Google ranking factors: there has never been an official checklist. Here is what Google's own guidance actually confirms.

Google has said its systems use hundreds of signals, but has never published a full, itemized list, and most of those signals are minor or contextual. The confirmed, high-impact factors, content quality and E-E-A-T, page experience, and technical accessibility, are the ones worth focusing on. Chasing an exhaustive unofficial "200 ranking factors" list is generally a poor use of time.

Yes, but the emphasis has shifted from quantity to relevance and quality. A small number of links from credible, topically relevant sources outperforms a large number of low-quality or unrelated ones, and can even trigger a manual penalty if it looks manipulative.

Page experience, including Core Web Vitals metrics like loading speed, is a confirmed ranking factor, but Google has described it as a tie-breaker among pages of similar content quality, not a factor that overrides genuinely better content. A fast page with weak content will not outrank a slower page with excellent, more relevant content.

Yes, particularly for lower-competition, long-tail, or highly specific local terms where authority requirements are lower. New sites generally need to build topical depth and start with more winnable keywords before competing for high-authority, high-competition terms.