What are the Most Important Google Ranking Factors?
What matters to Google when ranking a website?
Everyone wants to rank their website on Google to get thousands of audience and customers into their website. It can make their business extremely profitable.
If you want to rank on Google, you need to understand what matters the most to Google when ranking websites on top search results.
There are 200 Google ranking factors that Google uses to determine if a website can rank on top search results.
Unfortunately, we don’t know all the 200 Google ranking factors. But the good news is we know some of the essential Google ranking factors which can increase your chances significantly for getting top ranking on Google.
So let’s examine some of the top Google ranking factors that can help you rank your website in top search results.
Keyword research
Keyword research is a crucial part of SEO, which most people ignore. Because they think Google will automatically pick some keywords and rank their website on that keyword. that is not true.
You have to provide Google with some keywords. It can help Google understand what keyword you want to rank for.
Most people sometimes think that keyword research is the only strategy that ranks their website higher on Google. So they do a lot of keyword stuffing, but it’s an old SEO black hat tactic that people used in 2011 to rank their website on Google.
Today if you want to get ranked on Google, you should avoid keyword stuffing because Google can easily detect your website and penalize you.
Keyword research is the process of finding words that people are typing on a search engine.
Before doing keyword research, you have to know the qualities you need in a keyword to rank on Google.
Low SEO Difficulty
SEO difficulty tells you how difficult it is to rank on a particular keyword. If high domain authority websites rank on a keyword, then a keyword has higher SEO difficulty. It will be harder for new websites to rank on that keyword.
If you dont have any traffic on a website, you have to find keywords that have low SEO difficulty
CPC (Cost per Click)
CPC means how much websites pay per click to Google ads to rank on a keyword. The higher the CPC, the more valuable the keyword. If websites are paying higher prices to rank on that keyword. Then it must provide them ROI (Return on investment).
Volume
It tells you how many searches a keyword has on Google. If a keyword has a minimum of 100 volumes and has low SEO difficulty. Then You should make it your keyword.
Today targeting the right keyword is not enough, You have to know where to put that keyword which increases the chances to rank on that keyword. Some of the best places where your keyword should be are.
- Title and meta description
- Early and in the last section of your content
- Middle of your content
- H1 And H2 tags
- Alt image text
When you place a keyword, make sure it looks natural to your audience. it may not sound like you put that keyword forcefully, where that keyword doesn’t need it.
If your audience finds out that you put keywords forcefully where they don’t need to be, they will be disappointed with your website and never come again. So make sure your target keyword looks natural to your audience.
Internal linking
Internal linking is the process of linking different pages on the same website. It is one of the best and easiest ways to increase your ranking on Google.
Internal linking can be helpful when you do it right. But it can be harmful to your website. First, let’s discuss how internal linking can be helpful for websites.
If you link to content relevant to the topic and the audience wants more information about a topic, they can find it from the same page because you link to similar content.
Google will see this as a good sign because you help the audience find more relevant content on that topic which the audience needs.
Internal linking can increase ranking and traffic on websites. But it can also be harmful if you do a lot of unnecessary internal linking.
When people find out internal linking can increase their traffic. They will do a lot of unnecessary internal linking. They will link to content that is not relevant and helpful for the audience.
Google will not like this and, the audience will be disappointed with the website, which doesn’t give them the content they need.
You have to link content that is relevant and helpful for the audience. When you link to something, ask yourself if it is helpful to the audience you are targeting?
High-Quality Content
If you follow all the SEO tactics to rank on Google, you may get ranked for the short term. But if you want your website to rank for a long time, you have to create content that gives more value to the audience.
You have to create high-quality content that will provide more value than any other content on the internet.
If you want to create high-quality content on a particular topic. Search that topic on Google and see what content other websites are providing. Then identify how you can give more value to an audience than other websites.
Google wants to rank a website that provides more value to the audience and solve their problem more effectively than any other website.
These are some of the characteristics of high-quality content. If your content has all these qualities, it will provide more value to the audience than any other content. It can increase your chances to rank on Google.
Visual appeal
You Have To Put pictures and videos into your content. It keeps your audience engaged with your content.
It also helps you if you can’t explain something through writing, then you may make your point through visuals. Visuals can increase the quality of your content, which can ultimately help you get a ranking on Google.
Formatting
Most people write content that is very helpful and valuable. But still, people don’t come to their website and, Google won’t rank them because they don’t focus on their content formatting.
Make your paragraphs 4 and 6 lines maximum. You have to not only focus on what you are providing it. But Also how you are providing it.
Readability
You Have to write content that is readable to an average person dont put fancy words in your content. Explain your ideas as simply as possible.
If you are putting fancy words that an average person dont understand. They will never come to your website and, they will go to someone who explains these ideas more simply.
Research about a topic
Some people start writing about a topic they don’t know anything about. Before you write about anything, do your research and learn as much as possible, so you can provide content that is worth reading.
Solve audience problem
The main reason you are providing content is to solve the audience problem. If your content doesn’t solve your audience problem, it will never rank on Google.
Remember, Google wants to rank content that solves audience problems more effectively than any other content on that topic.
User experience
88% of online shoppers say they wouldn’t return to a website after having a bad user experience. User experience plays a major role in making your website rank top on Google.
If people aren’t getting a good user experience and go back with disappointment. It can deliver Google an indication that people are disappointed with your website.
If your user experience can give the audience an experience. They never get on other websites and, it makes them feel great. It gives Google a positive indication that people are valuing your website.
Google will give you more ranking to reach more people because your user experience is helping the audience.
How can you provide the audience with a great user experience? Some of the best practices for improving your user experience are.
- Design Should Concentrate on User Experience
- Websites Are Scanned, Not Read
- Users Want Clarity and Simplicity
- Know the Audience
- Optimize your page speed
- Use images
- Include well-designed and written headlines
Backlinks
Top results on Google’s first SERP (Search engine results pages) have 3.8 times more backlinks than those below them. Backlinks can increase your chances to rank on Google, but it also requires hard work.
Without backlinks, it is almost impossible to rank on Google. When other websites link back to your website, it is called a backlink. But getting backlinks from any website does not provide value or increase your ranking.
If you have a website about fitness and mobile phone reviews website is linking your website.
Google may not give value to you because these websites are not in your industry. Mobile phone review audiences and your audience have different interests.
You want to get backlinks from websites that are relevant to your topic. Make sure different websites link you, Where it provides value to the audience.
Domain authority and traffic of other websites will make a big difference in the quality of backlinks.
For example, if a website in your industry has high domain authority and hundreds of traffic. Getting backlinks from this website is more valuable than getting backlinks from 10 websites that do not have high domain authority and hundreds of traffic.
Domain authority tells you how much Google trusts that website. The higher the domain authority, the more Google trusts that website.
Getting backlinks from High domain authority websites can provide more value to your website.
Although small and medium websites are a great way to build backlinks. But your focus should be to get backlinks from high-domain authority websites.
What is the difference between No-follow and do-follow backlinks?
No-follow backlinks don’t provide value to the website and, getting this type of backlinks adds no value in ranking on Google.
But do-follow backlinks provide value to the website and, you should focus on getting do-follow backlinks.
You can check out the complete guide to off-page SEO to learn more about the best ways to get backlinks.
Conclusion
SEO Is one of the best ways to increase your traffic because it doesn’t require you to spend thousands of dollars on ads to get traffic.
But SEO has some disadvantages in the short term. SEO doesn’t give you traffic instantly as paid advertising does.
SEO requires you to work hard without getting any results, Which is difficult for people because they don’t know if they will get what they want.
But in the long term, if you work hard on SEO, you can get thousands of traffic through Google without paying anything.
Keep yourself updated with new SEO strategies because it is an ever-changing field and, you have to change your SEO strategy with it. Something that works today in SEO may not work tomorrow.