Google's US Search Ranking Factors, September 2014 [CHART]

Quality content creation is considered the most effective SEO tactic (and also the most difficult to execute) per recent Ascend2 research, and a new Google search rankings study from SearchMetrics gives further weight to the importance of quality, relevant content. Indeed, the study notes that “content is no longer an addition to, but is the main focus of, SEO.”

The analysis yields correlation (Spearman) figures for 51 rankings factors, with the requisite disclaimer: “a good search position cannot simply be achieved by ticking a few of these boxes. The search engine assessment of the relevance of pages is always multifaceted, and ranking positions are based on the interaction of many different factors. Correlations described here are not to be interpreted as causal relationships across-the-board.” Read the rest at MarketingCharts.