is more preferred than the shorter ones.
SERPIQ found that the content length correlates with the SERP position.
17. Keyword Density Factor
Keyword density is a factor which Google uses to
determine the topic of a web page. Excessive use of keywords can have negative
effects on SEO ranking.
18. LSI Keywords in Content
LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords in
content extract meaning from words with more than one meaning. This
enables writers to come up with quality content. LSI keywords
help web spiders to understand the topic better.
19. LSI Keywords in Title and Meta Description
Using keywords in meta descriptions and title
helps Google discern between synonyms and this in turn increases SEO rankings.
20. Duplicate Content
Say no to duplicate content,
even if it’s slightly modified, as it can negatively influence search results.
21. Page Loading Scheme with HTML
Page code and file size affect the speed of the
loading page. The search engines take into account the page loading speed as
one of the factors which affects ranking. A page that takes more time to load
is not preferred by Google.
22. Page Loading Scheme via Chrome
Google at times uses Chrome user data to handle
the page loading time better as it takes into consideration the speed of the
account server, CND usage and other signals that are not related to HTML.
23. Canonical = Rel
Using the tag in proper fashion prevents Google
from considering pages with similar and duplicate content.
24. Optimization of Images
Optimization of images with file name, ALT text,
title, description and caption are crucial for ranking in search engines.
25. Recent Updated Content
Updated content is crucial for time-sensitive
searches. Google shows the date of a page’s last update.
Fresh content is appreciated more by search engines!
26. Magnitude of Content Updates
Adding fresh updates and removing insignificant
sections are more important than spinning around a few words. Freshness factor
depends on the quality of the changes made!
27. Historical and Page Updates
Adding new content to a page adds freshness to
your website. Make sure the updates are frequent enough, as and when needed.
This is another technique used to boost rankings.
28. Prominence of Keywords
Make the keywords stand out by putting them in
the first 100-words of a page’s content. It’s a significant relevancy signal.
29. Keywords in H2 and H3 Tags
Making the keyword appear in the subheadings, in
H2 or H3 format, is another relevant factor for SEO rankings.
30. Order of Keywords
Keyword research is really important and keeping
the keyword phrase in the same order in the content promises better ranking.
31. Outbound Link Quality
Some SEO experts believe that linking out to authority sites sends trust signals to
Google, thus improving ranking.
32. Outbound for Link Theme
Moz says that search engines use the content of
the pages you link, as a relevancy signal. If you have a page related to mobile
devices that links to movie-pages, then this may tell Google that your page is
about movie cars, not the automobile.
33. Grammar and Spelling Check
Proper grammar and correct spelling are a
measure of quality, but Matt Cutts never clearly stated if that counts for
Google ranking.
34. Syndicated Content
Original content is crucial. Spinning of content
will not get good rankings and Google may penalize the blog or website for such
low-quality content.
35. Supplementary Content that Helps
As per Google rater guidelines document, helpful
supplementary content indicates the quality of the page and its ranking in
Google. The supplementary contents are currency converters, loan interest
calculators and investment recipes.
36. Multimedia with Content
Images, videos and other forms of multimedia
enriches the quality of the content.
37. Number of Outbound Links
Excess do-follow outbound links leak page ranks
and negatively affects the ranking.
38. The Number of Internal Links on a Page
The number of internal links to a page tells
about its relevancy to other pages on the site. This is a true statement and
helps in SEO ranking.
39. Quality of Internal Links of the Page
Getting internal links from authoritative pages
on domain have stronger effects and impact than from pages with no or low PR.
40. Broken Links
Broken links can
affect SEO ranking and as search engines take into account the usability of a
website. If the search engine spider visits the site and comes across a lot of
“dead ends” or “broken links”, it can create problems. If it finds too many
“404” error pages, it diminishes the value of the website.
The site gets termed as a “neglected and
abandoned site”. Broken links are used by Google Rater Guidelines Document to
assess the quality of the homepage.
41. Readability Score
Make sure the content is user-friendly. Visitors
prefer to read simple language and Google boosts the site that can engage the
readers to keep them hooked on the site longer.
42. Links that are Affiliated
“Affiliated links” do not affect SEO rankings
directly. When there is an excess of affiliated links, Google algorithm looks
deeper into other quality signals on the site, to judge whether or not, it’s a
“thin affiliated site.”
43. HTML Errors
Sloppy coding and HTML errors are signs of poor
quality site and many SEO experts have the opinion that it’s a major sign of
weakness.
44. Domain Authority for Page Hosts
All things being equal, a page of an
authoritative domain will be much higher on the search results than a page on a
domain with lesser authority.
45. Page Rank of the Page
Earlier, higher PR pages rank better than low PR
ones. Google has now stopped updating Page Rank, so it does not hold much
significance, at present.
46. URL Length
Long URLs adversely affect search visibility. As
small URLs are easier to recall than the longer ones, using small and sweet
URLS for targeted audience is a better option.
47. URL Path
The page that is closer to the homepage gets a
boost in search engine ranking.
48. Human Editing
Google filed a patent for a system that allows
human editors to influence the SERPs. However, this thing does not have any
confirmation yet.
49. Page Category Matters
The category of the page matters a lot, if you
are talking about search engine rankings. The page which is closely related to
the searched category gets ranked better than the one that’s unrelated or less
related to the searched option.
50. WordPress Tags
WordPress specific tags boost SEO. As per
Yoast.com, “The only way it improves your SEO is by relating one piece of
content to another, and more specifically a group of posts to each other.”
51. Keyword Usage in URL
Using the keyword in the URL is useful and is one of the most
important relevancy signals.
52. URL Strings
Google actually reads the categories in the URL
string, providing a thematic signal of what the page is about.
53. Siting References and Source Links
Quality content is judged by the source links
and references provided at the end of the article. Google Quality Guidelines
adhere to the fact that reviewers need to keep an eye on the sources when
looking at certain pages. However, Google denies using
such external links to help in SEO ranking.
54. Bulleted Pointers
Bulleted and numbered pointers make the content
easier to read and Google prefers such writing.
55. Page Priority in Sitemap
Priority of a page is given via sitemap.xml file
that may influence ranking to a certain extent.
56. Excess Outbound Links
Too many outbound links can adversely affect
readability.
The aforementioned quality rater document says,
“Some pages have way too many links, obscuring the page and distracting from
the main content.”
57. Page Age
Fresh content is definitely favored by Google,
but an older page with fresh updates on a regular basis outranks a new page by
far.
58. Quantity of Other Keywords for Page Ranks
If the page ranks high for some alternative
competitive keywords, then Google gets a signal of quality. This is again
responsible for a boost in SEO rankings.
59. User Friendly Layouts
The main content is immediately visible if the
page layout is user-friendly and navigable. This helps the visitors stay on
your website for a longer duration, thus enhancing the ranking of the site.
60. Parked Domains
On December 2011, Google made an update and
decreased search visibility of the parked domains.
61. Helpful Content
Google is very sharp and Backlinko reader Jared
Carrizales says it can distinguish easily between “quality content” and “useful
content”.
Site Level Factors (Get your site ranking):
62. Quality-rich, Unique Content
Google will ignore the site which lacks value
and informative content. Content needs to be unique and bring in a certain
degree of freshness and newness.
63. The Most Important Page – Contact Us
The contact information should be well stated if
you desire your website to be Google’s favorite child. If the contact
information matches whois info it is an added advantage.
64. Domain Trust
Site trust is measured by the number of links your site
is away from highly trusted seed sites. This is of immense importance when it
comes to SEO ranking.
65. Website Architecture
A pleasing and well put-together site
architecture enables Google to thematically organize the content. This in turn
helps in Google ranking.
66. Website Updates
Add freshness to your website with the addition
of fresh, new content. Updating your website is an added boon.
67. Limiting the Number of Pages
The more pages your website has, it’s
navigability decreases and this weakens the site, to a great extent. Reduce the
number of pages and increase its navigability.
68. Importance of Sitemap
With a sitemap, the search engines index the
pages easily and improves visibility of the website.
69. Site Uptime
If the website takes too long to upload, then
site maintenance suffers which in turn affects the SEO ranking negatively.
70. Location of Server
The server location is crucial as it influences
the ranking of the site in different locations. Special importance is given to
geographical searches.
71. The SSL Certificate
Google confirms that they index SSL certificates
and also that the use of HTTPS helps the website to rank better.
72. Service Terms and Privacy Pages
Webpages like service terms and privacy pages
indicates Google whether or not a site is trustworthy for the internet.
73. Duplicate On-site Meta Information
If the information of your site is duplicate,
then it brings down the visibility of the website.
74. The Breadcrumb Navigation
“Breadcrumb navigation” is a style of
user-friendly site-architecture and helps users and search engines to know
where they are on the website. This is another ranking factor.
75. Mobile Optimization
Google definitely has a thing for mobile
friendly sites!
The websites which are not mobile friendly may
get penalized. So, it’s time you opt for the responsive web design!
76. YouTube
Desire to top Google ranking, then go for the
YouTube videos and enjoy the preferential treatment. This is because YouTube
videos get a preferential treatment in SERP.
77. Site Usability
A website, which can neither be used well or
navigated properly enough, is surely going to lower SEO ranking in Google. If
site usability is poor with reduced time spent on site and higher bounce rate,
then chances are that Google will not prefer it at all.
78. Usage of Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools
Google analytics and webmaster tools are highly
recommended for installation to improve SEO page ranking.
79. Reviews and Feedback
If your site is positively reviewed in Yelp.com
or RipOffReport.com, then it can most certainly help a great deal in Google
ranking.
Backlink to Boost SEO Ranking:
80. Backlinks from Aged Domains
Did you know that using backlinks from aged
domains are more powerful than links obtained from the newer ones? Yes, this is
a tried, tested and proved.
81. Linking Root Domains
The number of referring domains is a crucial
factor in Google algorithm. This concept is supported by Moz.
82. Linking from Separate C-Class IPs
Links that are separated from class-c IP
addresses suggests that a wider breadth of sites get linked to you. This factor
surely has an effect on SEO ranking.
83. Page Links
Linking pages can boost search engine ranking,
even if it’s from the same domain.
84. Image Links
Use ALT tag for image links. Alt text is an
image version of the anchor text.
85. Use Links from .edu or .gov Domains
Google engineer, Matt Cutts states that although
this factor is not so important, but it does count for boosting SEO rankings a
notch higher.
86. Page Authority
The higher the page rank with high authority
links, the greater are the chances of the webpage ranking well in Google.
87. Domain Authority
Authority of linking domains or in other words,
domain authority is an important SEO ranking factor.
88. Get your Competitors’ Links
Links from other pages ranking in the same SERP
are considered valuable for ranking a page with that particular keyword.
89. Social Shares for Related Pages
Opt for social media and get your pages linked
for having a positive influence in SEO rankings.
90. Links from Bad Neighbors
Stop the black hat SEO tricks, as the links from
the bad neighbors can do more harm than good.
91. Guest Posting
Guest posts are a great way to boost rankings in
search engine, but contextual links are far more valuable than the ones coming
from the author bio area.
92. Linking to a Domain Homepage that Page Sits On
Linking to a referral page’s homepage plays a
crucial role in evaluating the site’s and link’s weightage.
93. The List of Don’ts for Link Building
One of the most controversial SEO topics.
Google, however claims that they do not generally follow it, but at times they
do.
94. Diversity in Link Types
If a large percentage of the links come from a
single source, it’s a web spam. However, links from diverse sources is the sign
of a natural link profile.
95. Sponsored Links or Other Words Around the Link
Certain words like, “sponsored links”, “link
partners” and other words like “sponsors” can decrease the value of a link
significantly.
96. The Powerful Contextual Links
Contextual links inside the page content are
definitely deemed as more relevant than links found somewhere else.
97. Excessive 301 Redirecting to the Page
According to WebMaster Help Video, links coming
from 301 redirects and dilutes some or even all to PR.
98. The Backlink of Anchor Text
Anchor texts are not all that important and more
likely a web spam signal, but still backlinks of anchor texts acts as a
relevancy signal.
99. “Internal Link Anchor Text”
The internal link anchor text is another
relevant thing in SEO. However, in terms of importance it is weighed
differently from back link anchor text.
100. Attribution of Link Title
The link title, that is, the text which appears
when you linger around a link, is another relevancy signal, although not that
effective.
101. The Country TLD for Referring Domain
Links from country specific top-level domain
extension help the website rank better in that particular country.
102. Content Link Location
The links used in the beginning of a content is
more relevant than the links placed at the end of the content.
103. Page Link Location
The place where the links appear on a page is
important. Links which are embedded in a page’s content are more powerful than
those placed in the footer or sidebar area.
104. Linking Domain Relevancy
An effective SEO strategy always focuses on
obtaining relevant links. So, a link from a similar site is more powerful than
the link from a completely unrelated one.
105. Page Level Relevancy
Another factor is that a link from a page that’s
closely tied to the content of the page is more powerful than a link from an
unrelated page.
106. Text Around Link
Google understands that a link on your site can
be a sign of positive recommendation for your site or a negative review. Thus,
links with positive recommendations and referrals tend to carry more weight and
are more preferable.
107. Keyword Used in Title
Use the keyword in title of an article and
Google is going to prefer your links better.
108. Positive Link Velocity
A site with positive link velocity gets a SERP
boost. When your site is being talked about well, Google likes it too!
109. Negative Link Velocity
Negative link velocity is a sign of decreasing
popularity and can affect the site’s ranking.
110. “Hub” Page Links
According to Aaron Wall, links from pages that
are considered top resources or hubs on a certain topic get special treatment.
111. Links from Authority Sites
A link that comes from a site is considered an
“authority site” and is more valuable in SEO ranking than the link from a small
microniche site.
112. Links used as Wikipedia Source
Although the links are not to be used, but many
are of the opinion that if a link is added to Wikipedia it renders added trust
and authority in the eyes of the search engines.
113. Backlink Age
Backlink age is important. The older backlinks
are more powerful than the newly minted ones.
114. Co-occurrences
The words that appear around backlinks are more
important, as they tell Google what the page is actually about, thus helping in
search engine rankings.
115. Real site link VS Splogs
Google gives more weight to links which are
coming from “real sites”. Using brands and user-interaction signals distinguish
the real site links from the fake ones.
116. Reciprocal Links
According to Google Link Scheme, “excessive link
exchanging” is a thing that needs to be avoided.
117. Natural Link Profile
Natural link profile not only ranks well in
search engines, but are also more durable to updates.
118. Content Links – User Generated
Google is smart enough to identify links coming
from UGC vs. the actual site owner. This acts as a deciding factor, when it
comes to Google ranking.
119. Links from 301
The links from 301 redirects loses a bit of its
credibility, when it gets compared to a direct link. Matt Cutts, however
differs and says that 301 is similar to a direct link.
120. org Micro formats
The pages which support micro formats rank above
pages which do not. This is a direct boost and pages with micro formatting have
a higher SERP CTR.
121. DMOZ Listed
DMOZ listed sites does get an extra preference
from Google, thus helping in SEO ranking.
122. The Trust Rank of Linking Site
The trustworthiness of the site which links you,
actually determines how much “Trust Rank” is passed on.
123. The Number of Outbound Links on Page
PageRank is finite and a link on a page with
hundreds of OBLs passes less PR than the page with only a few OBLs.
124. Profile Links in Forum
Google may actually devalue links from forum
profiles. This can happen due to industrial level spamming.
125. Word Count in Linking Content
The link from long articles with higher word
count is more valuable than the link inside a short snippet.
126. The Quality of Linking Content
Poorly written or spun content links are not considered
that good, when compared to well-written, multi-media enhanced content.
127. Site wide Links
Site wide links are compressed enough to be
counted as single links. This statement has been confirmed by Matt Cutts.
Google User Interaction Factors:
128. The Organic CTR for a Keyword
Pages that are clicked more are judged by CTR
(click through rate). Higher CTR gets a SERP boost for that particular keyword.
129. The Organic CTR for all Keywords
A website’s or webpage’s organic CTR for all
keywords are ranks that are human based and user interaction signals.
130. Bounce Rate
Another controversial topic, but some people say
that bounce rate does matter, as Google uses the users as “quality testers” to
understand the likeability of a site. If the visitors’ skip the site in seconds
then the bounce rate jumps up negatively, affecting the ranking.
131. Direct Traffic
The news is confirmed; Google does prefer sites
with lots of direct traffic as it determines the quality of the website.
132. Repeat Traffic
Google notices whether visitors go back to the
same site after the first visit. Repeat traffic boosts SEO rankings
significantly.
133. Sites that are Blocked!
“Blocked Sites”- this feature has been
discontinued by Google, but Panda still uses it as a quality signal.
134. Chrome Bookmarks
Google collects Chrome Browser Usage Data. Pages
bookmarked in Chrome get a boost in SEO ranking.
135. Google’s Toolbar Data
Danny Goodwin of Search Engine Watch claims that
Google uses toolbar data as a ranking signal. Nevertheless, except for page
loading speed and malware, it’s an unknown fact of the kind of data they glean
from toolbar.
136. The Number of Comments
Pages with lots of comments are a signal of
user-friendliness and quality.
137. “Dwell Time”
The time the visitor spend on your page is the
“dwell time” that’s measured by Google and more the time spent, the quality of
the website ranks higher.
The Algorithm Rules, You Need to Know:
138. QDF (Query Deserves Freshness)
Newer pages and fresh content do give search
engines the much desired boost.
139. Query Deserves Diversity
Google adds diversity to SERP for ambiguous
keywords like “WWF”, “Ted” and so on.
140. Browsing History
Visiting sites frequently after signing in
Google can get the much desired SERP bump.
141. Using Search History
Search chain can have an influence in search
results for later searches. For example, if a visitor searches for reviews in
general and then for toasters, then Google would more likely show toaster
review sites higher in SERP.
142. Geo Targeting
Special preferences are given to sites with
local server IP and country-specific domain name extension.
143. Google+ Circles
Authors and sites added to Google Plus Circles
get an added boost in Google ranking.
144. DMC Complaints
Google down ranks a page with DMC Complaints, so
it’s better to be aware of this.
145. Safety Filter (Safe Search)
Turn on the safe search and it automatically
turns off any adult content or sites using curse words.
146. Domain Diversity
Bigfoot Update has added more domains to SERP
page. It seems to effect negatively by overcrowding the place.
147. Transactional Searches
Google has a tendency to display different
results for keywords related to shopping, like flight searches and so on.
148. Local Searches
Google+ local results are given preference than
the “normal” organic SERPs.
149. Google News Box
There are certain keywords which trigger Google
News Box and this factor can boost SEO ranking.
150. Brand Preference
Google does go out of the way and gives big
brands an extra preference with short-tail keywords.
151. Shopping Results
Google, at times, display Google Shopping
results in organic SERP.
152. Image Results
Organic listing for image results for searches
are used on Google Image Search, which actually does affect ranking.
153. Easter Egg Results
Google has lots of Easter Egg Results. About
dozens of Easter Egg results are there in Google. It is found that searching
for “Atari Breakout” in Google image search, the search results turns into a
playable game, instead! Victor Pan is the perfect man to talk about this in
detail.
154. Single Site Results from Brands
Brand oriented keywords and domains will get you
several results from the same sites. Thus, giving SEO ranking a boost.
Social Media Signals:
155. Number of Tweets
The number of tweets a page hascan have an
influence in its ranking in Google.
156. Twitter Authority in User Accounts
Tweets from Twitter profiles with a huge number
of followers are more influential than tweets coming from new and low influence
accounts, as the number of followers matters to boost ranking.
157. Facebook Likes
Facebook likes are a boost, but Google can’t see
them, so the ranking influence is pretty low, in this account.
158. Facebook Shares
Share is similar to a backlink. More than
likes, Facebook shares may have a stronger influence in Google ranking.
159. Facebook Authority in User Accounts
Just like Twitter, Facebook likes and shares
coming from popular pages have a stronger influence for better ranking.
160. Pinterest Pins
With lots of public data, Pinterest is insanely
popular and Google too, considers this as an important social signal.
161. Voting for Social Sharing Sites
Social sharing sites like, Reddit, Digg and
StumbleUpon are other social sites which are used by Google for social signal
that are responsible for affecting SEO ranking.
162. Number of Google+1s
Matt Cutts has clearly stated that Google+ has
no direct effect on search engine rankings. However, Google ignoring their own
social networking site, seems “unbelievable”.
163. Google+ User Accounts Authority
Google will weigh +1’s coming from authoritative
accounts much more than those coming from accounts without many followers.
164. Known Authorship
Yes, it’s true. Google+ authorship program was
shut down, but Google does at times use some form of authorship for determining
good and influential content online to boost up SEO rankings.
165. Social Media and its Relevance
It is assumed that Google uses relevant
information from the account sharing content and also the text that surrounds
the link.
166. Website Level Social Signals
The social signals of the website do increase
the overall authority of the site, which in turn can positively affect the search
visibility for all its pages.
The Big Brand Names – A Relevancy Signal:
167. Brand Name in Anchor Text
The branded anchor text may look simple, but it
is in fact a strong brand signal which cannot be ignored.
168. Branded Search
Some people do search for brands only along with
the keyword and Google directly takes them to the site.
169. Website Having Facebook Pages and Likes
Brands with Facebook pages do have a lot of
likes and shares that boost brand identity.
170. Websites Having Twitter Profile with Followers
Twitter profiles with a lot of followers
actually boost brand popularity and positively affect search engines.
171. The LinkedIn Company Page
Real businesses have
company pages on LinkedIn.
172. Employees Listed in LinkedIn
Individual LinkedIn profile claiming to work for
your company boosts its brand value.
173. Social Media Accounts and its Legitimacy
Social media accounts with numerous followers, but
two posts are treated differently than accounts with the same number of
followers with lots of interaction.
174. Brand Name in New Site
It is a known fact that big brands get mentioned
on Google News sites all the time and at times the brands have their own Google
News Feed on the first page. This effectively boosts SEO rankings.
175. Co-Citations
Brands at times get mentioned without getting
linked and Google looks at non-hyperlinked brand mentions as a brand signal for
boosting SEO ranking.
176. RSS Subscribers
Google owns the popular Feedburner RSS service
and therefore, the RSS Subscriber data is a popular brand signal.
177. Office Location with Google+ Local Listing
Real businesses have offices and Google checks
the location data to determine whether or not the site is a big brand to
reckon.
178. Website also, is Tax-Paying Business
According to Moz report, Google does take in
note whether the website is a tax paying business and this does count as a
relevancy brand signal.
WebSpam Factors – On-site:
179. The Panda Penalty
Sites with low quality content are less visible
to search engines as Google prefers quality content. Such sites with poor
content are hit by Panda penalty.
180. Linking to Bad Neighbors
Linking to bad neighbors like loan sites or
pharmacy websites can hit and hurt search visibility.
181. Redirecting
Beware of sneaky redirects. It is a big “no”. If
your website gets caught, then it is not only penalized but de-indexed too!
182. Popups and other ads
Google Rater Guidelines Document is against
popups and other advertisements which are distracting. This is a sign of a
low-quality site and thus, negatively affects Google ranking.
183. Over Optimization of Site
Factors like keyword stuffing, header tag
stuffing and excessive keyword decoration leads to site over-optimization and
can negatively affect ranking.
184. Page Over-Optimization
Page over-optimization is not good as Penguin
targets individual pages, even if that is just for the usage of certain
keywords.
185. Advertisements Above the Fold
Did you know, “The Page Layout Algorithm”
penalizes sites with ads and not much content above the fold? This is a factor
that can affect SEO ranking.
186. Affiliated Sites
Google does not prefer affiliated sites and the
sites which monetarize with affiliated links are under extra scrutiny by
Google.
187. Hiding Affiliate Links
If you go too far to hide affiliated links with
cloaking, then it may attract penalty.
188. Auto-generated Content
Google just hates “autogenerated content”. If
they just suspect a site generating computer-generated content, then it gets
penalized or even de-indexed.
189. Excess of Page Rank Sculpting
Going far with PageRank sculpting by not
following outbound links or internal links is a sign of gaming the system and
certainly not recommended if you are looking to boost page ranking.
190. IP Address Spam
If the server’s IP address is flagged for
spamming, then this may actually hurt all the other sites on the server.
191. Meta Tag Spamming
Keyword stuffing can happen in meta tags.
However, Google may take this addition of keywords to meta tags as gaming the
algorithm, which may hit the site with a penalty.
Off-Page Web Spamming
192. Influx of Phony Links
Sudden and unnatural link influx is a sure-shot
sign of phony links. Best avoided!
193. Penguin Penalty
Sites which have been penalized by Google
Penguin are less visible in search.
194. Link Profile with Highest Number of Low-Quality Links
Links which are derived from sources of black
hat SEO like blog comments and forum profiles are low quality links. This is a
sign of gaming the system and can have a negative effect on ranking.
195. Linking Domain Relevancy
Analysis from MicroSiteMasters.com says that
sites with an unnaturally high amount of links from unrelated sites are more
susceptible to Penguin Penalty.
196. Unnatural Links (A Warning)
Thousands of “Google Webmaster Tools notice of
detected unnatural links” messages are sent out by Google, that results a
ranking drop. This can at times be quite significant.
197. Links from same class C IP
An unnatural amount of links from sites on the
same server IP is a sign of blog network link building. Ranking may suffer for
this.
198. Manual Penalty
Manual Penalty also exists and Google is well
known for the Interflora fiasco.
199. Poison Anchor Text
A poison anchor text specially pharmacy keywords
is a sign of spamming or a hacked site. This can actually poison and hurt the
site’s ranking.
200. Selling Links
Link selling can hurt search visibility by
impacting toolbar PageRank.
201. Google Sandbox
Well, new sites that get a sudden influx of
links are put into the “Google Sandbox”, which can temporarily limit search
visibility.
202. Disavow Tool
A highly useful tool, it can remove any manual
or algorithm penalty for sites that have been a victim of a very negative SEO.
203. Google Dance
Google Dance can shake up the rankings and
Google Patent says that this is a way for determining whether the site is
trying to game the algorithm or not.
204. Reconsideration Request
Did your site suffer a penalty? Then a
reconsideration request can lift you the penalty and make your site get going.
205. Temporary Link Schemes – A Big “NO”
Never go for temporary link schemes. Google
seems to have caught people who create and quickly remove such spammy and
temporary links.
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