Generally speaking, any of the metrics we display that you can gain organically1: views, downloads, players, etc. can contribute to how the popularity algorithm will rank your game. Just publishing your game typically isn’t enough to initial gain traction for ranking well, you may need to seek out your initial audience on your own by using things like social media or the various locations on itch.io where we let you self advertise your game.
Hope that helps
1 Organically meaning that real people come across your page and actually engage with it. Attempting to use services or tool to try boost your numbers with artificial activity will actually have the opposite effect and may lead to your game being unlisted or penalized