A great report was released by SEOmoz on important search engine optimization factors for 2009. “Every two years, SEOmoz surveys top SEO experts in the field worldwide on their opinions of the algorithmic elements that comprise search engine rankings. This year features contributors from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, the Ukraine, the Dominican Republic and many more.
Each participant was asked to rate more than 100 search ranking factors along with specific questions about hot issues in the SEO field.
Top 5 Ranking Factors
1. Keyword Focused Anchor Text from External Links 73% very high importance
2. External Link Popularity (quantity/quality of external links) 71% very high importance
3. Diversity of Link Sources (links from many unique root domains) 67% very high importance
4. Keyword Use Anywhere in the Title Tag 66% very high importance
5. Trustworthiness of the Domain Based on Link Distance from Trusted Domains (e.g. TrustRank, Domain mozTrust, etc.) 66% very high importance
Top 5 Negative Ranking Factors
1. Cloaking with Malicious/Manipulative Intent 68% very high importance
2. Link Acquisition from Known Link Brokers/Sellers 56% high importance
3. Links from the Page to Web Spam Sites/Pages 51% moderate importance
4. Cloaking by User Agent 51% moderate importance
5. Frequent Server Downtime & Site Inaccessibility 51% moderate importance
Top 5 Most Contentious Factors
1. Cloaking by Cookie Detection: 16.3% strong contention
2. Cloaking by JavaScript/Rich Media Support Detection: 15.4% moderate contention
3. Hiding Text with same/similar colored text/background: 15.3% moderate contention
4. Cloaking by IP Address: 15.3% moderate contention
5. Cloaking by User Agent: 15.2% moderate contention
Each participant was asked to rate more than 100 search ranking factors along with specific questions about hot issues in the SEO field.
Top 5 Ranking Factors
1. Keyword Focused Anchor Text from External Links 73% very high importance
2. External Link Popularity (quantity/quality of external links) 71% very high importance
3. Diversity of Link Sources (links from many unique root domains) 67% very high importance
4. Keyword Use Anywhere in the Title Tag 66% very high importance
5. Trustworthiness of the Domain Based on Link Distance from Trusted Domains (e.g. TrustRank, Domain mozTrust, etc.) 66% very high importance
Top 5 Negative Ranking Factors
1. Cloaking with Malicious/Manipulative Intent 68% very high importance
2. Link Acquisition from Known Link Brokers/Sellers 56% high importance
3. Links from the Page to Web Spam Sites/Pages 51% moderate importance
4. Cloaking by User Agent 51% moderate importance
5. Frequent Server Downtime & Site Inaccessibility 51% moderate importance
Top 5 Most Contentious Factors
1. Cloaking by Cookie Detection: 16.3% strong contention
2. Cloaking by JavaScript/Rich Media Support Detection: 15.4% moderate contention
3. Hiding Text with same/similar colored text/background: 15.3% moderate contention
4. Cloaking by IP Address: 15.3% moderate contention
5. Cloaking by User Agent: 15.2% moderate contention
Read More: http://palatnikfactor.com/2009/08/26/most-important-seo-factors-for-2009
