There is a new Google ranking factor survey out for 2026. It has been a while since we had one, and it is here. This one was done by Cyrus Shepard and Dawn Shepard and posted at Zyppy. It says content relevance, backlinks, and content quality are the most important factors, according to the experts who were surveyed.
Over a 100 experts from the SEO community submitted responses that led to 13,665 ranking-factor data points. Here is how it came out:
- Top Tier (Over 45%): Content relevance (57.1%), backlinks (54.8%), and content quality (47.6%) form the primary foundation of ranking factors according to respondents.
- Mid Tier (25% – 40%): Trust/Authority (36.5%), behavioral click signals (29.4%), and brand presence (27.0%) represent significant secondary drivers.
- Foundational & Specialized Factors (Under 20%): User satisfaction, technical SEO, topical authority, and internal linking round out the bottom tier.
Here is the breakdown:
For the complete details, make sure to check out the survey responses at Zyppy. For disclosure, I did complete the survey but I am not an expert.
Forum discussion at SEOfomo.
