Staying current with Google ranking factors is crucial to rank highly in search results, but keeping up with the latest developments can be challenging. Google holds approximately 84% of the North American search market share, making it the world’s most popular and powerful search engine.
When discussing SEO, we generally refer to Google’s ranking factors rather than those of Bing, Yahoo, or other search engines.
In addition to SEO strategies, businesses can benefit significantly from implementing CRM tools to manage and optimize customer relationships, which can positively impact their search engine rankings. Discover more about CRM implementation and how it can be integrated with your digital strategy.
The key to ranking high in search engine results pages (SERPs) is understanding the search engine ranking factors that Google uses to determine the position of your page in SERPs.
This blog post will discuss the top 10 most important Google ranking factors you need to consider. You can focus on the most impactful improvements that will get you ranking higher on Google by using this list of the most important Google ranking factors.
Table of Contents
What is a Google Ranking Factor?
Google uses an algorithm to calculate ranking factors and determine whether a webpage effectively answers a particular search query. It then displays content on its search engine that is most likely helpful for someone searching for the “best WordPress theme.”
Ranking factors may include the number of words on a page and the loading speed of images. Google aims to provide users with the best content and an enjoyable online experience.
Top 10 Most Important Google Ranking Factors
Here is a list of the top 10 most important Google ranking factors you should consider to rank your website higher on search engine result pages (SERPs):
1. Focus on Quality Content
Quality content is one of the most significant and essential factors that Google prioritizes. Content quality measures whether a webpage is fresh, unique, and valuable in response to a query.
Google will rank your content higher in its search engine results pages (SERPs) if it offers hypothetical value to a target searcher. When determining its ranking factors, Google prioritizes high-quality, unique, and original content.
If you focus on writing quality, SEO-friendly, and plagiarism-free content, Google will automatically rank that content higher in Google search results. Avoid using AI content writing tools to protect your content from being copied.
Nevertheless, checking for fresh content ensures that users receive relevant, up-to-date information rather than outdated details. You can ensure that you provide your audience with high-quality content by writing excellent original content, hiring knowledgeable writers, and regularly updating old content. Your page’s content is more critical than its optimization if it’s not valuable for searchers.
2. Page Load Speed
There are two types of page speed: page speed, which measures how quickly the content on a particular page appears, and load speed, which measures how quickly the content on a specific page loads. There is also the ‘time to first byte’, which measures how long it takes to receive the first byte of data from the server, and ‘site speed’, which measures the speed of just a sample of page views on the entire website.
It is also essential to consider the bounce rate when ranking on Google, especially if your page takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Google’s PageSpeed Insights allows you to monitor your site’s speed and provides suggestions for improving it. Last but not least, make sure your website loads within 2-3 seconds across all mobile devices and platforms.
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3. User Experience
Click-through rate, bounce rate, and dwell time are some of the most important Google ranking factors you must consider. RankBrain is Google’s artificial intelligence signal that helps the search engine rank web pages and crawl more quickly and effectively. If users visit your site and don’t like it, he/she will leave the site.
As a result, Google will think your site is irrelevant to users’ needs. Hence, if enough people do this, ranking your site higher in search results may become increasingly challenging. Google values relevant results very much and strives to provide them to its users. You’ll be less likely to rank well if your click-through or bounce rate is too low or too high.
The best way to optimize your content is to provide visitors with a great user experience, not just for SEO purposes. A positive user experience attracts visitors and encourages them to return.
4. Website Structure
Google’s algorithm is highly advanced in measuring and detecting the quality of your website’s structure. With this in mind, focus on creating a seamless user experience (UX) and a robust website structure that enhances your visitors’ experience.
If you were to walk through your website, you would need to consider whether it would be easy for new visitors to find all the information or products they need.
Does your site make it easy for them to get in touch, locate a specific page, or view your knowledge base or blog? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, your website needs to be redesigned to be more structured and offer a better user experience.
5. Quality Backlinks
There is a good chance that your online content has links pointing to it, which can be anything from Google Maps, partner sites, or profiles in online media to a link in your bio on social media. We understand that all backlinks are not equal.
Your link will be more valuable if the referring site is high-quality. Seek and configure links on relevant, quality websites, such as directory, review, and map listings.
6. Mobile Usability
For several years, Google has incorporated mobile usability into its ranking algorithm, as over half of all Internet traffic comes from mobile devices.
As mobile internet use expands, Google is shifting its focus from indexing desktop versions of websites to their mobile versions. For this reason, your website must be mobile-friendly if you want to maximize your search engine rankings.
Your website doesn’t need to be mobile-friendly, but it should be responsive and user-friendly regardless of screen size. You can test your content on multiple mobile devices and platforms by learning about web design principles, ensuring the site loads quickly, all buttons and links are easily accessible, and everything is accurate, legible, and consistent.
7. Use of Social Media
Promoting your content across social media platforms can significantly boost your brand presence and drive organic traffic to your website. By sharing your content on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, you can create a strong brand identity and increase your website’s visibility.
Additionally, search engines are linked to social media platforms, so having your website’s links and URLs on these platforms can help improve your website’s ranking.
A well-designed social media strategy is crucial to maximizing the impact of your content. This strategy can effectively promote your content, reach your target audience, and increase your website’s traffic and engagement.
8. Keyword Optimization
Keyword optimization is the process of selecting relevant keywords and strategically utilizing them to enhance search engine rankings and drive targeted traffic. Finding out what search terms potential customers use involves incorporating those terms into website content, meta tags, titles, and descriptions.
The goal is to increase visibility and relevance for specific keywords, leading to higher rankings and more targeted traffic. However, for long-term success, avoiding “keyword stuffing” and prioritizing user experience and high-quality content is essential.
So, it’s still possible to rank highly on Google with good old-fashioned SEO by researching and using keywords. Write naturally instead of stuffing your writing with keyword phrases, which is a bad practice.
There are several ways to perform keyword optimization, including:
- Utilize latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords to enable Google to find your content quickly.
- Ensure that you use good anchor text for internal links and backlinks
- Be sure to write compelling meta-descriptions
- Use target keywords in headers
- Use keywords in the URL
9. Tags
Tags are terms used to describe pieces of information. You can find different types of tags in SEO:
1. Title Tag: The title tag represents the name of your website when it appears in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). It is that blue clickable font you see at the top of your website that shows the title tag. Keep your website content in mind. There should not be more than 30-40 characters in a sentence.
2. Alt tag: An alt attribute is a tag that identifies an image since Google cannot understand an image without one. Including keywords related to your website’s content in these tags is essential.
3. Meta descriptions: Meta descriptions serve as a summary of your website and are an excellent opportunity to get it in front of the most viewers. The paragraph can be concluded with 70-80 characters, including keywords and URLs.
4. Canonical Tag: Tags like this inform search engines which version of a page to index, as they indicate the specific version. It is important for pages with duplicate content.
5. Robots Meta Tag: This tag instructs search engines on which pages to crawl and which to exclude. It is helpful for pages that should not be indexed, such as login pages or duplicate content.
10. Website Security
It is essential to prioritize website security using the most secure HTTPS protocol. This means that your website encrypts its data every time users interact with it, preventing personal data breaches.
Installing an SSL certificate on your website is the easiest way to achieve this. The padlock symbol in the address bar indicates that your website has an SSL certificate, thereby increasing visitors’ trust.
Google crawls your external links and wants you to steer users away from potentially dangerous sites on your website. Therefore, ensure that all external links point to secure sites. Prioritizing your website’s security is essential to providing a safe and seamless user experience.
Conclusion
Ultimately, you must be patient and commit to monitoring and making adjustments over time, even if you are confident in your SEO abilities. If you’re creating a new webpage for your target audience or improving your web content, consider the following 10 Google ranking factors.
Plan, create, and publish content with these Google ranking factors in mind, and you will appear at the top of the search engine results page more often. If you‘re unsure how to implement or optimize your site for Google ranking factors, consider hiring SEO experts from a reputable digital marketing agency.
