SEO is also known as search engine optimisation, and it is a great way to get your business seen by more people online. There are many elements of SEO that should be considered. In this blog, we’re letting you know all about SEO ranking factors.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimisation involves working on different aspects of your website to increase its visibility on the search engines. Over time, this can help you to increase your website’s ranking position.
SEO is known as an organic way to increase visibility, as you do not pay to advertise. In contrast, digital services such as PPC and lead generation are paid services. As a business owner, you will pay a set fee for PPC, which means your business website will appear before the organic results on the search engine results page (SERP).
PPC is a great way to increase your website traffic quickly, whereas SEO is a long-term strategy that requires continuous improvement. If you’re not sure which option is right for you, we can help. We will assess your business goals and help you to understand your options. It may be that a combination of both digital services will be the most beneficial.
What is SEO ranking?
SEO ranking specifically refers to your position on Google’s search results. When it comes to SEO, you’re unlikely to see quick fixes. This is because algorithms are constantly being updated to offer users the best results.
Every year, Google releases a number of ‘core-updates’. These are bigger updates where you may notice more changes to your ranking position and other website performance statistics. These large updates include changes to the core web vitals. Between these larger updates, smaller updates are also completed.
As a high-quality SEO agency, we have a team of experts who work hard to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices, allowing our clients to stay ahead of the competition.
How does SEO work?
Search engines regularly crawl the internet to find relevant content. These are often referred to as search engine spiders or search engine crawlers. Once they find valuable content, they index the website pages, which increases their chances of showing up on the results page.
Then, when people search for queries, the search engines will show the most relevant content. Google favours sites that follow the E-EAT structure, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. This structure helps Google to decide the quality of the website and its content.
How many SEO ranking factors are there?
There are over 200 factors that Google uses to establish where your website should be ranked, and we’ll go into more detail on the most important factors later in the blog.
When it comes to these factors, some are more important than others. A high-quality SEO agency will work on a wide range of these factors to help you achieve the best results possible.
There are various areas of SEO that should be focused on, including on-site SEO and off-site SEO. On-site SEO refers to everything on your website, such as content and technical features. Off-site SEO refers to everything away from your website, such as backlinks and social media marketing.
What are the most important Google ranking factors?
Website security
It’s likely that you already know how important website security is, but it’s even more important when it comes to SEO. For your website SEO to be successful, you need to ensure that your website is secure.
Users will be reluctant to enter personal information if there are no signs of your website being secure. This will lead to you losing customers. Find out about our hosting services.
Website optimisations
Nowadays, users are more likely to access websites on mobile devices than desktops. This means that you have to ensure that your website is optimised for both mobile and desktop. Having an optimised website means that the site will adjust based on the size of the screen it is displayed on. Working on this ranking factor will contribute to a positive user experience.
Domain authority
Every website has an authority score, which will need to be built up over time. These are the factors that contribute to your authority score.
- Domain age – how long you’ve had your site
- Domain name – exact matches of keywords can help known as ‘exact match domain’
- Authority – your content must be authoritative
You can check your website’s domain authority online, and there are many ways that you can help improve it. This is an important ranking factor to consider.
Website speed
No one has time to wait around for websites to load, so it’s crucial that yours loads quickly and efficiently. A slow website can negatively impact your website’s SEO, as it is a critical Google ranking factor. Over the last few years, Google has placed a lot of focus on page speed and has started penalising websites that don’t load fast, particularly on mobile devices.
Google’s algorithms all work to improve the online experience for users, and speed plays a significant role in this.
Create high-quality content
Content is a huge part of your SEO strategy, and you have to make sure that it’s valuable. You’ll have content on your website pages, but you’ll also want to add regular blogs to your website. Blogs are a fantastic way to get your business on the search engine results pages and to position yourself as an expert in the industry.
Your content strategy should be built on a list of relevant keywords that you can use throughout your website’s content to improve your search engine rankings.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO involves various aspects, such as title tags, heading tags, meta descriptions, image text and more. It’s crucial that these aspects are considered as it helps Google determine what your content is about and which areas are the most important.
Working on your technical SEO can also help to make your website more accessible.
Link building strategies
You should use various links for your website, including internal links, inbound links, and outbound links. It’s good to use all three types of links, and they all have different benefits.
- Internal links help to show the search engines that your content is relevant and ties together well. Ensure that your internal link anchor text is relevant.
- Inbound links help to determine your authority and relevance.
- Outbound links show that you are sharing quality, well-researched content.
Local SEO
Local SEO is crucial in this day and age. If your website is optimised for your location, it’s more likely to appear. Local SEO can be considered in your website content and also away from your website. Google Business Profile information feeds into the Google search results, which can support your local SEO efforts.
All of this combined helps you give website visitors a positive user experience, which will encourage them to return.
These are just some of the most important ranking factors for Google rankings. Working on a range of these Google ranking factors is very important for the best results.
Why should I invest in high-quality SEO?
Now is a great time to invest in a digital marketing strategy like SEO. This long-term strategy can help you reach your business goals by driving more organic traffic to your site and helping to increase sales and engagement.
It’s a well-known fact that the websites that appear higher up the search results are more likely to get visits. So, without SEO, you might find that your website lacks engagement and performs poorly. SEO can help you to change that.
There are so many benefits of using SEO; read our blog on why SEO is important for businesses. Websites like Google Search Console can help you to assess your website’s SEO ranking.
What to avoid with SEO ranking
All of these can lead to negative search rankings for your website, which is certainly not what you want.
- Don’t focus on just one SEO ranking factor
- Avoid low-quality links
- Avoid keyword stuffing
- Avoid unnatural links and spammy links
- Avoid duplicate content
- Fix any broken links
If you’re ready to start reaching your online goals, it’s time to invest in SEO. Contact our team of friendly experts today. We’re here to offer support with all the ranking factors.