The 10 Most Important Google SEO Ranking Factors You Need to Know
Google SEO ranking factors and requirements are changing all the time, and it can be difficult for the average blogger to keep up with the updated steps of search engine algorithms.
But there are a few things you must know if you want to get more traffic to your website.
A website that is well-optimized for top SEO ranking factors will get more and more traffic over time. Traffic means more potential sales.
If your website is not ranked by SEO, then there is no way for web users to find your website, which means that your efforts to create a website and write blog posts are equivalent to waste.
In this blog post, I will share with you the basic factors that affect top SEO ranking factors. After reading this article, if you follow the aspects mentioned in this article, your business volume or sales of goods or services will increase.
Below I’ve created a table of contents so that you can jump straight to the SEO ranking factors section, which may be what really appeals to you.
But before we get into the individual ranking factors, let’s quickly go over the basics of how search engines rank.
What is SEO? Top 10 Google Ranking Factors You Must Know for
Understanding SEO rankings or "How to rank higher on Google?"
Many people want to know what is going on with Google rankings, so before entering the ranking factors of search engines, let's answer some basic SEO questions.
What is SEO ranking?
SEO means search engine optimization, that is, web pages can get better search rankings, but how does SEO ranking work? Next, let's do an analysis together.
What we often say about SEO ranking usually refers to the position of a website's content on the search results page of a search engine.
Rank #1 means that when people search for a particular word or phrase, your page is the one that ranks #1 in the search results (excluding promoted results, featured snippets, and various answer boxes, which we will include in mentioned later).
Content that appears in the top 3 search results is usually high-quality content, as about 50% of the click-through rate is mostly on the top 3 search results.
It is also very advantageous if the page appears on the first page of search results, that is, in the top 10. Because more than 95% of Internet users have a very high degree of attention to the first page of search results.
Google Ranking vs SEO Ranking
Google's goal is to "integrate the world's information so that the world can access and use this information." And providing relevant search results is the main function of Google.
First, Google's search bot (aka "spider," which is an automated piece of software) crawls the web...and crawling means visiting web pages.
Second, Google will add well-optimized and crawlable pages to its own index and then catalog them.
Then there is the fact that when web users search for content on Google, Google will display the results and content it thinks are the most appropriate based on the search terms (from the hundreds of millions of web pages Google indexes) that users enter.
This relies on the page title and meta description sections of each page. Based on the displayed results, web users click on the relevant link to visit the website.
How Does Google Search SEO Ranking Work?
When Internet users are looking for information, they enter words into search engines or by a voice that is associated with the relevant content, and these words are called "keywords." The content optimization part of this article includes the content of keywords.
But search engine rankings are not just about keywords, rankings are also about the quality of content and information.
According to Google's own search quality metrics, when Google is retrieving the main content of each web page, it examines the following factors:
- Purpose of the web page
- Expertise, authority, and credibility – not only from the website and web content but also from the individual producing the content
- Quantity and quality of content
- Website information and information on content producers
- The reputation of the website and the reputation of the content producer
These factors all enter Google's ranking algorithm, and Google also performs SEO rankings based on these factors.
According to the evaluation system mentioned above, Google will present the most relevant and high-quality results to web users. The most relevant content will be displayed first, and the rest will be shown on subsequent pages.
The SEO ranking factors mentioned in this article are mainly to let Google know that the page is relevant to the search container so that web users can click on the link and then visit the website.
But we should understand that no one can guarantee that a page will rank first in Google's search results because Google's SEO mechanism is constantly changing, and therefore rankings change with it.
What exactly are on-page SEO and off-page SEO?
Whenever SEO is mentioned, both on-page SEO and off-page SEO are mentioned.
On-page SEO refers to factors that can be optimized in the webmaster's backend, such as the underlying code and content.
Off-page SEO refers to the establishment of incoming links and social signals to promote publicity outside the website, thereby enhancing the credibility and weight of the website itself.
SEO ranking factors include on-page SEO and off-page SEO.
How to check search engine rankings?
Before we start to understand SEO optimization ranking, let's understand some basic knowledge. First, search for some keywords based on your industry and the theme of your website to see how your website ranks.
However, for more established sites, finding their rankings is not realistic, but there are certain tools we can use to achieve this. For example, we can use SEMRush to check the ranking of a website or webpage.
On the SEMRush website, enter the domain name directly into the search box, and after a few seconds, the website report will come out.
In the results, we can look at the top organic keywords that rank in search engine results. We can also use the Keyword Position Tracker to see how keywords are ranking.
Plus, there are other keyword research tools, which we’ll talk about later.
Next, let’s take a look at a few of the more important Google ranking factors.
The website is More Secure and Accessible
The number one factor in this article is the URL, which is the link to the web page itself. Google's bots can easily access and crawl these links.
In other words, Google must be able to access the link and view the content of the page in order to gain insight into the content of the page. In order to help spiders better crawl web content, we need to do the following:
- The code of the website needs to be streamlined and powerful
- The robots.txt file, because this file tells the Google robot what content on its own website should be crawled and which should not be crawled
Sitemap. A sitemap can list all websites. If your website is built with WordPress (click to read "How to Build a WordPress Website on SiteGround"), you can use a plugin like Yoast SEO to create a sitemap. If you don't have a website built with WordPress, you can use the sitemap online generator to generate a sitemap.
HTTPS doesn't determine whether a page is indexed, but Google's John Mueller said in his tweet that HTTPS is a ranking factor and that sites with HTTPS are more trustworthy for site visitors.
If you don't have an SSL certificate for your website, be sure to install it. If website visitors see that your website does not have the green security mark of SSL, they will question the security, authenticity, and authority of your website.
In addition, if your website is an e-commerce website, you must install an SSL certificate to ensure transaction security.
Web Page Speed
(including the speed at which the mobile terminal opens the page)
Page speed has always been one of the main factors in SEO rankings. Google's goal is to improve the user experience of users browsing the web. If the page loads quickly, the user experience will be better for website visitors.
Starting from July 2018, with the update of the new search engine algorithm, the loading speed of mobile pages will become one of the important factors of Google SEO.
You can use Google's mobile testing tool to test your website's performance. If your website was created with WordPress, then learn how to improve WordPress loading speed.
Be Mobile-Friendly
When it comes to mobile clients, a friendly mobile client experience is also a major factor in SEO rankings. Nowadays, more and more people are using mobile clients to use the mobile Internet and even more than the number of people using computers to surf the Internet (please click to view the statistics of Statcounter). One of the reasons for the change.
Google's mobile indexing is now a reality, and Google's indexing results are still crawled from mobile-optimized sites first, followed by computer-side data. If your website is not mobile optimized, your website is also likely to be sacked by Google, at least when it comes to SEO.
All of the SEO ranking factors mentioned in this article will help you lay the groundwork for search engine rankings, but individual webmasters must also consider user experience, especially for those who visit your site.
We need to pay attention to the following:
- Is your site a responsive website that automatically scales for different devices
- Whether the site font is a large font, mainly for small screens to improve readability
- How well are access and navigation done, and does it include click-through menus?
- Make sure that important content is not covered by interstitial ads
Domain name Age, Links, and Authority
Nearly 60% of the top 10 sites in Google search are sites that have been in operation for more than 3 years. Ahref 's research on more than 2 million pages shows that only a handful of sites can rank in the top 10 of Google's search results within a year.
So, if you have already optimized your website according to the tips in this article, then congratulations, your website has occupied a certain advantage in ranking compared with other websites.
The domain name of the website is also important. Although Google has penalized websites that contain target keywords in their homepage links, these penalized websites have one thing in common, that is, the content is not rich and high-quality, and it can almost be said to be spam.
In addition, there are studies that show that a website's ranking will also improve if its domain name is highly relevant, and its quality and value are relatively high. However, if you already have a relatively mature site, you don't have to find a domain name that can accurately match your major and your field, just focus on the optimization of page links.
Weight is also very important for a website's ranking. When a website includes quality content, and its inbound links and promotions on other social media platforms do, the website can also get better rankings.
The Moz website uses two indicators of page weight and domain name weight to measure the weight of a website. The scores of these two indicators are from 0 to 100 points, and this website can also tell you that a certain page or a certain domain name is in Possible positions in SEO rankings.
There is also a tool that can query the authority of a website or page, it is Open Site Explorer. This tool is also very simple to use, just put the link in the search bar of this page and press Enter to complete the analysis. In the end, you also get a report on domain authority, page authority, existing links, and new links.
Content Optimization
In Google's SEO ranking factors, we repeatedly mention content-related issues, because the content of the website or the content of the page is among many search ranking factors (others such as user experience, links, and Rank Brain, which we will mention later). ) the most important one.
Google's search algorithm relies heavily on keywords. When Internet users search for information on the Internet, they tend to use certain words or phrases. There are also some words and phrases used to describe the theme and theme of the website. The ideal state is that these words and phrases can be matched 100%.
Therefore, it is very important to embed keywords in your own content.
A negative factor in SEO ranking factors is duplicate content. SEO rankings place more emphasis on original, new content. If you have a lot of similar content on your site, you can use standard links to explicitly tell Google which of them you want to consider authoritative.
Understand potential syntax for indexing keywords and SEO rankings
Keywords are important, but it is also very important for SEO ranking if you can include related terms in the main terms that users search for. These related terms are often referred to as latent syntactic index keywords. Potential grammar index keywords help Google understand and present relevant content to visitors.
Nowadays, more and more people use voice search to complete content search, and content optimization also includes question and natural language search optimization.
IMPORTANT: Keyword stuffing is totally against Google’s algorithm because stuffed keywords can lead to a decline in the quality of your pages and ultimately negatively impact your SEO rankings.
Understand search intent
Search intent is also very important for content optimization. That is, when users search for certain keywords, you have to understand their real purpose.
For example, you want to improve the ranking of the keyword "Beijing real estate" in the search results. You might feel that writing something about Beijing real estate would satisfy the ranking requirements.
But the keyword "Beijing real estate" is also a keyword for real estate developers or real estate agents in Beijing to rank. In this case, your content will not meet the needs of the majority of users, and of course, your page ranking will not be very high.
Sometimes, the user's purpose is more explicit. If they enter the keyword "compare", they are likely comparing different items. If they're looking for the word "buy," they should be buying something.
Web users also have different purposes, which will reflect on the keys they use.
However, their purpose of use can generally be divided into the following categories:
- Find a specific website (navigational)
- Find answers to questions (websites that provide information)
- Find information before placing an order (investigative inquiry)
- Place an order to buy (transaction nature)
A well-optimized corporate website will generally contain the above types of content.
Is content length a factor in SEO rankings?
In a word, content length is a factor in SEO rankings. Google certainly wants some high-quality content with a certain length. It is not recommended to extend the length of the content in order to increase the length of the content. If you need more in-depth content, then you must create in-depth content.
Generally speaking, content with more than 2000 words has a higher chance of ranking in the top 10 of Google search engines. If an article is longer, it will contain more links and potential shares. Internal links and shares are also important metrics for ranking.
SEO Ranking Factors – Answer Box
Google's introduction of answer boxes is also an aspect of optimizing search rankings.
Google’s answer box is shown below:
The general purpose of optimizing answer boxes is as follows:
- answer the questions
- Include the question in the title and format the title tag in a friendly way
- Make sure your answers are accurate, relevant, and not too long
- For keywords and related content that already have an answer box
- Contains a list or table
Use Video to Boost Your SEO Rankings
According to Cisco statistics, by 2021, video content will account for about 80% of online traffic.
And according to optinmonster video marketing statistics, there are the following 3 trends:
- Users of all ages watch the video
- 79% of users prefer to watch videos
- Web users watch videos to decide whether to buy something
Through the above description, everyone knows that when producing content, it is best to include the form of video.
The more times a video is read, shared, and linked, the higher the search ranking.
SEO Techniques
As mentioned above, streamlined and effective code is an important factor in improving search engine rankings.
Therefore, webmasters should pay attention to the following aspects:
- Use keywords in page titles. Because that's the first place Google will focus on in order for Google to associate search keywords with relevant content. Page titles generally appear on the first line of search results entries.
- Use heading tags to show content hierarchy and structure. If the heading is in heading 1, then subheadings can use heading 2 or heading 3.
- Create a description section with keywords. The description section should be short and engaging. The description section usually contains about 160 letters, and webmasters need to use these short 160 characters to create a description section that is enough to attract visitors to click.
- Be sure to use keywords in the alt tags of pictures on web pages, because keywords in pictures can indicate the relevance of the picture to the main content. Google includes image search, through which visitors can find your website and read your content.
- Using icon markers was appropriate to tell Google what type of content is being produced.
User Experience (RankBrain)
Google has been using artificial intelligence for a while to rank individual web pages, which Google calls RankBrain.
Signals that affect search engine rankings generally include the following:
- Click-through rate – the percentage of visitors who click through after an item is displayed in the search results;
- Exit rate – the exit rate means that there is no content on the website that the visitor wants;
- Length of stay – how long a visitor stays on a website after clicking through;
If web users log into your site and then leave, Google will assume that your site's content is irrelevant to the visitor's needs. If more visitors leave, you may find it difficult for your own website to rank higher in search results.
Conversely, if people click on your page and stay on the page for a long time, Google will consider your website content to be more relevant to the visitor's needs.
Therefore, if your page title, description section, and content get click-through rates and convey valuable information to visitors, Google will also rank your page at the top of search results.
SEO Ranking Link
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, websites are built on links. Therefore, links are an important SEO ranking signal.
In general, there are 3 types of links worth considering:
- import link
- External link
- Internal link
Google generally uses the incoming links of the website to determine the authority and relevance of the website content.
This is best if the authoritative site includes a link to your own site in its site content, or references your site, and also includes a link to your site's web page in its content. Therefore, it is much better for an authority that focuses on content marketing to include links to your web pages than a webmaster with little traffic that uses your web pages as outgoing links.
In fact, the ideal state is to have as few incoming links as possible from low-quality, low-traffic sites. If you want to check the incoming links of your own website, you can use the SEMRush website, or use some keyword research tools, which have been mentioned in the previous article.
At the same time, webmasters also need to show visitors the high-quality content of their websites and link their websites to websites with strong relevance and high authority.
Also, building links within your own content helps hold pages together, making the information delivered by all pages more valuable. If you have a page on your website that has a high authority and links to other pages, this will lead visitors to other pages, and it can also improve the search ranking of other pages.
Community Information
When web users share your content on their respective social networks, it means that the information your content conveys is very valuable. Cognitive SEO did a lot of research on 23 million shared content and found that there is an inextricable link between community sharing and search engine rankings.
Google has officially announced that community sharing is not a direct factor in SEO rankings. Links on Twitter and Facebook don't count.
But it is undeniable that pages that generally rank higher in Google search results are generally shared a lot. This may be because if a page is shared more often, more people see it, and more links link to the page. This means that the more community shares, the better the SEO ranking of the page.
Therefore, webmasters not only need to promote their sites through social accounts but also make their content easier to share and forward.
Real Business Information
For companies in specific regions, it is particularly important to publish real business information online. Authentic local business information is an important factor in SEO rankings.
Real business information generally includes:
- name, address, phone number
- Business Directory on Google and Facebook
- Similar user reviews on Yelp and Timorlestelist
- Accurate local search terms
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