Unlocking Google's Leaked Ranking Factors: A Comprehensive Guide

I've noticed a lot of opposition to thoroughly examining the 2,596 pages in the past week. However, the important question we should be asking ourselves is, "How can I make the most out of testing and learning from these documents?"

SEO is an applied science where theory is not the end goal but the basis for experiments.

Image Credit: Lyna ™

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Generating 14,000 Test Ideas

When it comes to generating test ideas, we are fortunate to have a wide variety to choose from. However, it's important to remember that not all factors can be tested in the same manner. Factors can vary in types, such as number/integer (range), Boolean (yes/no), and string (word/list). Additionally, factors can also differ in their reaction times, which refers to the speed at which they influence a change in organic rank.

As a result, we can A/B test fast and active factors while we have to before/after test slow and passive ones.

A 2x2 grid with axes labeled "Fast" to "Slow" on the y-axis and "Passive" to "Active" on the x-axis, reflecting Google's Ranking Factors.

Prioritize tests by speed. (Image Credit: Kevin Indig)

Test ranking factors systematically by:

Selecting a ranking factor.

Selecting the impacted (success) metric.

Define where you test.

Define the type of test.

Flowchart detailing four steps of testing ranking factors systematically.

Image Credit: Kevin Indig

Ranking Factors

Most ranking factors in the leak are integers, meaning they work on a spectrum, but some Boolean factors are easy to test:

Image compression: Yes/No?

Intrusive interstitials: Yes/No?

Core Web Vitals: Yes/No?

Factors you can directly control:

UX includes aspects like navigation, font size, line spacing, and image quality.

When creating content, it is important to focus on fresh, optimized titles that are not duplicative. Make sure the content is rich in relevant entities and focuses on one user intent. Put in high effort, credit original sources, and use canonical forms of a word instead of slang. Incorporate high-quality User Generated Content (UGC) and consider having an expert author.

User engagement (high rate of task completion).

Demoting (negative) ranking factors:

Links from low-quality pages and domains.

Aggressive anchor text (unless you have an extremely strong link profile).

Poor navigation.

Poor user signals.

Factors you can only influence passively:

Title match and relevance between source and linked document.

Link clicks.

Links from new and trusted pages.

Domain authority.

Brand mentions.

Homepage PageRank.

Start with an assessment of your performance in the area you want to test in. A straightforward use case would be Core Web Vitals.

Metrics

Pick the right metric for the right factor based on the description in the leaked document or your understanding of how a factor might impact a metric:

Crawl rate.

Indexing (Yes/No).

Rank (for main keyword).

Click-through rate (CTR).

Engagement.

Keywords a page ranks for.

Organic clicks.

Impressions.

Rich snippets.

Where To Test

Find a suitable place to conduct your testing:

To ease any doubts, consider using a domain specific to a particular country or a site where you can experiment with minimal risk. If your website is available in multiple languages, you can implement changes in one country first and then analyze the results in comparison to your main target country.

Limiting tests to a single page or subdirectory can help isolate their impact. You can also focus on pages that target a particular keyword type (such as "Best X") or user intent (like "Read reviews").

Some ranking factors are sitewide signals, like site authority, and others are page-specific, like click-through rates.

Considerations

Ranking factors can either help or hinder each other because they are all part of a bigger picture.

It is common for people to struggle to grasp the complexity of functions with multiple variables. This often leads us to underestimate the effort required to achieve a high rank score. However, it is also important to remember that just a few key variables can make a big difference in the end result.

Don't let the complicated relationship between ranking factors stop you from trying new things. Aggregators find it easier to test compared to Integrators because they have similar pages that show clearer results. Integrators, on the other hand, have unique content on each page, making it harder to see the impact of tests.

My favorite test: To improve your understanding of SEO, a helpful approach is to evaluate ranking factors based on your own perception. By creating a spreadsheet and assigning a number between zero and one to each ranking factor according to its importance to you, you can then multiply all factors.

Monitoring Systems

Testing gives us a first look at ranking factors, but monitoring helps us understand relationships over time and draw stronger conclusions.

We track metrics that show ranking factors, such as CTR indicating title optimization, and analyze them over time to see if our efforts are paying off. This monitoring is similar to regular tracking, but with a focus on new metrics.

You can build monitoring systems in:

Looker.

Amplitude.

Mixpanel.

Tableau.

Domo.

Geckoboard.

GoodData.

Power BI.

The tool is not as important as the right metrics and URL path.

Example Metrics

Measure metrics by page type or a set of URLs over time to measure the impact of optimizations.

Note: I’m using thresholds based on my personal experience that you should challenge.

User Engagement:

Average number of clicks on navigation.

Average scroll depth.

CTR (SERP to site).

Backlink Quality:

% of links with high topic-fit/title-fit between source and target.

% of links of pages that are younger than 1 year.

% of links from pages that rank for at least one keyword in the top 10.

Page Quality:

Average dwell time (compared between pages of the same type).

% users who spend at least 30 seconds on the site.

% of pages that rank in the top 3 for their target keyword.

Site Quality:

% of pages that drive organic traffic.

% of zero-click URLs over the last 90 days.

Ratio between indexed and non-indexed pages.

It's interesting to note that the leak occurred right after Google introduced AI for search results (AI Overviews) because AI can now help us identify SEO gaps based on the leak.

One way to improve backlinks is by matching titles between the source and target pages. This involves using SEO tools to extract titles, anchor text, and surrounding content from the link for both the referring and target pages.

After gathering this information, we can assess the relevancy by comparing the topical proximity or token overlap. This can be done using various AI tools, Google Sheets/Excel integrations, or local LLMs. One simple method is to rate the topical proximity of the title (in column B) compared to the anchor text (in column C) on a scale of 1 to 10. A rating of 10 indicates a perfect match, while a rating of 1 means there is no relationship between the two.

A spreadsheet displaying SEO page titles, anchors, AI ratings, and explanations.

Using AI to rate title-match between link sources and targets. (Image Credit: Kevin Indig)

A Leak Of Their Own

Google’s ranking factor leak isn’t the first time the inner works of a big platform algorithm became available to the public:

In January 2023, a Yandex leak uncovered several ranking factors that were also present in the most recent Google leak. I was equally surprised by the lackluster response then as I am today.

In March 2023, Twitter released a significant portion of its algorithm. Like the Google leak, it didn't provide much "context" between the factors, but it still offered valuable insights.

Twitter’s algorithm in a system chart.

Twitter’s algorithm in a system chart. (Image Credit: Kevin Indig)

In March 2023, Instagram's chief Adam Mosseri shared a detailed follow-up post about how the platform ranks content across its various features.

Despite the leaks, there have been no reported instances of users or brands hacking the platform in a clean, ethical manner.

The Google algorithm leak is quite interesting because it’s an intent-driven platform where users indicate their interest through searches instead of behavior. The more a platform rewards engagement in its algorithm, the harder it is to game.

Knowing the ingredients for the cake is a big step forward, even without knowing how much of each to use.

I don't get why Google has kept its ranking factors so mysterious. I'm not suggesting they should have revealed everything, but they could have encouraged a better web with websites that are quick, user-friendly, visually appealing, and full of useful information.

Unfortunately, the lack of transparency has caused confusion and resulted in a flood of low-quality content. This, in turn, has led to algorithm updates that have proven costly for many businesses.

1 System Diagram from Github.com

2 Instagram Ranking Explained

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal

Editor's P/S:

The recent leak of Google's ranking factors has sparked a lot of interest and discussion within the SEO community. Some people are excited about the opportunity to learn more about how Google's algorithm works, while others are concerned about the potential for abuse.

I believe that the leak is a positive development. It provides us with a valuable opportunity to learn more about how Google's algorithm works and to improve our SEO strategies. However, it is important to remember that the leak is just a snapshot of the algorithm at a particular point in time. Google's algorithm is constantly evolving, so it is important to stay up-to-date on the latest changes.

Overall, I believe that the leak is a valuable resource for SEO professionals. It provides us with a unique opportunity to learn more about how Google's algorithm works and to improve our SEO strategies.