Number of Includes counts the CSS stylesheets and JavaScript files a page declares, added together into one dependency-count figure. It is a broad indicator of how many external assets the markup pulls in — not a byte total, a request waterfall, or a load-time measurement, and not a number to minimize for its own sake.
| Factor ID | RG-TEC-033 |
|---|---|
| Family | Tech & platform |
| Measurement | Count |
| Measured zone | Rendered HTML without scripts |
What it measures
Number of Includes combines the recognized CSS stylesheet links and JavaScript file references found in a page’s script-free rendered HTML. It is a broad dependency-count indicator — a single figure that stands in for how many external style and script assets the document declares, rather than the size or performance cost of any one of them.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear adds the number of link tags whose rel value equals stylesheet to the number of script tags that carry a non-empty src attribute, reading from the script-free HTML representation of the page. Because scripts have been removed from this zone, the JavaScript component can be zero. For the same reason, this factor should not be assumed to equal the separate Number of JavaScript Includes and CSS factors, which are taken from their own different zones.
What RankGear looks for
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/site.css"> ← counted
<script src="/assets/app.js"></script> ← counted (src not empty)
<script>/* inline, no src */</script> ← not counted| Component | What is counted |
|---|---|
| CSS stylesheet links | link tags where rel="stylesheet" |
| JavaScript file references | script tags with a non-empty src |
Number of Includes = (link[rel=stylesheet] count) + (script[src] count)How to optimize it
Treat this as an observation about a page’s dependency footprint, not a target to drive down. When the count looks high, audit the dependencies for duplication, unused libraries, obsolete plugins, and unnecessary third-party resources. Make changes only after confirming the visual and functional requirements each asset supports, then test loading behavior and user-facing performance to confirm the change helped rather than assuming a lower number is better.
Important considerations
- This is a tag count, not a request waterfall or a byte total.
- Its measurement zone differs from Number of JavaScript Includes, so the two factors will not necessarily agree.
- More or fewer includes are not ranking goals by themselves.
- Use browser performance evidence before restructuring assets.
- Correlation is not causation: this count relates to where pages sit within a measured result set and is a prioritization signal, not something that makes a page rank.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.