Rank Correlation Analytics!

Ranking Factors – Rank Correlation study deals with the definition and evaluation of factors that differentiate better-positioned websites from pages placed further back in the organic search results – i.e.: pages that have a positive rank correlation.

What do web pages that are well positioned by Google have in common and what distinguishes them from lower ranking pages?

Factors that are playing the role:

You can find the most important factors in this overview of all rank correlation coefficients. These are all the factors which where analyzed and consider relevant. They represent the relationship between Google search results and the various factors influencing it using the Spearman correlation.

A high positive correlation coefficient occurs for a factor if higher ranking pages have that feature / or more of that feature, while lower ranking pages do not / or have less of that feature.

Deeper insights into the study:

1. Keyword links and domains have lost relevance

Compared to last year, these two factors are considered losers, because the existence of keywords in the URL and/or the domain have lost their relevance. This also affects back links when it comes to plain text keyword links. So it looks as if the days of "hard keyword optimization" are over. Google now puts much more emphasis on natural link profiles. Hard keyword links have lost significant influence and can probably – when used excessively – even have a negative effect; for example, when Google updates its algorithm with features devaluing bad links. Wondering what else has been happening in the field of keywords? Check out the complete version of the Ranking Factors – Rank Correlation study.

2. Brands are the exception to many rules

Last year, brands held a privileged position. This has also been confirmed in this year's study: for brands – and their websites – search engines do not seem to apply the same criteria as for other domains. For example, it seems as though Google considers it natural for brands to have comparatively more back links with the name of the brand in the link text alone – what we refer to as "brand link" – and still not be rated negatively.

3. Social signals continue to correlate very well with better rankings

The tendency over the years has been very positive – and this year's study confirms the trend that became evident as early as 2012: well positioned URLs have a high number of Instagram likes, facebook shares, or Twitter tweets, and specific URL's stand out in the top search results with a very high mass of social signals. On one hand this means that the activity on social networks continues to increase, on the other hand it means that frequently shared content increasingly correlates with good rankings.

4. Good content is always important: it comes to quality!

Content factors correlate almost entirely positively with good rankings and were apparently – when compared with the previous year – partially upgraded. Good ranking URL's, to a certain extent have more text and a higher number of additional media integration's compared with 2012.

5. The number of back links remains immensely important

Back links continue to be one of the most important SEO metrics. In this regard, little has changed over the years: sites with more back links simply rank better. And this is also the result of our ranking factor study in 2013. However, factors around this metric are subject to evolution: not only are the quantity of back links important, but increasingly so is their quality! The back link profile is nowadays regarded as a kind of conglomerate of very diverse quality factors that we discuss in detail in the study.

6. On-page technology remains one of the basics

The on-page factors surrounding the technical side of building websites have long been one of the basics of a good search engine ranking – and this will continue. Even more, it seems to be fulfilling certain on-page criteria is not about achieving a favorable ranking, rather, it is the opposite: it is simply negative for the rankings when web pages do not meet criteria. On-page factors are therefore considered more of a prerequisite for ranking higher in search results pages.

The context of the Ranking Factors - Rank Correlation Study:

Search engines work with algorithms to evaluate websites by topic and relevance. On this basis the search engines create a structure for the total of all pages in the search engine index, which finally results in a best possible ranking for users search queries. The criteria for the evaluation of websites and the production of this ranking are generally referred to as ranking factors. Please note the difference between correlation and causation in this case.