We can all list off the POSITIVE ranking factors we are PRETTY SURE Google uses to push a website to the top of the search engine returns.
But what about the factors that knock a site further DOWN in the ranks?
The Length of Your Domain Name
Longer domain names TEND to rank lower than shorter ones. Especially the “long tail keyword” types of domain names, like “Buy-cheap-plus-size-womens-dresses.com.” These look spammy and Google assumes it might be a fly-by night domain, far less likely to be around for a while. Preference would be given to “Dresses.com” more likely.
For that matter, dashes in a domain name tend to have negative effects on rankings as well.
Load Time
Some would argue that this is not as relevant as a negative ranking factor as other factors. But if your site takes forever to load, you can expect to see a slightly lower ranking than those that load faster.
Using AdSense
This one is surprising. You would THINK that using Google services like AdSense would give you a boost–if only because of friendly “customer loyalty” points or something. But no, in fact it is just the opposite. Not only will MORE ads get your rank knocked a bit, the number of pixels occupied by ads will also negatively affect the ranking of your site. Well, this is a case of correlation rather than causation, but the fact is that spammier sites tend to have all kinds of ads on them while legit sites have fewer.
Followed Linking Pages
If all the links pointing to your domain are followed links, you would THINK this would be a good thing. But it seems that actually, having links from sites like Wikipedia, and citations tend to rank a tiny bit higher than those without no-follows. Spammy sites tend to only have follow links. Quality legit sites have a more diverse link profile.
SEOMoz has a whole SLEW of 2011 negative ranking factors you can check out. Knowledge is power, after all.
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