There are many Google SEO ranking factors that impact the rank of a web page. Google never reveals all the factors they used to rank a web page. But Google and other search engines always share some hints and insist webmasters create better content. In this article, we will tell you about some of the most common factors that affect ranking.
What are ranking factors?
Ranking factors are the criteria used by search engines to rank any web page. You can rank your web page easily by creating better content. The knowledge of these factors will surely make the path more comfortable.
15 Most Common SEO Ranking Factors
Google considers more than 200 rankings [^1] factors before rank a web page on the search result. There are some common factors which always helps bloggers to rank their articles or, web page. Here we are introducing the 15 most common factors-
- Web Page Speed
- Secure and Accessible Website
- Responsiveness
- Domain Authority
- Content Optimization
- Inbound Links
- Social Signal
- User Experience
- Real Business Information
- Length of The Content
- Image Optimization
- Content Updates
- Inbound and Outbound Link Relevancy
- Diversity of Link Type
- Uniqueness of Content
Among the 15 common factors, we have mentioned content optimization at number 5 and User Experience at number 8. User experience is extremely important. You can rank your web page on top of the search result using other ranking factors.
But, it not possible to be on the top without a good user experience. It does not matter how many quality links your web page has. User engagement and view duration can control the position of your article on the search results.
Here is a list of 15 factors. You also can rank keyword without backlinks. To attain that, you need to focus on other factors.
SEO ranking factors
We have made an infographic on all the 15 above mentioned SEO ranking factors. Let’s take a look at those factors at a glance-
1. Web Page Speed
We always love to focus on website design and features. To add more features you have to use more codes. Codes, videos, and images increase the size of a web page. It also depends on the hosting server. Try to use better web hosting and design a simple website. Speedy website rank better on search engines.
2.Secure and Accessible Website
Users don’t want to reveal their personal information. SSL certificate and security of a website is a must. Keep your website safe from cyber attacks. Make sure that visitors can access website content very easily.
3.Responsiveness
Most of the website visitors nowadays visit their favorite websites from mobile phones. You can’t expect a better result by designing a site only for desktop visitors. You have to design your website for a variety of screen sizes.
4. Domain Authority
Domain authority is the most valuable ranking factor according to my opinion. On-page and off-page SEO optimization increase the domain authority of a site. Sometimes you see some of the webpages rank higher without a backlink. It is possible for high authority websites.
In addition, you can choose a domain name that can add brand value. You will be the gainer in the future if you use a good domain name. Search engines actually don’t care much about domain names but the visitors. And search engines care about visitors’ experience.
5. Content Optimization
You can call it on-page SEO. Google or, Bing bot is not a human being. They can’t identify the topic of a webpage like a human being. You have to find out which keyword people search for and optimize your article so that Google bot can understand and categorize it accordingly.
6. Inbound Links
The inbound links are the most common SEO ranking factor. Search engines rank web pages with the highest amount of links from relevant and reliable websites. One quality link is better than 100 low-quality links.
Read– how to create backlinks( step by step)?
7. Social Signal
We know that social sites use the no-follow tag. No follow links don’t add SEO juice or, value. Still, it’s important because it brings visitors and adds indirect SEO value. If one of your content goes viral on social media, the possibility is higher that it will go viral on the search engines.
8. User Experience
You can write a long article and do all the necessary SEO very carefully. It will rank on Google’s first page. If users found it useless then it will lose its ranking. So, try to create content for users. Bounce rate and engagement are two important things.
9. Real Business Information
Real business information is necessary for Local SEO. Sometimes people search for online services from popular companies. Their business information helps search engines to categorize it. So, provide real information to rank higher
10. Length of The Content
Once people thought that visitors don’t read longer articles. There was a tendency to keep the article length shorter. Now the idea has changed. Visitors read longer articles with more attention. They trust longer articles more.
Read- keyword density formula
11. Image Optimization
The search engine can not identify images. They can read it like a human. So, you have to tell the search engine that this image is about this topic. Alt tag and Title tag is used to tell the search engine about image files.
12. Content Updates
It depends on the type of content. Newspapers update their homepage on a daily basis. There are blogs where updated information is required. Sometimes update is necessary once a year. It affects ranking.
13. Inbound and Outbound Link Relevancy
No one likes irrelevant links. It is called spamming. You should avoid spamming. You all know about inbound do-follow links. Relevant outbound links also can provide search engines an idea about the topic of the web page. So, focus on relevancy.
14. Diversity of Link Type
We have discussed it in one of our previous articles. Backlinks should be a mixture of anchor text and naked URLs. Search engines take diversity as a natural link building practice.
15. Uniqueness of Content
Plagiarised contents don’t rank on Google. You can’t copy content from others. 100% unique articles always rank higher. Writing copy-scape passed article is a part of good SEO practice.
Questions & Answers
What is the most important factor in SEO?
Undoubtedly, content is the most important factor in SEO. No one can rank a web page without creating better content. You must consider it as the central factor. The other 200+ things will be applicable only if you can ensure the first one.
What are the top 3 ranking factors?
In my opinion, target keyword, unique topic, and title of the article. These three things will do over 80% of the on-page SEO. Some people will tell you about meta descriptions. But Google rewrites the meta itself in most cases. One more thing to mention, recently Google announced that they will rewrite the meta title as well.
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