Google Ranking Factors For Desktop Search [CHART]

Google search ranking factors no longer apply universally but must be analyzed on an industry-specific basis, says Searchmetrics in releasing its latest annual search rankings study.

Still, it’s important to understand overall trends and general rankings factors, with this year’s final industry-wide edition indicating that “the most important ranking factor is content that is perfectly aligned to the user intention, together with an optimized page architecture.”

In other words, user signals – such as click-through rate – are tremendously important as a general search rankings factor. A new element introduced this year – content relevance – reflects a “dynamic between individual content relevance and user intent,” while technical factors are considered still a “prerequisite” for high rankings. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.com.