An intriguing study has emerged from the renowned optimizer Cyrus Shepard, founder of Zyppy SEO. He took a hundred websites, divided them into winners and losers due to Google’s recent updates, and attempted to discern what unites them.
For instance, most ‘losing’ sites featured:
- Footer ads;
- Video ads;
- Stock images;
- Giant mega-menus (over 30 items);
- Excessive ad volume;
- Push notifications;
- Unclear logo;
- Significant number of affiliate links;
- and numerous other UX elements and factors (see the screenshot below).
![Internal Website Features Their Impact on Google Rankings 2024](https://affdays.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG_20240430_212229_143.jpg)
Moreover, the presence of several negative elements simultaneously increases the likelihood of ranking deterioration (multiplication effect).
Some research findings are quite unexpected. For instance, having a “Privacy Policy” was found to be a weak negative factor. Shepard explains that spammers primarily place such pages on their websites.
There’s plenty to read and ponder over. Here’s the link to the study.