SearchLeeds 2017 - Head of Global Marketing - Olga Andrienko - SEMrush - SEMrush ranking factors study
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SEMrush is proud to present the largest and most comprehensive study on ranking factors based on 600,000 keywords. On top of analysing on-page factors and backlinks, SEMrush exclusively uncovers how traffic and user behaviour affect rankings. The study reveals if changing to HTTPs has indeed had any positive impact on website’s positions. SEMrush data volume was big enough to give the local perspective and identify local differences for US, UK, Australia, and top European countries. Regarding keywords, analysis shows the comparison between short and long tail, and high and low volume keywords. The research also contains insights about featured snippets in SERPs.
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SearchLeeds 2017 - Head of Global Marketing - Olga Andrienko - SEMrush - SEMrush ranking factors study
- 2. Full research available at: semrush.com/ranking-factors
- 3. Web changes FAST (almost in real-time) 10 More content, more data, more devices More impatience, less attention
- 4. Google SERPs are constantly changing Average volatility score is 4.9 out of 10 (SEMrush Sensor data for Google US)
- 5. We face the challenge of giving clients relevant data on the market that is constantly changing. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 6. Change = disaster @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds If you fail to adjust If you’re ready for it Change = opportunity
- 7. Why ranking factors study? SEMrush data helps search marketers prioritize their tasks based on what’s important and do first things first. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 8. Agenda 10 Methodology Key Takeaways Opportunities for improved rankings @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 9. Data Top 100 positions for 600,000 keywords in Google US @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 10. Data On-page factors Traffic data Referring domains Top 100 positions for 600,000 keywords in Google US @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 11. 10 Keywords are grouped by search volume as the competition level per group is different. Keyword grouping @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 12. Search Volume Groups @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds VERY HIGH HIGH MEDIUM LOW 10,001 and up 1,001 – 10,000 101 – 1,000 1 - 100
- 13. Keyword segmentation per group Long tail Top 3 search volume groups were further segmented by: Short head @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 14. Approaches 10 Correlation analysis Data Mining Resources/tools: R Project, MySQL, Excel @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 15. KEY TAKEAWAYS Sneak peek at the SEMrush Ranking factors study
- 16. Website security (HTTPS) How website security correlates with positions in search
- 17. 65% of domains ranking in TOP-3 for high volume keywords are already secure @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 18. HTTPS Adoption rate of HTTPS is very impressive. Over 50% domains in TOP-3 are secure (for any search volume group) @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 19. Percentage of secure websites: short-head vs. long-tail @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds High volume keywords segmented by number of words: up to 3 words in keyword vs. 3+ words
- 20. There is a huge increase in websites adopting HTTPS. You can’t compete for high volume keywords without HTTPS now. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 21. HTTPS adoption rate in less competitive niches is 10% lower which is a great opportunity to outrun competition. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 22. Referring domains How the number of referring domains correlates with positions in search
- 23. The 1st position has almost twice as much ref domains as pages on 10th position (~10K difference) @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 24. Referring domains Higher positions correlate with more ref domains @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds The number of ref domains is bigger for higher search volumes For high volumes the curve is a lot rougher
- 25. Backlinks still matter for SEO. High search volume group is highly competitive (difference is 10k referring domains!) @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 26. For lower search volumes competition is not as strong and proper link building can lead to outstanding results. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 27. Content Length How content length correlates with positions in search
- 28. Higher rankings correlate with longer content @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds Content length within TOP-3 is 45% longer than content length for 20th position in ALL search volume groups
- 29. Content for long-tail keywords is 20% longer than for short-head @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 30. Content Length The bigger the search volume, the longer the content. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds Pages ranking for short head and long tail keywords are NOT the same ones.
- 31. Keyword in title How keyword presence in title correlates with positions in search
- 32. Does keyword in title matter less than we think it does? @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds No significant impact was identified for any search volume groups
- 33. Bounce rate How bounce rate correlates with positions in search
- 34. Bounce rate increases after TOP-3 @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds Bounce rate on websites that are ranking for high and low search volume keywords
- 35. Bounce rate Bounce rate is lower for top positions in Google. Possible reasons: more trust towards domains on first positions, content is more relevant, site loads faster. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 36. User signals might be too noisy for Google, but high bounce rate indicates that users are not engaging with your site as they should be! @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 37. Time on site How time on site correlates with positions in search
- 38. Time on site increases for top ranking domains @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds Time on site is almost the same for TOP-4, and then starts to decline
- 39. Time on site for domains ranking for low volume keywords is 40 seconds less than for high volume. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 40. Pages per session How the number of pages per session correlates with positions in search
- 41. Pages per session: high volume vs. low volume keywords @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds The number of pages per session is similar among TOP-4, and then starts to decline
- 42. Visitors coming to the website from search visit 3 – 3.5 pages per one session. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 43. Pages per session Higher number of pages per visit for TOP-4 might be a result of bigger trust towards domains on higher positions, content relevance and higher website load speed. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 44. Visits (total and unique) How the number of visitors and traffic correlate with positions in search
- 45. Number of visits matters for high volume keywords @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds For lower volume keyword groups the impact is insignificant
- 46. Total visits (not unique) including search traffic @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds Traffic impacts the rankings of high volume group, for lower volume groups the correlation is way lower
- 47. Page visits @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds Search traffic has no significant impact on rankings.
- 48. 48 Page visits Pages ranking for high volume keywords have 3 times more visits than lower search volume groups. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 49. User behavior signals for TOP-3 Average scores for pages ranking on first 3 positions in high and medium volume groups
- 50. User signals (Average for TOP-3, high volume) @olgandrienko #SMX #21A2 All visits Unique visitors Direct visits Pages per visit 97,000 65,000 29,000 3.4 49%Bounce rate Time on site 4.1 minutes
- 51. User signals (Average for TOP-3, medium volume) @olgandrienko #SMX #21A2 All visits Unique visitors Direct visits Pages per visit 63,000 42,000 19,000 3 49%Bounce rate Time on site 4 minutes
- 52. NOW WHAT? Opportunities for improved rankings
- 53. #1 @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds MAKE SURE YOUR CONTENT LENGTH IS SUFFICIENT. MAKE SURE IT’S RELEVANT AND MATCHES USER INTENT.
- 54. #2 @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds CHECK YOUR COMPETITION AND MAKE SURE THEY DON’T OUTPERFORM IN TERMS OF LENGTH / AMOUNT OF WORDS – BUT KEEP IT RELEVANT.
- 55. #3 @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds PROPER HIGH QUALITY LINK BUILDING WILL HELP YOU RANK HIGHER FOR KEYWORDS WITH VOLUME OF LESS THAN 10,000 QUERIES
- 56. #4 MOVE TO HTTPS. EVEN IF IT’S NOT A MASSIVE FACTOR, IT WILL HELP WITH CONVERSIONS & BUILD TRUST. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 57. #5 CHECK PAGES WITH HIGHER BOUNCE RATE AND KEYWORDS THESE PAGES RANK FOR. MAKE THE CONTENT MORE RELEVANT TO REDUCE THE BOUNCE RATE. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 58. #6 OPTIMIZE YOUR PAGE LOAD TIMES TO <3 SECONDS. THIS WILL REDUCE BOUNCE RATE AND INCREASE SERP CTR. @olgandrienko #SearchLeeds
- 59. Thank you! OLGA ANDRIENKO HEAD OF GLOBAL MARKETING @OLGANDRIENKO O.ANDRIENKO@SEMRUSH.COM Dive into the study => semrush.com/ranking-factors