11 Lesser known SEO Ranking Factors. Analysis of Just Search.
Over the course of this year, I have worked with hundreds of websites and have seen some great first page Google rankings for them. However there are those few sites which didn’t rank too well until some minor changes were implement. Such small changes that most people would consider them to be worthless. In my opinion, priceless.
Note: This Article isn’t for the beginner in SEO. If you’re new to SEO, then head over to Web Designer Wall and read their SEO Guide for Designers.
Throughout this post, I’m going to use Just Search (http://www.justsearching.co.uk) as an example.
Many of you will wonder why I choose the company Just Search. Well, these guys must know the Google Search Engine quite well; Just Search is the highest ranking company in Google UK for the term SEO:
Brief History of Just Search
Just Search was founded in 2003 and has developed into the leading Search Engine Marketing Company in the United Kingdom. They gained themselves first page listings for many SEO related keywords and have also gained first page results for their clients.
Just Search was recently acquired by Get Updated – A Swedish Internet Marketing company who operate in Sweden, UK, US, France and Germany.
Their clients include the likes of Sports Direct.
Lesser known SEO Ranking Factors
1. Order of Keywords in the <title> tag
It has been noted from the SEO world that the positioning of the keywords in the <title> tag is important and sometimes is the missing factor to rank on page 1 of Google.
Other points to note involving the <title> tag:
- Try to keep this unique throughout the site
- Shouldn’t be too short or too long
- Some SEO experts consider the <title> tag to be one of the major factors Search engines look at to rank a site
- Google SERPs display about 65 characters from the title tag
- Place your most important Keyword at the beginning
Examples - Just Search:
- http://www.justsearching.co.uk/
Just Search » Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) » Internet Marketing (10 words/58 chars) - http://www.justsearching.co.uk/web_analytics.html:
Just Search » Intelligent Web Analytics » Internet Marketing Solutions (10 words/61 chars) - http://www.justsearching.co.uk/pay_per_click.html
Just Search » Pay-Per-Click Advertising » Internet Marketing Solutions (9 words/62 chars) - http://www.justsearching.co.uk/seo-agencies.html
Just Search » Become a Just Search reseller » Internet Marketing Solutions (12 words/63 chars)
About 62 character and 10 words seems to be very good for the <title>. (A maximum of 90 characters is recommended).
2. Placement of the <h1> tag in a page
The <h1> tag should relatively be placed somewhere high in the HTML code and physically prominent on a page.
Example - Just Search:
Now this is a nifty trick! The <h1> seems to appear below the <h2>’s however if you look at the source code of the page or display the page with CSS switched off, you’ll see the <h1> in actual fact appears before the <h2>’s. (Uses a large CSS margin).
3. Number of IP address changes
Search engines take note of the IP address of the site, the number of times it changes and how often it changes. If the IP address of a site changes frequently, then this will lead to a loss of trust in your site and potentially a loss of rankings.
By submitting and verifying your site in Yahoo Site Explorer, you can get to know the IP history of a domain.
4. Google can read basic JavaScript Links
Using basic JavaScript to display links so Page Rank will be preserved for other pages doesn’t work anymore. Google can read and follow basic JavaScript links.
One option is to use some complex JavaScript to encrypt links from the Search Engines.
5. How often a page changes affects SEO
Changing the contents of a page in large chunks frequently can lead to search engines loosing trust in your site. This only applies to content that generally stays untouched (such as an About page or Welcome text).
Example - Just Search:
All the content on the Just Search homepage is static and seems to remain untouched with the exception of the two blog feeds above the footer.
6. Page Download Speed / Content to Code Ratio
A theory amongst top SEO’s is that the page download speed is going to become (or already is!) a ranking factor for sites. One proof of this is the fact the Google and Yahoo have both released a Firefox addon to measure the page download speed:
Google Page Speed
Yahoo! YSlow for Firebug
I personally haven’t used both in much detail but I am aware Google’s Page Speed optimises the images and CSS for you automatically!
- Stick to minimum code
- Keep CSS and JavaScript files external
- Avoid using HTML <table> tags unless you have to
Just Search have a good tool to measure the code to content ratio of any page.
Example - Just Search:
Running the Just Search homepage through their code to content tool:
Seems like Just Search are doing fairly good here!
7. Social Media
Social media is really kicking off like it has never been and there is so much information that can be gather using social media. Due to this, many SEO’s think social media will become a major ranking factor in the near future.
It has recently been noted in the SEO world that if a fresh story/page on a website gets very popular, Google will rank it high for a short period.
(There was a recent story on the Guardian website regarding BBC & SEO that gained a lo of popularity in a short time span and so was ranking at position 11 in Google for the search phrase “SEO” for a short period!!)
Example - Just Search:
Just search have some nifty looking web 2.0 Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn icons:
And on their blog, a Sphinn and TweetMeme button:
8. Contextual Backlinks have more value than standalone ones
A link to your site that appears within a related paragraph is better than a link on it’s own.
Example - Just Search:
Well, the link in this post to Just Search is a good contextual link!!
9. First Anchor text only
If there are two links pointing to the same page on your website, then Google will only value the first Anchor text. If you nofollow the first, then Google will use the second.
Example - Just Search:
The first and second link to http://www.justsearching.co.uk/seo.html is:
More on Search Engine Optimisation
Google will place more relevance on the first and thus the Keyword SEO
10. Geo-location of the host
A site hosted in the UK trying to rank high in Google France would be better hosted in the UK.
Four situations can arise:
We assume you want to rank for Google UK
- TLD of a URL is the same as the country where a site is hosted
a .uk domain hosted in the UK - TLD is right but the Geo-location of host is different
a .uk domain hosted in Germany - TLD is different and the Geo-location of host is right
a .de domain hosted in UK - Both TLD and Geo-location of host is different
a .cn domain hosted in China
Google places more importance on the TLD than the host.
If you are looking to rank in the UK then a .uk domain is highly recommended. If the TLD is right, the host is not too important but still recommended.
If you don’t have the TLD but the host is right then you should ideally get a new domain otherwise register on Google Webmaster Tools and set the Geo-location of your site to the country you wish to rank for.
For situation 4, the best solution is to purchase a new domain and move host’s to the UK.
Example - Just Search:
Flagfox is a Firefox plugin that shows the country where the host is located.
We can see Just Search have a .uk domain hosted in the UK:
11. Position of text/links on a site
Keywords that appear in the sidebar and footer have less value than those appearing in the main body and centre of the site. So if you want to rank for a particular keyword, be sure it appears high in the centre and primary sections of your page!
Example - Just Search:
Just Search have some very good content at the outset of the site:
Conclusion
The best time to begin SEO is before even a site has been designed.
We can see from the Just Search website, the design of a site is important in terms of SEO.:
- Where is the content going to be placed?
- Social Media icons?
- <h1>/<h2> tags?
- Location Blog Feed?
These are just some of the questions to ask when it comes to designing a new site.
Then comes the development of the new site:
- Are you going to use a CMS? Ensure it fulfilled all your SEO requirements
- Content to Code ratio
- SEO friendly URLs
- Make sure the test site doesn’t get indexed!
(Disallow: /) - No hidden text in any form (such as black text on black background!)
- Avoid keyword stuffed alt tags
Then the ongoing, continuous, SEO:
- Unique <title>’s and Meta Descriptions throughout site?
- one <h1> on every page?
- Duplicate content?
- Quality Backlinks?
- Updated XML Sitemaps?
The 11 items mentioned above are not known to many and take time to master but once perfected, results will be great!
Bonus
Here’s an RSS icon I designed in Illustrator just for fun:
Download: Illustrator | PDF (vector) | JPG
Use it however you like. Although do let me know what you think of it and if you would like more!!!
The RSS icon is great! Would love to see more – thanks for sharing it.
Glad to hear you liked it Ron! I think you’ve just motivated em to get a full set out there… Stay Tuned!
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hi Ahmed,
Great post as always,
i am just refering to point 2 “placement of the H1 tags on the page” i recently read a post from Matt Cutts that stated it does not matter the position of the H1 tag as long their is one on the page as this has the most relevancy. But i suppose it is best practise to have the H1 at the top of the page.
Hi Kenneth,
Although Matt Cutts has said this, I’m sure a place with the copyright text in the footer will be seen as spam!