My presentation from Search Engine Watch Connect in Miami - Demystifying search ranking factors. While modern search technology is changing the landscape of search engine marketing, the core SEO strategies for organic growth have maintained some level of consistency over time despite added complexities determining relevance. Explore some of the more important factors, and how they should influence your website growth strategy.

1. ©2007 Market Motive, Inc.
Todd Malicoat
Online Marketing Consultant, Stuntdubl.com
Search Ranking Factors Demystified

2. About Me

3. About Me

4. About Me

5. Not a Data Scientist…

6. Not a Futurist…
http://afflictor.com/tag/steve-mann/

7. Google Patents Make My Nose Bleed…

8. “Old School” SEO

9. When SEO Dinosaurs Ruled the SERPS…

10. SEOMoz Top 10 Ranking Factors - 2005
1. Title tag
2. Anchor Text of Links
3. Keyword Use in Document Text
4. Accessibility of Document
5. Links to Document from Site-Internal Pages
6. Primary Subject Matter of Site
7. External Links to Linking Pages
8. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community
9. Global Link Popularity of Site
10. Keyword Spamming
http://moz.com/blog/ranking-factors-version-2-released

11. What is SEO?
Knowing what the search engines want and giving it to
them…
***
- David Naylor, CEO Bronco
http://www.bronco.co.uk/

12. What is SEO?
Knowing what the search engines want and giving it to
them…
…so hard they f’n bleed
http://www.threadwatch.org/node/9349

13. Ranking Factors – Circa 2007
1. Keyword Use in Title Tag
2. Anchor Text of Inbound Link
3. Global Link Popularity of Site
4. Age of Site
5. Link Popularity within the Site’s Internal Link Structure
6. Topical Relevance of Inbound Links to Site
7. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community
8. Keyword Use in Body Text
9. Global Link Popularity of Linking Site
10. Topical Relationship of Linking Page
11. Quality/Relevance of Links to External Sites/Pages
12. Age of Document
13. Keyword Use in H1 Tag
14. Amount of Index-able Text Content
15. Age of In-Bound Link
16. Topical Relationship of Linking Site
17. Relevance of Site’s Primary Subject Matter to Query
18. Keyword Use in Domain Name

14. The Algorithm Killed Jeeves
http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2007/askcom-algorithm-billboards/

15. The Algorithm is From New Jersey…
http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2007/askcom-algorithm-billboards/

16. Algorithm Return Query Results
Domain Authority and Page Authority

17. Trump Card
Domain Authority and Page Authority

18. Algorithms Return Query Results
SE Ranking Factors
• Factors
• Variables
• Signals
• Indicators
http://searchengineland.com/guide/seo

19. http://moz.com/search-ranking-factors
Algorithms Return Query Results
SE Ranking Factors

20. The Problem With Correlation Data…
https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

21. 1-10 Scale of Influence
https://moz.com/search-ranking-factors/survey

22. SEO & Link Building Gets Tedious…
https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-seo-industry-survey/

23. The 4 Dimensions of SEO

24. 9 Influential Search Ranking Factors
1. Domain Level Link Authority
2. Page Level Link Authority
3. Page Level Keywords & Content
4. Page Level Keyword Agnostic Features
5. User Traffic/ Query Data
6. Domain Level Brand Metrics
7. Domain Level Keyword Usage
8. Domain Level Keyword Agnostic Features
9. Page Level Social Metrics

25. Overview
• What’s Changed in the Google Black Box – 10 min
• 4 Dimensions of SEO - 10 min

26. What Changed in Google Black Box?
1. Increase in Rich Answers
2. CTR in SERPS
3. Mobile Growth & Distinctions
4. Google+ Changes
5. Vertical “Features” in Search
6. Heavier “Localized Organic” Integration
7. “SnackPack” Local Results

27. The Google Black Box
• Over 200 Ranking Factors
• Shifting, Evolving Algorithm
• “Core Algorithm”

28. The “Core Algorithm”
Gary Illyes
http://searchengineland.com/google-explains-what-it-means-to-be-part-of-the-core-algorithm-240681
…Focus on your website, and don’t worry about chasing interesting
algorithm information…

29. On Ranking Factors, Updates, and Business…
“Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path
to your door”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
“…Build better mousetraps…”
- Matt Cutts

30. Rich Answers
https://www.stonetemple.com/the-rise-of-rich-answers-in-google-search-future-of-digital-marketing/
We found that Google had indeed been increasing the number of
queries getting rich answers. In our test query set, the percentage of
queries that returned a rich answer rose from 23% to 31% in six
months, an increase of nearly 40%.

31. Rank Brain Update
The Machine’s Are Learning…

32. Rank Brain Update
The Machine is Learning… V.I.K.I

33. Rank Brain Update
The Machine is Learning… V.I.K.I

34. Rank Brain Update
Someone Call Del Spooner

35. Rank Brain Update
The Machine is Learning…

36. Will They Learn My Favorite Fishing Spot?
The Machine is Learning…

37. https://moz.com/blog/a-poorly-illustrated-guide-to-googles-algorithm

38. The Google Black Box
• Over 200 Ranking Factors
• Shifting, Evolving Algorithm
• “Core Algorithm”

39. 2015 Ranking Factors – Search Metrics
http://www.searchmetrics.com/knowledge-base/ranking-factors-infographic/

40. #1 Click Through Rates/ Engagement
• CTR
• Pogo sticking/ Time to Long Click
• Time on Site

41. CTR has the Highest Correlation to Rankings
• CTR
• Pogo sticking/ Time to Long Click
• Hard to influence
http://www.searchmetrics.com/knowledge-base/ranking-factors-infographic-2015/

42. High Bounce Rate / “Pogosticking”
http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/time-to-long-click

43. Tinfoil Hat On…
http://dejanseo.com.au/fun/google-skynet
On Skynet Bait and Switches…

44. Localized Results vs. Pack Results
Q4 2014

45. New Localized Results vs. Old Pack Results

46. Why Claiming Google+ Local Listings is Important
• Carousel Results
• Managing reviews
• Managing reputation
• Top generic searches
• Branded searches
• Knowledge graph
• Managing updates
• Managing offers

47. Localized Results vs. Pack Results
Q1 2015

48. Hotels Website
Q1 2011
391,244 Organic Traffic

49. Hotels Website
Q1 2013 – 8,191 organic visitors
383,053k organic decline

50. Hotels Website
Q1 2015
45,355 Organic Visitors

51. …not a Penalty

52. Localized “Feature” Results
http://recode.net/2015/11/24/google-says-local-search-result-that-buried-rivals-yelp-tripadvisor-is-just-a-bug/

53. Mobile OneBox Displacement
http://recode.net/2015/11/24/google-says-local-search-result-that-buried-rivals-yelp-tripadvisor-is-just-a-bug/

54. Mobile OneBox
http://recode.net/2015/11/24/google-says-local-search-result-that-buried-rivals-yelp-tripadvisor-is-just-a-bug/
Foursquare and ZocDoc saw more than a fifth of
their traffic diverge and TripAdvisor saw a
whooping 50.54 percent “misdirected” mobile
visits, according to Yelp.

55. Biggest Losers in 2015…
https://moz.com/blog/brands-that-won-and-lost-google-2015
Yelp gave up its #4
position in 2015 to
YouTube, and seemed
to suffer from some of
Google's local changes
this year.

56. http://www.slideshare.net/crumplezone/beyond-10-blue-links-the-future-of-ranking
85 Search “Features”

57. Local Search “Features”
85 “Search Features”
– Maps
– Knowledge Graph
– Carousel
– Mobile Click to Call
– Etc…
https://moz.com/blog/google-glossary

58. Features – Knowledge Graph Box
• Maps
• Places vs. Plus Local
• Venice Update
• 85 “Search Features”
• Knowledge Graph
• Carousel
• National localized Search
• Mobile Click to Call
• Geo-targeted results

59. Features - Maps
• Maps
• Places vs. Plus Local
• Venice Update
• 85 “Search Features”
• Knowledge Graph
• Carousel
• National localized Search
• Mobile Click to Call
• Geo-targeted results

60. Google SoLoMo CONVERGENCE
• Social = Google+
• Local = +local/places
• Mobile = Android/ Chrome

61. 2015-2016 …CONVERGENCE
Search
SOcial
LOcalMObile

62. Local Growth
• Local is Big (and growing)
• Mobile is Big (and growing)
• Google Dominates Search (70%+)
• Google Dominates Mobile
• Google Dominates Local
• Google is the 800 lb. Gorilla of Local Search

63. Google Local Search
30% of 100B searches / month have local intent
30 Billion
Local Monthly Searches

64. Local Ecosystem – Google
• 540+ Million Users on Google+ in 2 years
• Avg. 3.5 Billion Queries / day*
• Over 100 Billion Queries / month**
• Over 1 Billion Android devices activated***
• Over 30M click-to-calls/ mo. ****
*http://www.statisticbrain.com/google-searches/
**http://www.statista.com/topics/1001/google/chart/898/number-of-searches-handled-by-search-engines-worldwide/
***http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/03/google-announces-1b-total-android-activations-names-next-version-kitkat/
****http://smallbiztrends.com/2013/02/mobile-search-statistics-facts.html

65. Location Enabled Services Mass Adoption
= Heavier “Localized Organic” Integration
• “SnackPack” Local Results
• More Mobile Growth
• Google+ Divorce
• Increased Knowledge Panel
https://www.internetretailer.com/2013/09/12/more-smartphone-owners-rely-location-based-services

66. More Mobile Growth
Locally Relevant to Broad Term
http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-
marketing-statistics/

67. More Mobile Growth
• Heavier “Localized Organic” Integration
• “SnackPack” Local Results
• More Mobile Growth
• Google+ Divorce
• Increased Knowledge Panel
http://www.statista.com/statistics/284202/mobile-phone-internet-user-penetration-worldwide/

68. Pigeon
“The User is the New Centroid”
http://searchengineland.com/58-local-marketeers-will-
change-tactics-pigeon-update-208812
http://moz.com/blog/pigeon-advice-from-local-seos

69. LESS Influence - Proximity of Address to Centroid

70. More Influence
Searcher to Business Distance

71. Post Pigeon
http://searchengineland.com/5
8-local-marketeers-will-
change-tactics-pigeon-update-
208812

72. Pigeon
https://moz.com/blog/the-month-google-shook-the-serps

73. 10…to 7…to 3…to…??
• “Snack Pack”
• Reviews/ Location
• Less “Organic”

74. Features – Click to Call

75. Localized Organic Integrations
Locally Relevant to Broad Term

76. Top Local Search Ranking Factors 2015-2016
1. GoogleMyBusiness signals
2. External local signals
3. Review signals
4. Social signals
5. Mobile signals
6. Link signals
7. On-page signals
8. Personalization

77. 10 Influential Local Search Ranking Factors
1. Domain Authority of Website
2. Quality/Authority of Inbound Links
3. Product/ Service in GMB Business Title
4. City/ State in GMB Landing Page Title
5. Consistency of Structured Citations
6. Topical Keyword Relevance of Domain Content
7. Diversity of Inbound Links to Domain
8. Geographic Relevance of Domain
9. Physical Address in City of Search
10. City/ State in Website Title Tags

78. Top 7 Local Competitive Difference Makers
1. quality/authority of structured citations
2. quality/authority of inbound links to domain
3. quantity of reviews by authority reviewers
4. consistency of structured citations
5. quantity of citations from industry relevant domains
6. domain authority of website
7. quantity of citations from locally-relevant domains

79. Localized Results vs. Pack Results
• No Organic for
Commercial Phrases
• Lead Gen Aggregators

80. Google +
• Create URL Best Practices for Subdirectory
• Document Internal Linking Structure
• Begin Migration Documentation
• Research & Document Link Reclamation
• Goal Value Attribution to Analytics
http://www.slideshare.net/WordStream - Larry Kim

81. Google+ Local Divorce
• Google Places = Google My Business
• Less Emphasis on G+

82. Google+ Local Divorce

83. What Changed in Google Black Box?
1. Increase in Rich Answers
2. CTR in SERPS
3. Mobile Growth & Distinctions
4. Vertical “Features” in Search
5. Heavier “Localized Organic” Integration
6. “SnackPack” Local Results
7. Google+ Changes

84. The 4 Dimensions of SEO

85. • Page dimension
• Domain dimension
• Keyword dimension
• Off site dimension
Page
domain
Offsitekeyword
The 4 Dimensions of SEO

86. Why Do Web Pages Rank?

87. The 4 Dimensions of SEO

88. The 4 Dimensions of SEO
Page Dimension

89. The 4 Dimensions of SEO
• Page QUALITY
• Domain AUTHORITY
• Keyword RELEVANCE
• Off site VALUE
Page
Quality
Domain
Authority
Off-Site
Value
Keyword
Relevance

90. The individual web page document being analyzed for the
search results. Page quality is made up a variety of factors
including:
• On Page Content
• Title Tag
• Meta Description
• Synonymous Language
• User Time On Page
Page Dimension – What is it?

91. The 4 Dimensions of SEO – why is it important?
• A webpage ranks in SERPs
• Page level link value
• Page level keyword relevance

92. Page Dimension: Title Tag

93. Page Dimension: Body Text
• Text driven content
• Topical

94. Page Dimension – Site Organization
• Cabinet = Domain
• Drawer = Category URL
• Folder = Subcategory URL
• File = File (images, pdf, css, etc.)
• Document = URL / Document type
• Labels = Webpage Title

95. Labels
Document
File
Folder
Drawer
File Cabinet
Top Level
Domain (TLD)
Category
Subcategory
/Filename.filetype
.png, .jpg, .js
<title> tag
Page Dimension – Site Organization/ URL Structure

96. SEO Best Practices – 7 URL Parts
http://www. Miamifishing .com /what-we-catch/ atlantic-sailfish #sailfishsize
Protocol
Sub-
domain
Domain
Top-
Level
Domain
Folder /
Path
Page
Named
Anchor

97. Extension-less URLs give flexibility for future changes.
Page Dimension – Site Organization

98. Page Dimension: Webpage header files (headers)
Server response codes
– 301
– 404
– 200
– 410
http://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/header-checker/

99. Page Dimension: Page Level Link Value
• Root Linking Domains
• Total Links
• Page Authority
http://opensiteexplorer.com

100. The 4 Dimensions of SEO
Domain dimension

101. The 4 Dimensions of SEO
• Domain dimension
• What is it
• Why is it important

102. Domain Dimension – What is it?
Any variables that relate to the trust, authority, or effects
on a webpage’s rankings relating to the entire domain
as a whole (including subdomains)
– Often called root level, site level, or top level
– Examples:
• Site Index Size
• Unique linking domains to the entire domain
• Social media mentions to the entire domain
• Total links to the entire domain
• Trust or authority of links to the entire domain
• Keyword in domain

103. Domain Dimension: Website Domain TLD/ URL
• TLD
• URLs
http://cometrics.co/statistics/ttl-domain-usage-stats/

104. Domain Dimension: Exact Match/ Partial Match
• Partial = TopGunMiami.com
» MarauderFishing.com
• Exact = MiamiFloridaFishingCharters.com
» MiamiFishing.com

105. Domain Dimension: Site Index Size
• TLD
• URLs

106. Domain Dimension: Web Server / Site Platform
• Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP)
• Internet Information Services (Windows IIS)
• Builtwith.com
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2013/10/02/october-2013-web-server-survey.html

107. Domain Dimension: Webpage Speed/ Performance
Fast Pages Retain Users
http://blog.kissmetrics.com/loading-time

108. Domain Dimension: 404 page
Serve Custom 404
http://stuntdubl.com/404

109. Off-Site Dimension of SEO
Off site dimension
• What is it?
• Why is it important

110. Off-Site Dimension of SEO

111. The 4 Dimensions of SEO
Off site dimension

112. Off-Site Dimension of SEO
Any factors that affect a webpage’s rankings that occur
off the domain that is in the search result
Examples:
• Inbound link metrics (quality, quantity, etc.)
• Root linking domains
• Strongest linked pages on a domain
• Keywords in anchor text
• Social mentions
– Tweets
– Facebook likes/shares
• Brand mentions/signals

113. Why is it Important?
• Link Authority
• Site Trust
• Social Signals
• Link Signals
• Brand Signals

114. Off-Site Dimension
• Links
• Social Mentions
https://moz.com/researchtools/ose/

115. Page Authority from Link Value
http://moz.com/tools/seo-toolbar

116. Link Building Is Boring…and Hard…
https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-seo-industry-survey/

117. Negative Off Site Signals
• “Un-Natural”
– Anchor text distribution
– Domain authority distribution
– Amount of links from penalized sites
– Excessive amount of a single link type
– Excessive “run of site” links
• Lots of low quality links (negative SEO)
• Low clickthrough
• Low/No traffic validation (referral data)
• No social validation

118. The 4 Dimensions of SEO
Keyword/ Other Dimension
– What is it?
– Why is it important?
– Examples

119. Keyword/ SERP Dimension - What is it?
Any variables or factors including query features that
impact a web page or domain’s rankings for specific
keywords.
Examples:
• Bounce Rate
• User time on site
• Inbound linking anchor text
• Vertical/ Blended Search
• Local Search “Features”
• Use of Other Media (video, audio, images)
• Authorship
• Negative Factors
• Offsite Duplicate Content
• “Over-Optimization”
• Filters/ Penalties

120. Keyword/ SERP Dimension - What is it?
Any variables or factors including query features that
impact a web page or domain’s rankings for specific
keywords.
– Examples:
• Bounce Rate
• User time on site
• Inbound linking anchor text
• Keyword on page

121. Why’s Everyone Trying to Kill Keywords and SEO?
• Landing Pages + Rank Tracking
• Focus on Organic Visibility

122. Why’s Everyone Trying to Kill Keywords and SEO?
• Landing Pages + Rank Tracking
• Focus on Organic Visibility

123. Hummingbird Update
15th Birthday
Search Engine Overhaul

124. Hummingbird Update
15th Birthday
Search Engine Overhaul
https://moz.com/blog/hummingbird-unleashed

125. http://moz.com/blog/determining-
relevance-how-similarity-is-scored
Algorithms Return Query Results
Query Processing & Keyword Relevance Scoring

126. Local Search “Features”
85 “Search Features”
– Maps
– Knowledge Graph
– Carousel
– Mobile Click to Call
– Etc…
https://moz.com/blog/google-glossary

127. Keyword Relevance Scoring
Comparing use of keywords and synonymous terms for 3 other
dimensions:
• On Page elements and content
• Domain wide elements and content
• Off site reference from links and mentions
Useful for:
• Improving results based on aggregate user data
• Understanding language patterns

128. Is SEO “Constantly Changing”?

129. On Algorithm Changes…
Google has stated publicly (under oath, in fact) that they made 516 updates
in 2010. The numbers for 2011 and 2012 appear to be on par with that.
On average, that’s 1.4 updates every day.
We’re chasing two runaway animals while an entire zoo is stampeding toward
Grandma’s house, and we’re too often doing bad SEO along the way.
http://moz.com/blog/the-bigfoot-update-aka-dr-pete-goes-crazy

130. http://moz.com/google-algorithm-change

131. The 4 Dimensions of SEO
• Page QUALITY
• Domain AUTHORITY
• Keyword RELEVANCE
• Off site VALUE
Page
Quality
Domain
Authority
Off-Site
Value
Keyword
Relevance

132. Review
• What’s Changed in the Google Black Box
• 4 Dimensions of SEO

133. Resources
• http://searchengineland.com/seotable
• http://moz.com/search-ranking-factors
• http://moz.com/blog/seo-correlation-causation
• http://www.searchmetrics.com/knowledge-base/ranking-factors/
• http://www.seobythesea.com
• https://moz.com/blog/the-month-google-shook-the-serps
• http://backlinko.com/google-ranking-factors
• http://www.seobook.com

134. Thank You!
todd@miamifishing.com