Single most important factor in SEO?

of course all are important, but what is #1?

Domain name - keyword.com, keyword-keyword.com

Onsite optimization - title, content, keywords

Incoming links - high PR backlinks, anchor text

 

I don't believe in just "1", but if I had to choose, I would probably say link popularity.

 

Why are you asking this dumb Question ? Seriously I am not calling you dumb, I am wondering why you are asking a question where all the answers are wrong?

Without Content you can not convert, without links people can't find you. You say Links, but links can be broken down into link elements etc, on page SEO the same .

If I had to give the two strongest elements it would be anchor text and page title. None of which you have in your pole

 

ok i was being pretty vague...kinda like asking "how much can i make a month from adsense"

however, there has to be some factors that weigh more than others in googles eyes

wouldnt anchor text and page title fall under onsite optimization?

sorry if im wrong...

 

i dont believe its any of them 3, i believe the most important factor of SEO is choosing the right keywords, if you optimise your site for a totally useless keyword then none of the above really matter.

 

isnt that onsite optimization?

 

what about UNIQUE VALUABLE RELEVANT CONTENT

 

Page title is onpage, anchor text (from backlinks) is off page.

 

what keyword research?

 

nm i misunderstood you

i get waht youre saying now

 

Adding unique content to your site on a regular basis is at the top of the list. That is why blogs and forums always rank so well on SERPs, but you also have to combine that with a lot of other factors like on page optimization, link building, etc. To say there is one more important than the rest is ignorant, if you want to rank well you need to be doing everything you can to make sure that your site is optimized to the fullest. That is why Google has such a complicated algorithm, there are many factors to SEO, and each factor is a part of Google's formula to determine where you stand. You can't look at a complicated math problem and say that one variable is more important than the rest, can you? they all have an effect on the end result.

 

I voted for link popularity, having to vote for just one factor. I have to add though: Heaps of high PR links might get you high rankings for some or all keywords that you target, but they certianly aren't enough to keep the visitors on the site for long or to get repeat traffic. It is very important to have a website that is good enough to keep people on as well as keep them coming back for more. DP's probably a very good example of this. Some users might have found the site through Google, but we come back because of all the unique content and tools available through the site .... as well as the lovely people, of course!

 

And the free crates of Beer Shawn send out of course. That's what keeps me here more than anything. Man I love that crate a week delivery guy.

 

I have to go with backlinks. I'm sorry to have to disagree with the "10 seo guys", but without a backlink no site will rank at all. A site with a poorly optimized title and alot of backlinks will outrank a site with an optimized title and few backlinks (Well, on Google at least - not so much for MSN).

 

Single most important factor in SEO?........believe nothing that you read and only half what you hear!

 

all the three are very important .. For me link popularity is the most

 

IMO Its Link popularity.

You can get a fine rank for just building you link popularity...

but you cant if you just do on-site optimization not having link popularity.

 

Many sites with zero pagerank beats 5PR sites these days, with the same title. I'd say that the domain name is the most important factor because I beated 17 million sites with just that and a link in my signature. Link building in directories is waste of time IMO.

 

Yeah, you've got a good point. Actually.