Changing SEO ranking criteria makes keeping up with the newest innovations difficult. But you have to be informed if you like your Google results to move from invisible to the top of the list.
Over time, well-optimized websites attract more and more traffic, generating more leads and revenue. Without SEO ranking, searchers will not be able to locate your website, so all your effort would be useless.
This article will provide the revised and crucial SEO ranking elements you need to rule natural search results.
Let's quickly review the foundations of search engine optimization ranking before we delve into the specifics of every ranking element.
(Learning SEO, sometimes known as "How Do I Rank Higher on Google?"
Many people find it mysterious how Google ranks work. So let's start by addressing some fundamental issues most people have regarding SEO before we delve into the actual ranking elements.
What Is “Ranking” in SEO?
In SEO, ranking refers to your content’s position on the search engine results pages (SERPs). A #1 ranking means that when people search for a particular term, your web page is the first result (apart from promoted results, featured snippets, and answer boxes, which we’ll discuss later in this guide).
Appearing on the first page within the top 10 results is also useful. That’s because 95% of people never pass the first page.
Hence the famous joke in the Google SEO ranking world: where’s the best place to hide a dead body?
On page 2 of Google.
In SEO, what is Google looking for?
Google wants to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." A lot of that is based on delivering pertinent search results. Their working method is as follows:
Google's search bots, which are bits of automated software known as "spiders," or "crawlers," first sweep the web. Sounds eerie, we are aware of. All that indicates, though, is they visit websites.
Second, they catalog and add correctly optimized, crawlable pages to Google's index.
Third, based on the search terms people enter, Google's search results reveal what it believes to be most relevant (out of the trillions of pages in its index).
Google uses several extremely sophisticated algorithms to choose which material shows up and in which sequence. Later, though, we will explore all that interesting material.
Your page titles and meta descriptions will be your only tools after they show up on the SERP to get searchers to click your link and visit your website.
How Do Google Search Rankings Work?
People type or pronounce terms linked to what they are looking for when they desire information. We will discuss those in the section on content optimization of this book; they are known as keywords.
Maintaining your website's Google rating, however, requires more than simply maximizing competitive keywords. It also relates to the nature of the material.
Google's search quality scores indicate that, upon indexing the primary content of every page, it looks at elements including:
- Purpose of the page
- Content quality and amount
- Website info and info about the content creator
- Website reputation and content creator reputation
- User interaction with the page (time on page, bounce rates, and so on)
- Expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-A-T)
In just a moment, we’re going to explore that last one (E-A-T) in more detail because it has become very important.
For now, it’s enough to know that all the factors listed above go into Google’s algorithm and help to determine SEO ranking.
Based on the rating guidelines above, Google shows searchers the most relevant, high-quality results related to what they’re looking for. The most relevant are shown first, with the rest shown over successive pages.
Top 10 Current SEO Ranking Factors for Google
1. A Secure and Accessible Website
Naturally, the first of our SEO ranking criteria has to do with having the correct type of URL. More especially, that's a URL Google's crawlers can readily access and investigate.
Stated otherwise, Google must be able to visit the URL and examine the page contents to grasp the nature of that page. You'll need these to assist the bots:
- A website created with a well-coded website builder
- A robots.txt file that tells Google where it can and can’t look for your site information
- A sitemap that lists all your pages
If you’re running a WordPress site, you can set up a sitemap via All in One SEO. If not, then you can use an online sitemap generator.
2. Page Speed (Including Mobile Page Speed)
For years, one of the main SEO ranking elements mentioned has been page speed. Fast-loading web pages will help Google to enhance users' online experience.
Beginning in July 2018, Google revealed a search engine algorithm upgrade concentrated on mobile page speed that began to impact sites. Should your site fail to load quickly on mobile devices, it may be punished.
And, via WPBeginner, see these ideas for quickening a PHP site if you use WordPress.
Still, starting to use Google Search Console (should you not already) is the greatest approach. This includes speed and offers a whole section on the performance of your site.
See this article on how to utilize Google Search Console to raise your SEO for a more detailed picture.
3. Mobile Friendliness
Although we are discussing mobile, another important SEO ranking consideration is mobile friendliness. One reason Google ranks search results have changed is more individuals access the web using mobile devices than desktop computers.
Now that Google's mobile-first index is a reality, it is seeking its results from mobile-optimized sites first rather than those designed for desktop computers. If your website is mobile-optimized, you can steer clear of unfairly underranking yourself.
While many of the SEO ranking elements we will discuss in this post will help you build the basis for a solid search engine ranking, you also have to consider user experience once people land on your site.
Things to look at include whether you:
- Have a responsive site that automatically resizes to fit the device
- Use large fonts for easy readability on a small screen
- Include accessible menus so your site is easy to navigate
- Ensure that ads don’t hide essential content
If you have the team, the time, and the energy, you should explore Google AMP (accelerated mobile pages). The upside is that your pages load nearly instantly from mobile devices. There have also been rumors that Google ranks sites built with AMP more highly than others.
The downside is that you need to make another version of your site following AMP’s guidelines. Then, you need to maintain everything. As you can imagine, this can be a time-intensive project.
But whether you decide to try Google AMP or not, you still need to be sure that your site is 100% optimized for mobile devices.
4. Domain Age, URL, and Authority
Almost 60% of the websites with a top 10 Google search rating are three or more years old, did you know? Data from an Ahrefs two million page analysis points to fewer sites than a year old achieving that level.
Therefore, it is already a benefit if you have had your site for some time and have improved it by utilizing the advice in this post.
Sometimes the domain name counts. Google has penalized exact-match domains—those in which the target keyword appears in the URL—but usually, that penalty is for spammy sites with little content.
According to Moz's research, exact-match domains judged relevant, valuable, and high-quality can benefit in ranking. If your company already has a website, though, you won't have to search for an exact match domain.
Which path best suits your domain selection? Instead, concentrate on a URL that accurately represents your company and maximize it!
5. Optimized Content
We’ve discussed content in this guide to Google SEO ranking factors. That’s because it’s one of the most important search ranking factors (right up there with user experience, links, and RankBrain, which we’ll get to in a while).
Now let’s dig down and see what optimizing content for SEO means.
As our keyword research guide said, Google’s search algorithm relies on keywords. These are the words and phrases searchers use when seeking information. They’re also the words and phrases describing your site’s topics.
Ideally, those will match up. That’s why it’s so important to use keywords in your content.
One negative SEO ranking factor to be aware of is duplicate content. For SEO, fresh, original content is always best. And if you have similar content, tell Google which one should be ranked as most authoritative using canonical URLs.
But one of the biggest questions we get at IndeedSEO is about how to use LSI keywords to optimize content. So let’s start there.
6. Technical SEO
We said earlier that getting the code right is one aspect of optimizing content for better SEO rankings. This can be intimidating, especially if you’re more of a wordsmith and less of a “techie.”
Here are some of the aspects you can control even if you’re not a coder:
- Add keyword phrases in page titles, which is where Google first looks to determine which content is relevant to which search
- Use header tags to show content hierarchy starting with your title at h1 and then use h2 or h3 for subheads
- Create a meta description that both entices readers and includes your keyword phrase
- Keep those meta descriptions short and catchy at around 160 characters
- Use keyword phrases in image alt tags to show how those images are relevant to the main content
- Include alt tags also helps visually impaired people enjoy your site with screenreaders
- Use schema markup to tell Google what kind of content you’re producing
7. User Experience (RankBrain)
For some time, Google has been ranking websites using artificial intelligence. It generates the signal using RankBrain. This covers additional signals influencing your search engine result page. These contain:
Click-through rate: the proportion of visitors to your website following an entry shown on search results
Bounce rate—especially pogo-sticking—the total number of users that click on your website and rapidly return to the search results
Dwell time: the length of stay guests have on your website following arrival
Should someone see your website, object, and leave, Google will conclude it has little bearing on their needs. Should many others follow this, you may find it more difficult to rank higher on search results.
This implies that your material should reflect the intention of the searcher. You should go back and choose a more powerful keyword.
On the other hand, if consumers go over to your web page and linger for some time, Google will know your material is pertinent for their search.
Your search engine ranking will thus improve when you maximize titles, descriptions, and content to acquire the hits and provide value on the other side.
8. Links (Backlinks, Outbound, and Internal)
As we said at the start, the web is built on links. So, naturally, links are a crucial SEO ranking signal. There are three kinds of links to think about:
- Inbound links
- Outbound links
- Internal links
All three are typically tied to a descriptive anchor text.
Inbound Links
Google guides the authority and relevancy of your content using inbound links.
The best-case scenario is one in which a reputable site features a pertinent link to yours within one of their pieces. Therefore, it will be seen better if the Content Marketing Institute connects your content marketing resource than if a random person with a poor-quality website does.
You have probably heard of inbound links called "backlinks." You want as many really powerful sites linking back to you. You thus also want relatively few incoming connections from low-quality domains.
Outbound Links
You also want to demonstrate at the same time that you are producing excellent material for your readers. This entails referencing pertinent, authoritative websites in your niche to create outbound connections.
Thus, should you want to increase your authority, should you distribute loads of outgoing links? Yes, not.
All it means is that you should only gather from trustworthy sources with great domain authority as you are researching. To be honest, you should most likely be doing this anyhow to guarantee you give your users the maximum value.
Internal Links
Ultimately, linking to your material will tie pages together for Google and your readers, therefore enhancing the value of every page. Having an authoritative page on your website with a link to another page will enable your visitors to locate the other page and transmit some authority.
This improves the search engine results on the second page.
Create a new material and establish a strong internal connection network to let one page support another. Remember also what we discussed at the opening of this section:
Descriptive Anchor Text ties all three kinds of linkages.
If you connect a piece of text to your material, the text should explain where the link is going!
9. Social Signals
Another indication that your material is worthwhile is when others post it on social media. Analysis of 23 million shares by Cognitive SEO revealed a clear correlation between search engine ranking and social shares.
Google's official statement is that social shares have no direct bearing on SEO ranking criteria. Links from Facebook or Twitter count less than those from other credible websites.
Still, it's hard to dispute that Google search results' highest-ranked sites typically feature plenty of shares. Though most likely the result of a few connected elements:
More social shares direct more traffic to the page itself; more shares also increase the likelihood of backlinks developing from your material.
Consequently, if only indirectly, increasing your social media shares does improve your search engine results.
You not only have to be present on social media personally but also make it simple to distribute your material and boost those social signals. Our guest blogging guide and guide to building your email list using social media offers some fantastic advice for doing this.
10. Real Business Information
This last tip is important for businesses targeting particular local areas. The presence or absence of business information is one of the most crucial local SEO ranking factors.
So it’s important to look after areas like:
- NAP (name, address, phone number)
- Business listings on Google My Business and Facebook
- Reviews on both those sites and relevant directories like Yelp and others
- The right local search terms
That’s it! Now you know the essential SEO ranking factors. For more helpful information, check out our other SEO and content marketing guides:
- SEO tips and best practices from the experts
- How to use SEO for lead generation
- Impressive Content Marketing Examples
And you’ll want to check out these SEO statistics to help you boost traffic to your site.
Should You Strive To Please Your Audience or To Please Google?
This is exactly what SEO's core consists of. Is it to create material your users would appreciate or something Google could quickly read and rank?
The response is sadly far less dramatic than you would presumably want: it is both.
Choosing which of these two features is more critical is like asking which side of a pair of scissors is most sharp. To rank well, both sides of SEO must be absolutely in place.
To make Google pleased, never compromise the user experience (UX) of yours. This will just irritate your viewers, which will ironically cause Google to penalize you! Decode SEO with 10 powerful ranking factors unveiled by the best SEO company in India. Elevate your online presence today.
Furthermore, you should be aware that Google will never be your paying customer even if ranking on it will help catapult your company to the next degree. Conversely, your readers might have money in their pockets.
Thus, this is the best SEO advice ever if you wish to have it:
Create outstanding material your users will enjoy. Then, with equal vigor, maximize that material to enable Google to know why your audience finds it so highly valuable. Still, start always with your user in mind.
That sums up the multi-billion dollar SEO business.
Lastly, even if your SEO is great, you should take into account other Google ranking criteria.
You have to convert that natural traffic that finds your page. IndeedSEO is the top conversion optimization agency available worldwide, helping you increase revenue, expand your email list, and drive more traffic.
All in One SEO is the greatest PHP SEO plugin available; it will help you to quickly set everything.
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