What are the key factors that influence SEO rankings?

There are quite a few important factors at play, but let me highlight some of the most crucial ones:

Content quality is absolutely paramount. Search engines really prioritize delivering high-quality, relevant, in-depth content on their results pages. So creating comprehensive, well-researched, engaging content that provides value and is optimized for your target keywords is hugely important.

Backlinks are also a major ranking factor. The quality and quantity of other reputable websites linking to your site are a strong signal of credibility and authority to search engines. Having an authoritative backlink profile is key.

On the technical side, things like site speed, mobile-friendliness, security with HTTPS, good crawlability, proper use of structured data and other technical elements allow search engines to effectively access and understand your website.

User experience signals like click-through rates, dwell time, bounce rates etc. also carry a lot of weight now, as search engines want to surface sites that satisfy user intent and deliver a quality experience.

Factors like your website's overall domain authority, meaning how established and trusted it is based on its age and history of quality content/links, can give you a leg up as well.

And of course, optimization areas like well-crafted titles, headings, alt text, URL structure and overall on-page elements optimized for your target keywords and topics remain important.

Establishing brand authority signals like search volume for your brand name, online reputation, and brand mentions can also give you a rankings boost over competitors.

The overall competition level for specific keywords and industries also plays a role - more competition makes it harder to achieve top rankings.

And finally, search engines are constantly updating their ranking algorithms, so being adaptable and adjusting your SEO strategy based on those updates from Google, Bing, etc. is crucial.

So in summary, while there are many factors, focusing on authoritative, audience-focused content, building a strong backlink profile, delivering a technically sound user experience, establishing brand credibility, and keeping up with algorithm changes are some of the biggest keys to SEO rankings success.