Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz also talked with us about ranking factors, but took a different angle. Experts are quick to offer advice on how to get your site to rank well, but does their advice match the data? What the data shows is what really matters. For example, Rand says the experts say H1 tags are very important, but actual data shows that they have a very low correlation with rankings.

So what advice does Rand offer for ranking well? He says titles tags, anchor text, on page keyword usage, and social aspects are all important factors. Social aspects are hard to measure, but Rand points out that they influence ranking with the search engines in an indirect way. He also agrees with Laura that there has to be a distinguishing factor involved in order to outrank competitors. Taking it one step further, Rand says the product not only has to be compelling, but it also has to give people an incentive to want to link.

Because SEO is constantly changing, you need to look at the data to make sure that your efforts match your goals.

Are the traditional ranking factors changing? What new factors are now included in the game?

Watch and learn, at WebProNews.