Top SERP Ranking Factors [infographic]

Google uses many different ranking factors to produce the results you see on a Google results page. We’ve put together a useful infographic to help keep all of these ranking factors straight.

This infographic is not an exhaustive list of ranking factors. In fact, no exhaustive list of all Google ranking factors exist because Google’s algorithm is proprietary. While Google publishes some ranking factors, the rest have to be discovered by SEOs through intense research and data analysis.

How to use this infographic

Ranking factors are diverse and varied. Some hold greater weight than others. The best way to use this infographic is to make sure you are aware that hundreds or even thousands of factors play into your ranking. Then focus on the factors that you can affect the most.

For example, you can do nothing about the age of your domain. But you do have some control over your reviews, backlinks, and social media buzz. And you have full control over the content you produce, the look and feel of your website, and the technical SEO aspects of your site.

Another thing to understand is that many ranking factors are very codependent and interrelated. These factors are not independent attributes that can be completed one at a time and checked off.

For example, the number of backlinks your website has, the quality of those links, the recency of the links, your domain age, etc. all factor into your domain authority. Likewise, the quality of content, site usability, user-friendly navigation, site mobile optimization, page load speed, grammar and spelling, etc. all contribute to the time users spend on your site, your site bounce rate, and the click through rate.

One final aspect to keep in mind is that some (many) ranking factors are not static, one-time check boxes. Rather, they require constant effort and vigilance in order to continue pushing your website upward in the search results.

Examples of these factors include on-site activities such as fresh content and off-site activities such as reviews, link building, and social media activity.

Knowing which factors play into your rankings is extremely important. Understanding those factors is the key to understanding the best SEO strategy for your website. Use this infographic to figure out your SEO strengths and where to focus more energy and resources.