Network virtualization provides a promising tool to allow multiple heterogeneous virtual networks to run on a shared substrate network simultaneously. A long-standing challenge in network virtualization is the Virtual Network Embedding (VNE) problem: how to embed virtual networks onto specific physical nodes and links in the substrate network effectively. Recent research presents several heuristic algorithms that only consider single topological attribute of networks, which may lead to decreased utilization of resources. In this paper, we introduce six complementary characteristics that reflect different topological attributes, and propose three topology-aware VNE algorithms by leveraging the respective advantages of different characteristics. In addition, a new KS-core decomposition algorithm based on two characteristics is devised to better disentangle the hierarchical topological structure of virtual networks. Due to the overall consideration of topological attributes of substrate and virtual networks by using multiple characteristics, our study better coordinates node and link embedding. Extensive simulations demonstrate that our proposed algorithms improve the long-term average revenue, acceptance ratio, and revenue/cost ratio compared to previous algorithms.