Tenured SEO factors are ranking signals that have stood the test of time. These foundational elements continue to shape modern SEO — spanning traditional search, multi-channel visibility, and optimization across multiple search engines.
Subjective Terms vs. Rules-Based Algorithms: Search engines have long humanized their algorithms by incorporating subjective concepts such as trust and authority. These ideas become measurable ranking factors only when expressed through proxy, rules-based signals. Historically, backlinks have served as that proxy — a crowdsourced method of assessing trust and authority. As authoritative sites link to others, their endorsements elevate those pages, making trust and authority emergent properties of the link graph itself.
Digital Marketing
When SEO aims to increase sales, conversion rates, or other calls to action, it becomes part of marketing. Some SEO agencies choose to focus solely on search rankings and avoid marketing functions. However, building brand visibility naturally increases mentions and links to a site — factors that strengthen SEO performance and search visibility. While labor can be divided, SEO is not independent of marketing.
Keyword research for entities is directly tied to marketing because it defines what the site wants to be discovered for. At the same time, query research performed for SEO often reveals new marketing opportunities and provides insights valuable to broader marketing strategy. When these efforts are separated and collaboration is limited, important opportunities can be lost.
Above the Fold Marketing: 🎯 No Scroll Sales focuses on how page design and layout influence engagement. Above-the-fold content is critical for both conversion rates and first impressions, shaping whether visitors choose to engage or leave. This user interaction data provides a vital signal to search engines about the value of the page within search results, directly impacting the site’s search visibility.
Historical SEO Techniques
Off-Page SEO – Ranking with Backlinks
No indexed website exists in isolation. Backlinks have long been one of the strongest ranking factors in search. Algorithmically, they function as votes of confidence — a form of crowdsourced endorsement that helps search engines assess authority and trust.
Content Relevance: Proxy and Emergent Search Factors
On-page SEO is fundamentally about establishing the relevance of your content. Without clearly demonstrating relevance to a specific topic or keyword, a page is unlikely to perform well in search results. While backlinks remain vital for ranking, their primary role is to amplify the authority of content that is already well-optimized for relevance.
Today On-page SEO has been extended beyong relevancy, (a subjective term), to include experiance and expertise as emergent factors messurable by inclusion of subjects and related entities know by people who have experiance.
Tenured SEO Factors
Keyword Proximity, Evergreen Search Factor
Conceptually keyword proximity as a factor for ranking documents was initially pioneered by Altavista, however, Altavista's implementation of search did not scale with the size of the internet. Hotbot or Inktomi's internet search did and proximity has been a forever algorithm factor in determining relevancy ever since.