Relevance and backlinks rule SEO 2026
Zyppy survey of 131 SEO experts and more than 13,000 ratings.
Source: Marketing4eCommerce, sep 2026
The most cited factors: relevance (57.1%), inbound links (54.8%) and content quality (47.6%). The meta description was the lowest-rated subfactor.
Confirmed negative factors: AI-generated content at scale, stock images, affiliate links, misconfigured robots.txt and excessive pop-ups.
Traditional SEO