I presented 200 ranking factors in 30 minutes at the Lincolnshire Expo after downing three expressos! Hopefully, you will be able to take something from them to help steer your SEO campaign. Some of them are my own inspiration but I must give credit to one of the main men in SEO, Brian Dean, and his great piece on Google's 200 Ranking Factors: The Complete List (2019).

1. 200 Ranking Factors
In 30
minutesJ O D IE
K I N G

2. An SEO Geek
Enough about me!
Who am I?

3. This is
Brainy
Brainy will add the Google perspective today.
What does a robot with machine learning mean to marketing?
Let’s find out!

4. 1. DOMAIN AGE
2. KEYWORD IN DOMAIN
This can so easily look spammy but if it has relevancy
can certainly still give a boost
3. DOMAIN REGISTRATION
Valuable domains are often paid for several years in
advance, while doorway domains rarely are used for
more than a year. Length of registration counts.
DOMAIN
MEH!
The older the site the more pedigree it has. It matters –
but not a lot.
4. EXACT MATCH DOMAIN
5. WHOIS PRIVATE vs
PUBLICIf your WhoIs data is public it means you are less likely
to have anything to hide. Matt Cutts is quoted on this
one.
It would have to be a very high quality site. Too easy to
look like you are gaming it. I would avoid.

5. ON-PAGE
You have to signpost
Google
6. KEYWORD IN TITLE TAG
7. TITLE TAG STARTS WITH
KEYWORD
8. KEYWORD IN META DESCRIPTION
(CTR)
9. KEYWORD APPEARS IN H1 TAG
10. TF-IDF = TEXT MINING. Key
words and stats state what a
page is about.
11. KEYWORD DENSITY
12. LATENT SEMANTIC INDEXING
OH HELL
YEAH!

6. It must sound
natural! Human!
How do you
know? You’re
not human!
I have machine
learning!
It must sound
natural – human.
LSI Graph
Answer The Public
Keywords Everywhere
WORDS = DATA
Machine Learning relies on examples. It finds patterns and makes
observations using statistics. It knows the recipe for natural.

7. The Recipe =
Use keyword research to find keywords with search volume
Use answer the public to layer in associated words
Use keywords everywhere to check volume and country specific
Write naturally using a spattering of the above
Finish off with:
• Keyword in the meta title and description
• LSI keywords in the meta title and description
• Each page has authority on its subject matter
• Each page is unique to its subject matter – don’t use the same
keywords across multiple pages!

8. 29. GIBBERISH CONTENT
Content just written around
irrelevant keywords sounds daft.
Google knows
25. Keyword in H2 & H3 tags
Another weak relevancy
signal
24. KEYWORD PROMINENCE
Where it sits on a page –
in the top 100 words?
26. Keyword in URL
A very small ranking
factor. Don’t spam!
27. Other Keywords
Does the page already rank
for other keywords?
28. Over Optimisation
Stuffing keywords in header
tag & content will get your
penalised
MORE KEYWORD STUFF
30. META TAG SPAMMING
Adding keywords to meta needs to
be natural and authentic to the
page
31. Click Through Rate (CTR)
How many people do searches for a
keyword and click on your page.
This is all channels.
32. Organic site Click Through Rate (CTR)
How your site does as a whole for CTR.
It is the sum of many pages after all

9. Content length does
correlate with ranking
position
CONTENT LENGTH
Know your topic and make sure the page
owns it – has depth
CONTENT COVERAGE
Does your content match
what the user is intending
to find
USER INTENT
14
15
16
Google caffeine update
shows when a page was
recently updated
CONTENT RECENCY
How fresh and new is your
content. Number & depth of
changes made
SCALE OF CHANGES
17
18
CONTENT
19 How frequent do you update
your content over time
HISTORICAL CHANGES

10. MORE CONTENT
20. Grammar & Spelling –
authenticity signal
21. Bullets & numbered lists – these
can reduce bounce rates
22. Useful content – Google can
distinguish between quality and
useful content
23. Multimedia – A mix of images,
videos and other formats may be a
quality signal
24. Reading Level – Google can
estimate the reading level to
display to the right audience
25. Is it unique and of value?
Google can penalise anything that
doesn’t bring fresh stuff to the
table
27. Scraped or copied content – if
you syndicate it from other sites it
will not rank as well
28. Helpful supplementary content
and interactive resources – like
calculators & currency convertors
29. Tabs like read more tags – If
your user cannot see the content why
should Google crawl it? *
30. Duplicate meta information on-
site – Search console will flag
these up so you can correct them
31. YouTube rules video – Google
gives YouTube preferential treatment
in SERPs. Optimise your videos for a
clever win!
32. Schema usage – microdomatid

11. Any non-www or http versions of the
site need redirecting. If you move
content you must have a 301 in place for
the indexed page to take people to its
new location.
3 5 . 3 0 1 R E D I R E C T S
Less relevant for B2B but if you list
collections you must have rel=next and
rel=prev to mark several pages to one
category so duplication does nor occur.
3 6 . PA G I N AT I O N
Do not repeat yourself and make sure
that every page contains unique content.
Simples.
3 3 . D U P L I C AT E C O N T E N T
Canonicals mean you can put content on
different sites and still show the content
on yours as the master (most important)
page.
3 4 . R E L = C A N O N I C A L
TECHY – CONTENT – Don’t
duplicate!

12. USER
EXPERIENCE

13. S I T E U S A B I L I T Y
Number one concern is a great experience for
the user
G O O G L E A N A L Y T I C S
You can address bounce rates, see conversion
and know what behaviour users are exhibiting.
All that data is known to Google – makes sense
that this knowledge impacts your rankings!
S E A R C H C O N S O L E
Installing it is one thing but using it to address
404 pages, broken links and duplicate content is
your blueprint to better user experience and
also satisfying Google’s ranking criteria!
37 38 39

14. UX
How users judge you
40. USER REVIEWS – they can be pulled into SERPs to enhance click through rate
41. SITE REVIEWS – Found on directory sites and Trust Pilot style pages – your
reputation is a ranking signal.
42. Multi channel click through for the whole site – If many of your keywords
receive a good CTR then others are likely to benefit from their success
43. Direct Traffic – Sites with a lot of direct traffic are likely higher in
quality = ranking boost
44. Repeat Traffic – If people enjoy the experience they will return and
Google will notice
45. Pogo sticking - This can harm your rankings. If people jump between SERPs
looking for their answer. If they pogo from your site you clearly were not
relevant to their search query so need lowering in the rankings
WE LISTEN TO
THEM – NOT YOU

15. 48. Rank Brain
Google’s AI algorithm. Believed to measure
how users interact with the search results.
Organic Click Through Rate
+ Dwell time
+ Bounce rate
= Ranking Position

16. C T R
Organic Click through rate (CTR) – does
your meta satisfy the users search?
B O U N C E R A T E
Do you engage your users and keep them
on page? Are they happy with your
content?
DWELL TIME
Google looks closely at dwell time - how long
people spend on your page when coming from a
Google search. The more time they spend there
the better for your rankings
49 50 51

17. A well put together and indexed site
helps Google index it. Hierarchy is key.
5 4 . S I T E A R C H I T E C T U R E
The URL has to make sense and be
specific. No extra digits or numbers that
look spammy or unreliable.
5 5 . U R L Q U A L I T Y
The number of internal links pointing to
a page is a ranking signal
5 2 . I N T E R N A L L I N K S
The quality of the internal links pointing
to a page is a ranking signal.
5 3 . I N T E R N A L L I N K S 2
SITE STRUCTURE

18. SITE STRUCTURE
Logical and Clean
56. Broken links – Fix them!
57. HTML errors – lots of errors or sloppy
coding could be a sign of a poor site
58. URL LENGTH – do not be excessively long
– keep them clean and concise
59. BREADCRUMBS – Reinforce site structure
60. PAGE CATEGORY – What category your page
falls under – the more authoritative the
better for the page
61. USER FRIENDLY LAYOUT – Banners, main
content visible – make it accessible
62. SITE WIDE UPDATES – Is there a
freshness factor to your sites content,

19. Google can also refer to Chrome user
data to get a clearer handle of page’s
loading time. They can measure how fast
each page loads for users.
6 5 . C H R O M E L O A D I N G
Important for Google News and can
enhance your site speed. Must be done
properly though.
6 6 . A M P PA G E S
It is good for user experience and will
decrease bounce rates and lead to
greater dwell times. You must have a
quick site – must!
6 3 . F A S T E R T H E B E T E T R
Google will use your code to gauge site
speed. Is it tidy?
6 4 . H T M L PA G E S P E E D
SITE SPEED

20. 72. SSL CERTIFICATE
HTTPS is a ranking signal
68. Priority of Page in SITEMAP
Naturally pages that are
prioritised in the sitemap
are slightly more important
67. SITEMAP
Helps search engines index
your site more thoroughly
69. PARKED DOMAIN
Receive less search
visibility so they cannot
be gamed
70. SITE UPTIME
If your site is down a lot
that will hurt your
rankings
71. SERVER LOCATIONS
Influences where your site
ranks in difference
geographical locations
TECHNICAL
73. ROBOTS.TXT
Not a ranking factor in itself
but it can exclude filters for
instance and tags/categories on a
blog so you do not create
duplicate copy or keywords that
create a messy hierarchy and
message for Google

21. 74. PAGE’s PAGE RANK
75. PAGE AGE
How old the page is can convey authority
76. DOMAIN TRUST RANK
Many companies believe that TrustRank is important. A
recent patent filed by Google was called ‘Search result
ranking based on trust’
PAGES
MEH!
So as well as domain there is also page rank which is
important and often overlooked
77. CONTACT US PAGE
78. T&Cs & PRIVACY
PAGESThese are relevancy signals and expected – they are
also essential if you run Ads
Google prefers pages with an appropriate amount of
contact information

22. 79. MOBILE
Mobile Optimised, mobile friendly, mobile
first! More than half of all searches are
carried out on mobile – more for many sites.
They have covered this plenty so we know it
is key
Do not hide content on mobile
if it is critical to user
experience. Should be a
mobile first design.
80. HIDDEN CONTENT

23. BRAND
81. Brand name in anchor text –
simple but strong
82. Brand searches – People search
for brands. If they search for your
brand then Google know you are real
and credible
83. Brand & Keyword Searches – If
they search for a specific keyword
along with your brand then Google
know you are associated strongly to
that keyword
84. Facebook Popularity – Facebook
page exists and has likes is another
brand signal
85. Twitter profile and followers =
popular brand
86. LinkedIn Company brand – you are
87. Known Authorships – When content
is tied to well known ranked brands
it will gain a higher rank than
content on unknown sites
88. Legitimacy or social accounts –
Google can sniff out fake or
doctored accounts. They base their
intel on real engagement
89. Brand mentions on top stories –
Top press stories give brands boosts
all the time – can you make a top
headline with your business?
90. Unlinked Brand Mentions – Brand
mentions are a signal, they do not
have to be linked
91. Bricks and mortar location –
real businesses have real offices

24. BACKLINKS
92. LINKING DOMAIN AGE – the more established the better
93. NUMBER OF LINKING ROOT DOMAINS – Still absolutely key is
quantity
94. BACKLINK ANCHOR TEXT – Keep it varied and natural
95. NO-FOLLOW LINKS – Heavily contested area. Google know you
have them because they have to choose not to follow them. So
are like mentions but better. These for me are the dark horse and
great for a natural and balanced backlink profile
96. LINK DOMAIN RELEVANCY – Does it make sense that this site is
linking to yours – does it compliment you? Or is it weak and not
worth your trouble?
97. REAL SITE LINKS – Blog networks and real sites have different
calling cards and Google knows. They just do!
I LOVE
BACKLINKS

25. BACKLINKS CONTINUED…
98. Outbound Link Quality * 110. Guest posts – not as powerful as true editorial links
99. Outbound Link Theme – does it match your content? * 111. Links from Ads – These should be no-follow
100. Too many affiliate links will hurt you 112. Homepage authority – it has the most SEO juice
101. Too many outbound links will hurt you 113. Diversify your links – Different sites, different types *
102. Number of links from C-Class IPs – more diversity 114. Sponsored Links – These will dilute the links value
103. Number of inking pages – too many is spammy 115. Contextual links – embedded in content is better
104. Anchored images – Your alt tag acts as anchor text 116. Via 301 Redirects – These dilute your backlink juice
105. Authority of linking page – PageRank matters a lot * 117. Link Title – Seen on hover over. May be weak signal
106. Authority of linking domain in your sector/industry 118. Country of Referring domain – Match your audience
107. Links from competitors – super relevant but tricky 119. Link location on Page – better towards the top *
108. Links from websites Google would expect to see –
without these you may not look natural or normal *
120 – Link location in content – best towards the top of
content sections, carry slightly more weight
109. Links from bad neighbourhoods – spam will harm 121 – Page level relevancy – Is that specific page relevant?

26. Yeah…MORE BACKLINKS
122. Keyword in title – not in every link though. NATURAL! 134. Forum links – so heavily spammed so they are weak
123. Positive link velocity – a growing site will acquire more 135. Word count of link content – meatier the better
124. Negative link velocity – Too little growth is not good 136. Quality of linking content – written well, sounds strong
125. Links from Hug Pages – Content hubs pass authority 137. Side wide links – these are compressed into one link
126. Links from legendary sites – go to sites in your sector 138. Never pay for backlinks – Google knows! *
127. Linked to as Wikipedia source – a big trust signal 139. Link to your popular blog content – get others to share
128. Backlink Age – Older links have more ranking power 140. Champion local directories above national – just a few
129. Natural Link Profile – future proof it for new updates* 141. PR links come and go – keep on it with fresh news
130. Avoid too many link exchanges – could be gaming it 142. Search Console – the links they see are the most
important because that is what Google analyses
131. TrustRank of linking site – How trustworthy is it? 143. Change HTTP to HTTPs on backlinks when you upgrade
132. Semantic meaning – content around the link must be
relevant to the link itself *
144. User generated content – genuine links from users on
comments – these can be distinguished from fake ones
133. Number of outbound links on a single page – less juice

27. SPAM OR GOOGLE’S BS
DETECTOR
145. Panda penalty – sites with low
quality and thin content get
penalised by Panda
146. Links to bad sites – spammy
pharmacy or payday loan sites are
two of a minefield of sites that you
do not want to be affiliated to *
147. Redirects – Sneaky redirects
are a big mistake – Huge mistake.
They can get your deindexed
148. Popups or Distracting Ads –
popups and distracting Ads are a
sign of a low quality site – use
them sparingly *
149. Full page pop-ups – Google did
threaten to penalise site owners
that used full page pop-ups on
mobile where they hide normal
152. Doorway pages – Don’t create
needless pages just for gaming
traffic
153. Ads above the fold – There is a
page layout algorithm that penalises
sites with lots of Ads
154. Hiding affiliate links – Too
much cloaking or hiding links leads
to a penalty
155. Fred – Fred is a Google update
that targets low value content sites
that put revenue above helping their
users
156. Affiliates sites – Not Google’s
greatest friend – likely to be put
under extra scrutiny
157. Auto generated content – just

28. OFF SITE FACTORS
Watch Out!
160. Hacked Site – Can get you deindexed if you are
a potential threat to users
161. Unnatural influx of links – Everyone knows this
is a huge risk
162. Penguin Penalty – Penguin focuses on filtering
out bad links as opposed to penalising a whole site
now
163. Too many low quality links – If sites pointing
to your site get devalued your site will suffer a
reduction also. Links farm etc.
164. Unnatural Links warning – Google issue a stark
warning in search console. Take heed of those
165. Directory links – low quality links from

29. 167. Google Dance
The Google Dance can
temporarily shake up
rankings. According to a
Google Patent this may be
a way for them to
determine whether or not
a site is trying to game
the algorithm.
Expect the Google dance
when you:
• migrate a site
• do a ton of content
changes to the site
• change the structure of
the site

30. all goes wrong?
169.
168.
Disavow Tool – Use of the disavow tool may remove
manual or algorithmic penalties and is still
recommended for sites that were victims of negative
SEO
Reconsideration Request – A successful
reconsideration request can lift a penalty and we
always start here

31. Special
Algorithmn Rules170. Query receives freshness – Google gives newer pages a boost for
certain searches
171. Query receives diversity - The more varied the search term the more
varied the results could be
172. User Browsing History - If you visit a site a lot then your search
results will show bias to those sites
173. User search history - Google will link your search queries where it
can. For instance if you searched for reviews and then a TV it is more
likely to show reviews for TVs.
174. Featured Snippets - Another holy grail ranking factor. The featured
snippet at the top of the search features relevant content that satisfies
users.
175. GEO Targeting - Google gives preference to sites with a local server

32. Special
Algorithmn Rules
178. Google+ Circles - Even though Google+ is all but deceased Google
will show higher results for authors and sites that you have added to
your Google circles171. Query receives diversity - The more varied the
search term the more varied the results could be
179. DMCA complaints - Google downranks pages with proven DMCA complaints
180. Local Searches - Google often places local results above the normal
organic SERPs. So for local businesses targeting your homepage locally is
imperative
181. Top Stories Box - certain keywords trigger a top stories box
depending on news trends
182. Big Brand Preference - There is a preference for certain keywords
for big brands brought about by the Vince Update
183. Shopping Results - Google sometimes displays Google Shopping results

33. 186 – Easter Egg
EASTER EGG
Google has a dozen or so Easter Egg Results. For
example when you search for “Atari Breakout” in
Google image search you will be able to play a game!
How is this a ranking factor? It’s just cool!

34. 192. POD CASTS
Run a podcast from your website –
it encourages traffic and give
you great dwell time!
188. Google My Business Page
Populate this – it is a great
click through page and perfect
for fast contact on mobile
187. NAP
Name, address and postcode
match everywhere every time
189. LOCAL SEARCH TERMS
Local search terms are like
gold dust – they are super
rare. Optimise for them
190. ALMOST FIRST PAGE
Refresh your content and
put extra effort into these
pages
191. VIDEO MARKETING
You can own a local audience
with a friendly authoritative
face. Not just YouTube – any
hub you can set up for video
LOCAL RANKING
FACTORS
193. SKYSCRAPER CONTENT
Blow your competitors content out
of the water by making a super
local authoritative piece
194. Q & A
What do your clients ask you
constantly? Answer those questions via
an article and use social to spread the
word
195. RESPOND TO LOCAL EVENTS
Ramp up your social signals by
tweeting and giving your momentum to
local events. Those are mentions if
someone replies!

35. AN SEO KNOWS!
196. NEWSLETTER OPT IN – a box as people leave could capture
them if you offer them a great guide for free. These turn into
conversions then instead of bounces!
197. OPTIMSE FOR VOICE – Just make sure you consider how people
would phrase their questions in search if they spoke them. Longer
tail keywords and more phrase driven.
198. MOBILE FIRST INDEXING – We talked about mobile but the fact
is that this indexing matters more than desktop now. If you index
well on mobile that will resonate to desktop.
199. USE POWER WORDS – This is to entice click-through. There are
certain words your audience will respond to – what are they?

36. NUMBER 200!!!
BE ORIGINAL. I SEE A LOT
OF CRAP EVERY SINGLE
DAY. WHAT I REALLY WANT
IS SOMETHING AWESOME
TO LOOK AT!

37. Your organic click-
through-rate
Is your content unique
and engaging – do I
want to read every
word?
DWELL TIME – What are you doing to
fight for your clients and keep them on
page?
You need to be
super slick on
mobile
The quality of your
referring domains –
backlinks
What are my 5 top
ranking factors?

38. THANK
YOU
A N Y
Q U E STIONS?
BOOK A FREE 30 MINUTE CONSULTATION WITH JODIE
JODIE@SEOTRAFFICLAB.COM