This document is a presentation by Matthias Bachor, the Marketing Director of Searchmetrics, about search engine ranking factors. It discusses how SEO has become more complex with many factors now influencing rankings. It analyzes data from Searchmetrics on 8 billion Facebook likes and links to determine the most important factors. It finds that social media activity highly correlates with rankings, and that backlinks remain critical. It also suggests that ads could negatively impact rankings, and provides recommendations for SEO in 2012 focusing on social media, backlinks, branding, and classic on-page elements.

1. Diggit 2012
Search Engine Ranking Factors revelead
Matthias Bachor
Marketing Director Searchmetrics
® Searchmetrics GmbH 2012

2. Search Engine Ranking Factors Revealed
About me
Matthias Bachor
• Marketing Director Searchmetrics
• 14 Years of online experience
• Focus on performance marketing
Follow me
• Mail: m.bachor@searchmetrics.com
• Twitter: twitter.com/mabadu
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/matthias.bachor
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/matthiasbachor
• Google+:https://plus.google.com/111526970413036813842
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3. The New Periodic Table of SEO
About Searchmetrics
Company
• Founded in 2007
• Leading Search Analytics vendor with international
focus
• ~100 full-time employees with locations in Germany, US, UK and France
• Largest aggregated database for SEO, SEM and Social data (Searchmetrics
Suite and Searchmetrics Essentials)
Follow us and stay updated
• Twitter: twitter.com/searchmetrics
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Searchmetrics
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4. The New Periodic Table of SEO
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5. References
Known through…
Companies that use Searchmetrics:
5
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6. Search Engine Ranking Factors Revealed
SEO
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7. Search Engine Ranking Factors Revealed
SEO – Life was easy
Source: http://www.planet-wissen.de/sport_freizeit/reisen/traumstrassen/img/portraet_strassen_asphalt_g.jpg
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8. Search Engine Ranking Factors Revealed
SEO – Things are getting more complex
Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CXd8fFX5_xc/TMH5ybCFZ9I/AAAAAAAAAdk/7-QQ6rUrUMQ/s1600/uniquelyfact.blogspot.com+%289%29.jpg
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9. Search Engine Ranking Factors Revealed
SEO – Why bother?
Source: http://wallpaper-3d-hd.ru/img/big/2/3/6/2360.jpg
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10. The New Periodic Table of SEO
Take a look into the matrix
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11. Search Engine Ranking Factors Revealed
What we have done
• 8.000.000.000 Facebook Likes
• 3.000.000.000 Facebook Shares
• 30.000 Result pages
• 10.000 hand picked keywords
Google Ranking Factors 2012 (US Index)
http://blog.searchmetrics.com/us/2012/06/07/us-and-uk-seo-ranking-factors-2012/
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12. The New Periodic Table of SEO
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13. Correlation!
Spearman's rank correlation coefficient
The larger the bar, the greater the correlation.
The correlation coefficient is displayed on the x-axis. Greater values
along the x-axis (e.g. Facebook Shares) have a positive correlation
(the more, the better) while lower values (Title Character Length)
have a negative correlation.
Therefore, we can say that the largest correlation occurs between
Facebook Shares and the lowest between the Position of Title
Keywords. With negative values, the correlation between title
character length can be seen: the shorter the title is, the better the
ranking.
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15. The New Periodic Table of SEO
Correlation Data (causation – correlation!)

16. What can we learn from this information?
Most important findings:
Finding #1: Social has arrived in international markets
Social networking site activity correlates very well with good rankings,
just as it has in the U.S. for the past year. That doesn’t mean
Facebook Shares, Tweets, etc. are definitively ranking factors, but it
looks like, as a kind of user feedback, they are very important and
they should take part in SEO strategy.
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17. Ranking Factors – Links
Backlinks
% Backlinks rel=nofollow
% Backlinks with stopword
% Backlinks with keyword
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18. Number of links in connection with position of landing page:
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19. What can we learn from this information?
Most important findings:
Finding #2: Backlinks are still SEO gold
Regardless of the rising power of social media, backlinks are and will
continue to be one of the most critical factors in achieving good
rankings.
The correlation data supports this – following Facebook metrics, the
number of backlinks is the factor that most strongly correlates with
good rankings.
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20. The New Periodic Table of SEO
Ads can distract from content

21. The New Periodic Table of SEO
Key Finding #3 - Ads could be a handicap
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22. Search Engine Ranking Factors Revealed
There is hope..
Sourcehttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2qeLJZg7Erg/TyFCe78yRXI/AAAAAAAAAZA/3YtAr_ct0HA/s1600/hope-1.jpg
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23. Search Engine Ranking Factors Revealed
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24. Search Engine Ranking Factors Revealed
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25. Recommendations for SEO in 2012
1. Social factors are getting more and more important:
Start measuring social media signals and motivating users to make
your company become more famous
2. Backlinks are still a key factor for SEO
3. Become a brand is important
4. Ads could be a handicap, especially AdSense without content
5. Classic ranking factors like having keywords in the title and more
keywords in the content are less important
6. Keywords in domains stay a huge factor
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26. The New Periodic Table of SEO
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