Google now shows which ranking factors resulted in a page ranking in Google search

Google is rolling out a new feature for this results overlay that actually tells searchers (and SEOs) why Google is ranking this page for that given query. Yes, Google tells you which high level ranking factors are the reason this page ranks.

Google said that “About this result will show researchers information about some of these most important factors that Google search uses to connect results to their queries.” Why is Google doing this? Google said “because these factors help Google decide whether a result may be relevant, they can also help people decide which result is useful to them.” As an info, I covered this news on Search Engine Land where it broke, but it’s something that deserves an article here as well.

Google is literally showing why it is ranking this page for that given query. It describes, I think, up to nine different “factors” as to why the page is ranked. I don’t know all the factors but I do know these:

(1) The search term matches the content on the page or in the HTML (like title tags, etc.)

(2) The search term is related (as a synonym) to the content of the page

(3) Search term matches or is linked to links to this page

(4) Images on the page are related to the search term

(5) Language is relevant to the query (i.e. English queries are more likely to match English content)

(6) The region of the page or the region served by the page is relevant to the query (i.e. your block).

There are probably a few other factors that Google will list, and Google will likely add more.

Here’s how Google described some of the factors you’ll see compared to what I wrote above:

• Matching Keywords: A simple, but important factor that Google uses to determine if information is relevant is when a web page contains the same keywords as your search.
• Related terms: Google also searches for terms that our systems have determined to be related to the words in your query. If you are looking for “how to cook fish in the oven” we will also search for pages with related terms such as “bake” and “recipe”.
• Looking at the links: When other pages link to a page that uses words similar to your query, that page may be relevant to your search. It can also be a useful indicator of whether online content creators tend to view the page as useful for that topic.
• Local relevance: Our systems also look at factors such as the language you use to search as well as your country and location, to deliver content relevant to your region. For example, if you search “what day is the garbage collection?” It helps to get results applicable to your city or state.

Here is what it looks like:

Additionally, Google will give searchers explicit advice on how to improve their queries when they hover their mouse over underlined words. For example, use a negative match or change your location for different regions and more. Here’s a screenshot of that:

What do you think about this?

Discussion forum at Twitter & WebmasterWorld.