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A major leak of Google Search’s internal ranking documents has stunned the SEO community. The leak revealed over 14,000 potential ranking features, offering an unprecedented glimpse into Google’s highly secretive search ranking system. An expert pointed out that these documents reveal a gap between what Google says and what it actually does with its secretive algorithms.

These documents show some details that seem to go against what Google employees have said publicly before about what factors affect search rankings.

This article discusses some of the interesting findings from a leaked Google document that sheds light on how Google’s search ranking system works. Here’s a breakdown of some key points:

Key Points from Google Search Document Leak

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Secrets Revealed in Leaked Google Doc

• Content Quality Matters: Forget keyword stuffing and focus on creating high-quality content that is informative, engaging, and provides value to your users. Google considers factors like usefulness, presentation, and user satisfaction when evaluating your content.
• Freshness Matters:  Links are still important for SEO, but recent links seem to hold more weight than older ones. Regularly update your content and acquire links from authoritative websites to stay ahead of the curve.
• Focus on User Experience: Imagine a visitor getting lost in a maze on your website. Not a good look, right? A confusing site navigation or content that frustrates users can significantly hurt your ranking. Prioritise a user-friendly experience with clear navigation and easy-to-understand content.
• Target the Right Audience:  Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Focus on creating content relevant to your specific audience and location. Content aimed at a location you are not associated with might not rank well for those search terms.
• Avoid Spammy Techniques:  Keyword stuffing, gibberish content, and other spammy techniques are a big no-no. Google actively penalizes these practices, so steer clear and focus on creating genuine, valuable content.
• Internal Linking is Important:  Linking relevant pages within your website helps search engines understand your website structure and improves user navigation. This can ultimately lead to better SEO performance. 
• Anchor Text Should Be Relevant:  The text you use to link to other pages (anchor text) should be relevant to the content it links to. Don’t just stuff keywords into your anchor text; it can hurt your ranking. 
• Google Considers Site-Wide Quality:  The overall quality and user experience of your entire website is a factor in ranking individual pages. Make sure your website is consistent in its quality and provides a positive user experience throughout.
• Google Updates Content Regularly:  Google regularly updates its content index. If you update a page regularly, Google will eventually remove older versions from its index. This means you don’t necessarily need to delete old content; just keep it fresh and updated.

It’s important to remember that this is just a glimpse into Google’s complex ranking system.  The exact details of how Google ranks websites remain a secret. However, the leaked document provides valuable insights into what Google might be looking for in high-quality content.

Conclusion

Google has always promoted “people-first content,” advising creators to focus on their readers and users rather than search engines. This approach is based on the principles of “EEAT” — expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. However, leaked documents suggest that Google’s actual practices might differ from this philosophy.

Analyses by major think tanks indicate that various other factors might influence search rankings. These include domain authority, data from the Chrome browser, the number of clicks as a measure of success, and the author’s credibility in the byline.