It’s crucial to stay current with Google ranking factors to rank highly in search results, but keeping up with the latest developments can be challenging. Approximately 84% of the North American search market share is held by Google, making it the world’s most popular and powerful search engine.
We generally refer to Google’s ranking factors when discussing SEO, rather than those of Bing, Yahoo, or other search engines.
In addition to SEO strategies, businesses can also benefit significantly from implementing CRM tools to manage and optimize customer relationships, which in turn 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. Google uses ranking factors to display content on its search engine that is most likely to be helpful for someone searching for the “best WordPress theme”.
In addition to the number of words on a page, ranking factors may also include the loading speed of images. Google’s ultimate goal is 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. Google prioritizes high-quality, unique, and original content when determining its ranking factors.
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, it ensures that users receive relevant, up-to-date information rather than outdated details by checking for up-to-date, fresh content. You can ensure that you’re providing your audience with high-quality content by writing excellent original content, hiring writers who are knowledgeable in the field, and regularly updating old content. The content of your page is more critical than the 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, 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 it’s irrelevant to the users’ needs. Hence, it may become increasingly challenging to rank your site higher in search results if enough people do this.
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 by providing visitors with a great user experience, not just for SEO purposes, because 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 think about whether it would be easy for a new visitor 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? Your website needs to be redesigned to be more structured and offer a better user experience if you answered “no” to any of these questions.
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 has high quality. Seek out & configure links on relevant, quality websites, such as directory listings, review websites, and map listings.
6. Mobile Usability
Google has been incorporating mobile usability into its ranking algorithm for several years now, as more than half of all Internet traffic now 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, that all buttons and links are easily accessible, and that everything is accurate, legible, and consistent.
7. Use of Social Media
Promoting your content across various 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.
To maximize the impact of your content, it’s crucial to have a well-designed social media strategy in place. By doing so, you 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, it is essential to avoid “keyword stuffing” and prioritize user experience and high-quality content for long-term success.
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: A tag that identifies an image is used as an alt attribute since Google cannot understand an image without one. It is essential to include keywords related to the content of your website in these tags.
3. Meta descriptions: Meta descriptions serve as a summary of your website, and they are an excellent opportunity to get your website in front of the most viewers. There are 70-80 characters that can be used to conclude the paragraph, which should also include 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, particularly by using the most secure HTTPS protocol. This means that your website encrypts its data every time users interact with it, preventing personal data breaches.
The easiest way to achieve this is by installing an SSL certificate on your website. The padlock symbol in the address bar indicates that your website has an SSL certificate, thereby increasing visitors’ trust in it.
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. It’s essential to prioritize your website’s security to provide a safe and seamless user experience.
Conclusion
Ultimately, you will need to 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.
