This is the second of a two part post. You can view the first part here.

Google reportedly use 200+ SEO factors to decide where your website should rank in their search engine results, but which are fact and which are myth?

The guys at Northcutt have ranked each of them on a sliding scale using patent filings, direct statements from Google, and good old science. And we’ve given their great content some good old infographic treatment.

You’ll find the off page ranking factors below, the on page factors can be found here.

Google reportedly use over 200 factors to rank websites just like yours.

But when it comes to unlocking SERP success, how do you know what factors are more fact than fiction?

The world of SEO is huge one, and if you’re just getting started with building an effective strategy, it can seem overwhelming when understanding on-and-off-page SEO.

Understanding these differences, however, is the key to unlocking the right techniques that will boost your ranking positions.

In this infographic, the experts at Northcutt have done a bit of work to determine what factors you should pay attention to.

By off-page, we mean any actions, techniques, and events that take place away from your website to drive your website’s position on search engines.

Whereas On-Page means directly controlling the website you are improving the ranking position of, off-page relates to how your website performs externally.

Off-page ranking factors usually come in the form of backlinks.

Coming in as concrete ranking factors are high-quality, relevant, and authoritative backlinks to your website.

It’s not about how many backlinks you get here, it’s all about their quality and how authoritative they are. If your website receives these types of backlinks, it sends a clear signal to Google that your website is worthy of attention to its users.

After all, users are only going to share content that they find engaging, valuable, and useful to them. Word-of-mouth is the most effective forms of promotion. When it comes to off-page ranking factors, a user’s endorsement of what you have to say will translate into sharing your content.

Away from ranking factors known to have an impact on your ranking, what about the myths? A massive myth that often gets overlooked is having backlinks from .edu and .gov websites. Sure, these websites are authoritative in their nature, but generating backlinks from them is not a ranking factor you should be chasing.

Off-page ranking factors known to bring a negative impact range from low-quality backlinks, diluted domain authority, and paid link schemes.

Not only are these ineffective for your overall strategy, adopting some of them will land you with harsh penalties from Google.

Other schemes that are likely to bring a negative impact to your ranking position include comment spam, click manipulation, and forum post spam. Whilst these may sound like quick and easy ways to achieve better SEO, Google’s algorithms will soon catch you out.

In general, when it comes to off-page SEO, the key to achieving higher ranking positions is by understanding the power that authority and relevance can bring to your overall SEO strategy.