2011/2/14
On-Page (Keyword-Specific) Ranking Factors
1.Keyword Use Anywhere in the Title Tag
66% very high importance
2.Keyword Use as the First Word(s) of the Title Tag
63% high importance
3.Keyword Use in the Root Domain Name (e.g. keyword.com)
60% high importance
4.Keyword Use Anywhere in the H1 Headline Tag
49% moderate importance
5.Keyword Use in Internal Link Anchor Text on the Page
47% moderate importance
6.Keyword Use in External Link Anchor Text on the Page
46% moderate importance
7.Keyword Use as the First Word(s) in the H1 Tag
45% moderate importance
8.Keyword Use in the First 50-100 Words in HTML on the Page
45% moderate importance
9.Keyword Use in the Subdomain Name (e.g. webdesignshanghai.com)
42% low importance
10.Keyword Use in the Page Name URL (e.g. www.passioinsource.com.cn/service.html)
38% low importance
11.Keyword Use in the Page Folder URL
37% low importance
12.Keyword Use in other Headline Tags
35% low importance
13.Keyword Use in Image Alt Text
33% minimal importance
14.Keyword Use / Number of Repetitions in the HTML Text on the Page
33% minimal importance
15.Keyword Use in Image Names Included on the Page (e.g. keyword.jpg)
33% minimal importance
16.Keyword Use in < b > or < strong > Tags
26% minimal importance
17.Keyword Density Formula (# of Keyword Uses ÷ Total # of Terms on the Page)
25% minimal importance
18.Keyword Use in List Items < li > on the Page
23% very minimal importance
19.Keyword Use in the Page’s Query Parameters (e.g. paisuo.com/page.html?keyword)
22% very minimal importance
20.Keyword Use in < i > or < em > Tags
21% very minimal importance
21.Keyword Use in the Meta Description Tag
19% very minimal importance
22.Keyword Use in the Page’s File Extension (e.g. paisuo.com/page.keyword)
12% very minimal importance
23.Keyword Use in Comment Tags in the HTML
6% very minimal importance
24.Keyword Use in the Meta Keywords Tag
5% very minimal importance
On-Page (Non-Keyword) Ranking Factors
1.Existence of Substantive, Unique Content on the Page
65% very high importance
2.Recency (freshness) of Page Creation
50% moderate importance
3.Use of Links on the Page that Point to Other URLs on this Domain
41% low importance
4.Historical Content Changes (how often the page content has been updated)
39% low importance
5.Use of External-Pointing Links on the Page
37% low importance
6.Query Parameters in the URL vs. Static URL Format
33% minimal importance
33%11.8% moderate consensus
7.Ratio of Code to Text in HTML
25% minimal importance
8.Existence of a Meta Description Tag
22% very minimal importance
22%11% moderate consensus
9.HTML Validation to W3C Standards
16% very minimal importance
10.Use of Flash Elements (or other plug-in content)
13% very minimal importance
11.Use of Advertising on the Page
11% very minimal importance
12.Use of Google AdSense (specifically) on the Page
8% very minimal importance
Page-Specific Link Popularity Ranking Factors
1.Keyword-Focused Anchor Text from External Links
73% very high importance
2.External Link Popularity (quantity/quality of external links)
71% very high importance
3.Diversity of Link Sources (links from many unique root domains)
67% very high importance
4.Page-Specific TrustRank (whether the individual page has earned links from trusted sources)
65% very high importance
5.Iterative Algorithm-Based, Global Link Popularity (PageRank)
63% high importance
6.Topic-Specificity/Focus of External Link Sources (whether external links to this page come from topically relevant pages/sites)
58% high importance
7.Keyword-Focused Anchor Text from Internal Links
55% high importance
8.Location in Information Architecture of the Site (where the page sits in relation to the site’s structural hierarchy)
51% moderate importance
9.Internal Link Popularity (counting only links from other pages on the root domain)
51% moderate importance
10.Quantity & Quality of Nofollowed Links to the Page
25% minimal importance
11.Percent of Followed vs. Nofollowed Links that Point to the Page
17% very minimal importance