Recently, Seattle-based SEO platform MOZ released its latest study on the search marketplace. The study reviewed the ranking factors that would place a brand’s website toward the higher ranking placements, and then ranked those ranking factors according to importance. The entire study involved interviewing 150 of the top search marketers based on 90 different ranking factors. The company then used correlation studies, as well as its own in-house data, to measure these ranking factors. In this article, we’ll look at the leading ranking factors according to the Moz study.
Domain Authority and Content Relevance Critical
The Moz study shows that domain authority plays a crucial role in the ranking level for the business’s website. The domain’s authority is closely linked with the quantity of the links the company has achieved through their content, as well as the domain level authority of those linked websites. Another important area is content relevance. Continually, we’re seeing that the relevance of content to a search term is one of the most important factors in ranking for that search term. Page-level metrics such as anchor text distribution and on-page keyword optimization were also highly important ranking factors according to the Moz study.
Study Also Rated Importance of Negative Impacts
Without measuring the negative impact of elements within a search campaign, any search study would be rendered futile. And so Moz also looked at the elements that would push a website’s placement down the rankings. Within the study, respondents said that being linked to spam on other sites was one of the leading causes of a diminished ranking. In addition, not being mobile friendly was also rated as a leading reason for a site’s low ranking performance. Duplicate content was rated highly for its potential negative impact on a search campaign as well, through the Moz study.
By researching the latest ranking factors in the search marketplace and conducting comprehensive research alongside trusted specialists, site owners can protect their investment in SEO expertise. To learn more, speak with our trusted team today!
