Bloggers and webmasters are constantly wondering why Google is such a bully to some websites and why they are so positive toward others. What are the keys to building a successful presence on the search engine results pages? What are the most important SEO factors for getting your site discovered by Google’s search bot and how can we get in on the action?

If you’ve been wondering these things then this article is exactly what you need. Listed below are the 30 most important SEO factors. Pay attention to these factors and you’ll see a drastic improvement in your listings on Google, Yahoo and Bing.

The 30 Most Vital & Important SEO Factors

Don’t just debate which factors are the most important. Make it your goal to be the best that you can be in each of these 30 SEO factors.

1. Keyword anywhere in the title tag. Having a keyword or phrase in the title tag is the first step to letting the search engines know what your page is all about.
2. Keyword used as anchor text from external links. Inbound links from other domains that use your keyword as the anchor text are essential for SEO.
3. Authority of the domain. Google recognizes domains that have built a strong online presence and weighs their articles higher by default than others.
4. Genuinely high-quality, unique content on a page. This SEO factor is vital. The key to success at your blog is to create awesome content that people enjoy.
5. Page Rank of the domain. Domains with higher page rank are a sign that Google’s algorithm recognize that domain as having a strong online presence.
6. Keyword near the beginning of the title tag. It can be enough to simply place the keyword in the title tag. It can be even better to have it at the beginning of it.
7. A fresh, recently created page. Search engines are working to provide fresh, relevant content. Often old articles will eventually fade off of their listings.
8. Keyword anywhere in the domain name. Sites often rank well for the keywords that are contained in their domain name.
9. The number of external links to a page. Every link to a page is like a vote. The more links that your site gets, the more popular Google knows that your site is.
10. Keyword anywhere in an H1 tag. Google knows that the most important information on the page is in the heading tag. Take the time to make yours count.
11. Diversity of external link sources. It’s great to have a dozen links from another site. It’s even better to have one link each from a dozen sites.
12. Links from social media sources. Search engines perk pay attention when they see you creating content that your followers enjoy so much that they share it.
13. Keyword as anchor text in in your internal links. It’s great to use other pages on your site to link to the page in question using your keyword as the anchor text.
14. A good ratio of text vs. html. Google is looking for content to give to their users. Not just html. Write great articles with real content.
15. Keyword as anchor text to outbound links. Search engines like to see you linking to other relevant sites. Your keyword as the anchor text is a great way to do it.
16. The page rank of the page. The Page Rank of a page is the numerical representation of the overall authority that Google views your page as having.
17. Keyword used within the first 100 words on the page. Those concepts and terms that are used early in an article are viewed as the most essential.
18. Length of the remaining domain registration. Spammers often register domains for very short periods of time.
19. Keyword in the page URL. Google pays attention to sites with keywords in their permalinks. Make yours contain terms that describes the content of each article.
20. Relevancy of external sites linking to the page. Links from other sites that are on the same or similar topics are more valuable than random links from anywhere.
21. Keyword in smaller headlines like H2 – H6. Although these are less important than the H1 header tag, they are still very important.
22. The existence of a meta description for your page. Providing a meta description is a great way to show Googler’s what the page is about.
23. Keyword as the alt text for an image. Using a key phrase as the alt text of an image is a tried and true way of earning better listings.
24. A page that is HTML valid to W3C Standards. Some independent studies have shown that Google favors valid code.
25. Keyword repeated throughout the content. Have the same phrase repeated throughout an article makes it clear what the page is about.
26. Links to trustworthy external pages on the domain. Search engines like it when our articles are filled with links to good, reliable resources.
27. Keyword in the <b> and <strong> tags. Words and phrases wrapped in these tags are considered as more important than standard text.
28. Internal link popularity. A page must be important if dozens of articles across it’s own domain are pointing toward it.
29. Keyword density. How often is your keyword used in comparison to how much text is on the page?
30. The presence of an XML sitemap. Google likes it when you provide them with an easy-to-read overview of all the pages on your site.

Reflecting on the Most Important SEO factors

Traffic from search engines can be incredibly useful. After all, it’s those people who find your site through Google, Yahoo and Bing that are actually looking for the type of content that you’re providing. Think about it. That’s why they’re searching for it. So don’t dismiss these SEO factors.  They’re important.

Use these points as an overview. Examine them against your own efforts and work to improve the way that you present content at your website or blog. There has never been a better opportunity to start attracting those people who are actively searching for your content.