SEO ranking factors on Google

So what are those requirements? What actually constitutes quality, targeted, EAT-friendly, and SEO-optimized content? Well, there are hundreds of Google ranking factors, and Google is also constantly evolving and refining its algorithm to continue providing the best experience possible, but there are 12 that should be prioritized.

According to FirstPageSage, these are the top Google ranking factors and how they are weighted:

• Consistent publication of high-quality content (26%) Keywords in meta title (17%)
• Backlinks (15%)
• Niche expertise (13%)
• User engagement (11%)
• Internal links (5%)
• Mobile-friendly/mobile-first (5%)
• Page speed (2%)
• Site security/SSL certificate (2%) Schema markup/structured data (1%) Keywords in URL (1%)
• Keywords in H1 (1%)

But make no mistake about the factors at the bottom of this list. As you can see in the below chart, “Other ” factors, like unlinked mentions, social signals, domain history, outbound links, and site structure, carry 1% weight. But given that there are at least 200 Google ranking factors; that’s at least 189 “other ” factors that collectively make up that 1%. In other words, those seemingly small factors, like keywords in URL, that on their own make up 1%, are not so small.

search engine optimization – google ranking factors

PROCESS OF SEO

The process of search engine optimization involves few steps.They are goals,on -page optimization,off-page optimization,analyze etc. Based on these we can successfully build the website page in friendly manner. lets know about them in detailed:

The first step of SEO process include determination of goals ,which further contain types of goals and types of key performances indicators .Types of goals include engagement,conversions,visibility,reputation,branding and credibility and closers whereas types of key performance indicators include organic traffic,number os visitors,impressions and CTR,views,downloads,leads,sales etc..

WEBSITE AUDIT

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

ON-PAGE SEO

Optimizing content and HTML for target keywords. On-Page Optimization is the process of ensuring the content on your site is relevant and provides a great user experience. It includes targeting the right keywords within your content and can be done through a content management system. Common examples of content management systems include WordPress, Wix, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, Shopify, and Expression Engine.

• Optimize website structure and architecture for better user experience
• Write and optimize
• Meta tags (title, description, keywords)
• Header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.)
• Content (high-quality, engaging, and informative)
• URL structure and internal linking
• Optimize images and videos for faster loading and better user experience

On-site SEO: Optimizing the content on a website for users and search engines.

In SEO, your content needs to be optimized for two primary audiences: people and search engines. What this means is that you optimize the content your audience will see (what’s actually on the page) as well as what search engines will see (the code). The goal, always, is to publish helpful, high quality content.. You can do this through a combination of understanding your audience’s wants and needs, data and guidance provided by Google.

When optimizing content for people, you should make sure it:

• ● Covers relevant topics with which you have experience or expertise.
• ● Includes keywords people would use to find the content.
• ● Is unique or original.
• ● Is well-written and free of grammatical and spelling errors.
• ● Is up to date, containing accurate information.
• ● Includes multimedia (e.g., images, videos).
• ● Is better than your SERP competitors.

How to do SEO: On-page optimization

Now it’s time to talk about how to actually do SEO—how to optimize your website for these factors so you can rank higher on Google and get more traffic. This requires a combination of on-page, off-page, and technical optimizations, so we’re going to organize the steps in that manner. Here are your on-page optimization steps:

• Start with keyword research
• Create quality content targeting those keywords
• Place your keywords
• Optimize your titles
• Optimize your meta descriptions
• Include and optimize images
• Internal and external links

KEYWORD RESEARCH

Start with SEO keyword research

The first step in search engine optimization is to determine what keywords you’re optimizing for. These are terms that your ideal website visitors are likely to type into Google or other search engines, and each page on your site should target a different keyword cluster so they don’t compete with each other.

How to do keyword research for SEO

These are your basic steps for finding the best keywords to target with your organic content:

Create your seed list: Start by listing out the words and phrases your ideal customers are typing into Google. Think about their interests, desires, pain points, and goals, and think in terms of the language they’re using, which may be different from what you (as the expert) use.

Plug them into a keyword research tool: Keyword research tools will give you data around these keywords so you can see which terms you can conceivably rank for and where the best opportunities actually lie. Metrics include:

Search volume: How many times that term is searched per month. Competition: How difficult it is to rank for that keyword.

how to use google ads – wordstream’s free keyword tool

Try out WordStream’s (always) Free Keyword Tool

Sort and prioritize: Put the resulting terms and data into a spreadsheet. Now you can group them into core themes and also prioritize them. Ideally, you’ll want to target keywords with a high enough search volume to give you decent reach, but not so high that the keyword becomes too competitive to rank for. Better to show up on page one for a lower volume, lower competition keyword than to not rank at all for a high volume, high competition keyword.

You can refer to our more in-depth how-to on keyword research here.

Keyword Research and Analysis

• Identify target audience and their search behaviour
• Brainstorm seed keywords related to your business
• Use keyword research tools (e.g. Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMrush) to analyze competitors and industry trends
• Finalize target keywords and phrases

Content Creation and Marketing

• Develop high-quality, engaging, and informative content (blog posts, articles, infographics, videos, etc.)
• Promote content through:
• Social media marketing
• Email marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Guest blogging

Create quality content targeting those keywords

Your main navigation pages (homepage, about us, contact, products, services) will target keywords, but the bulk of your keyword targeting will come from long-form content in the form of blog posts. Quality, SEO content is:

Aligned with the keyword’s intent: Make sure your content provides the information people are seeking when they search this keyword. This is why you should always search the keyword on Google first.

Provides a good experience: It’s free of overly aggressive pop-ups or CTAs or other distracting elements; uses images to depict concepts, and loads quickly and properly on all devices (more on this later in the technical SEO section).

Reads naturally: Don’t keyword-stuff. Write like a human being speaking to your audience; not a content writer trying to optimize for a search engine.

In-depth: Google isn’t interested in thin, duplicate, or low-value pages. This means 1,500-2,500 words of accurate, up-to-date, information.

Organized: Use your heading tags to indicate the hierarchy of information on the page. illustration of html headings in seo optimized content

Place your keywords

In addition to naturally in the body of your content, you’ll want to place your keyword into specific spots on the page to indicate to Google what you’re looking to rank for. This includes:

SEO title (title tag) Page title (H1 tag)

At least two H2 headings Image alt text

Image file name Naturally in the body URL

Meta description

how to increase traffic to your website – on-page seo keyword placement

Optimize your titles

For any page on your website, you actually have two titles. The title tag is the title that appears on the SERP and is the single most impactful place you can put your keyword. The H1 tag is the title that appears on the page when you click into it. Whether or not these are the same depends on the page.

To optimize your titles, be sure to:

Include the keyword: If you can do it in a natural and compelling way, add some related modifiers around that term as well.

Have only one H1 per page: This should be your main headline, and H2s should be used to label your main sections.

Keep title tags to 55-60 characters: How much Google will show varies (it’s based on pixels, not character counts), so frontload with the keyword.

Indicate value: What does a user get out of the page? This influences whether they click on it in the SERP or on your site, and whether they keep reading.

seo optimization – title tag vs h1 tag

Optimize your meta descriptions

The meta description is the description that appears on the SERP below the title tag. Google doesn’t always show the one you’ve provided in the SERP; it likes to build its own based on the query, but it’s still important to optimize for SEO. Google reads this description when crawling the page to understand what it’s about.

To optimize your meta description:

Include the keyword and related keywords if you can do so in a natural and compelling way. Keep it short: Ideal meta description length is 155-165 characters.

Make it compelling: Remember, showing up in search results is just the first step! You still need to get searchers to click. Include a concise description, a clear benefit, and a call to action, like ad copy!

Here’s an example of a real-world meta description in search results:

seo meta description optimization

Meta descriptions = SEO “ad copy”

Include and optimize images

Images are a key player in SEO optimization. They keep users engaged with your pages, enhance the quality of the information, and provide opportunities for you to rank and generate traffic to their host pages through image results. Plus, Google has increasingly been making the SERP more visual.

Here’s how to do SEO optimization for images:

File name: Save the file name with the keyword, with dashes instead of spaces.

Add alt text: Alt text stands for the text alternative of an image, and it’s how Google “sees” an image on a page and detects its relevance to the keyword. It also makes your site accessible for screen readers, and if images break, the alt text will still appear. Don’t keyword stuff here. Imagine you’re describing the image to someone who can’t see it—that’s what it’s there for!

Compress: Large images can slow down the speed of your site. Compress them to reduce file size and properly size them. You shouldn’t need images much wider than 1000px, but every site is different.

Link Building and Outreach

• Develop high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources
• Link building strategies:
• Guest blogging
• Resource pages
• Broken link building
• Reviews and testimonials
• Build relationships with influencers and partners

Internal and external links

When doing SEO for blog posts, you’ll want to add both internal and external links.

External links: Find 1-3 pages relevant to the topic you’re targeting, on other sites that have high domain authority, and link to them in your post. This helps to build trust with Google.

Internal links: Link to other blog posts on your site in the content of the post you’re writing— just like I did in that last bullet, using “high domain authority” as my anchor text. This gives Google multiple pathways to any given post, making your site easier to crawl as a whole. How many to include here depends on the length of the post and the amount of other content you have available to link to. Keep the links relevant to the page and to the anchor text you use.

Pro tip: It’s natural to add links to old blog posts in your new blog posts, but you should also go back into old blog posts and add in links to new posts.

OFF-PAGE SEO

Off-site Optimization: Generating high-quality backlinks to the site to boost its domain authority. Off-Page Optimization is the process of enhancing your site’s search engine rankings through activities outside of the site. This is largely driven by backlinks, which help to build the site’s reputation.

Off-site SEO: creating brand assets(e.g., ​​people, marks, values, vision, colors) and doing things that will ultimately enhance brand awareness and recognition (i.e., demonstrating and growing its expertise, authority and trustworthiness) and demand generationLink building is the activity most associated with off-site SEO. There can be great benefits (e.g., rankings, traffic) from getting a diverse number of links pointing at your website from relevant, authoritative, trusted websites. Link quality beats link quantity – and a large quantity of quality links is the goal.

And how do you get those links? There are a variety of website promotion methods that synergize with SEO efforts. These include:

• ● Brand building and brand marketing: Techniques designed to boost recognition and reputation.
• ● PR: Public relations techniques designed to earn editorially-given links.
• ● Content marketing: Some popular forms include creating videos, ebooks, research studies, podcasts (or being a guest on other podcasts) and guest posting (or guest blogging).
• ● Social media marketing and optimization: Claim your brand’s handle on any and all relevant platforms, optimize it fully and share relevant content.
• ● Listing management: Claiming, verifying and optimizing the information on any platforms where information about your company or website may be listed and found by searchers (e.g., directories, review sites, wikis).
• ● Ratings and reviews: Getting them, monitoring them and responding to them.

How to do SEO: Off-page optimization

All of the steps above are on-page SEO strategies. Off-page SEO, on the other hand, is what you do on other pages of your website, other websites, and even other platforms to help your page to rank. Here are some off-page SEO tactics

Earn and reach out for backlinks

Backlinks, or links to your site from other websites, are the third most important Google ranking factor. Backlinks from higher credibility sites are, of course, more valuable than those from lower credibility sites. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher you’ll rank.

search engine optimization – backlinking improves rank Image source

So how do you get more backlinks? There are several strategies, but a few include:

Producing original, authentic content worthy of getting backlinks.

Proactively reaching out to sites for which a link to your content would be a useful addition. Guest posting

PR coverage

Share your content on social media

In addition to linking to your homepage in social media profiles, you should also be regularly sharing your blog posts with your feed. This earns you referral traffic, and the more eyes on a post, the higher the chances of generating backlinks. Social media itself isn’t a direct google ranking factor, but your activity on the platforms and users’ engagement with your content there send social signals to Google that influence your ranking.

Build your brand reputation

When determining how high to rank a particular page on your site, Google doesn’t just look at that one page. It takes into account your brand as a whole, which it does so by looking at other information about it across the web—including reviews, ratings, listings, awards, and even unlinked brand mentions. As such, building your brand reputation by optimizing your listings, gaining positive press, and asking for reviews is essential for SEO. Much of this falls under the realm of local SEO but there are plenty of brand-buiding strategies that apply to non-brick-and-mortar businesses too.

LOCAL SEO (IF APPLICABLE)

Optimize for local search by including:

• Name, address, and phone number consistently across the web
• Local directories and citations
• Google My Business listing

TECHNICAL SEO

• Improve website speed and performance for better user experience
• Ensure mobile-friendliness and responsiveness for all devices
• Implement SSL encryption and HTTPS for secure browsing
• Optimize browser caching and compression for faster loading
• Fix broken links and errors for better user experience

Technical Optimization: Ensuring the site in question is easy for Google to crawl and index. Technical Optimization is the process of completing activities on your site that are designed to improve SEO but are not related to content. It often happens behind the scenes.

How to do SEO: Technical optimizations

Technical SEO optimizations are done on the back end of your website to make sure it meets Google’s site security and user experience requirements, as well as to make it as easy as possible for Google to do its job on your site. Here are some of the main technical optimizations to take care of:

Page speed: In addition to image sizes, the code behind your website content and the order in which it loads can impact page speed. This where lazy loading and page speed optimizations come into play.

Security: Make sure your site is using HTTPS rather than HTTP.

Mobile-first: Being mobile-friendly doesn’t cut it anymore. Google’s indexing is now mobile- first, so your site needs to be fully responsive.

Core Web Vitals: These three metrics are used to quantify a user ’s experience with your page. You can learn how to improve your Core Web Vitals here.

URL structure: An organized site structure, such as by using /blog, /landing page, /product buckets, makes it easier for Google to crawl your site, for users to navigate it, and for you to segment data in reports.

Site architecture: Ideally, a user should be able to access any page on your site in three clicks or less. Internal linking is key here.

ANALYZE

If you don’t measure SEO, you can’t improve it. To make data-driven decisions about SEO, you’ll need to use:

Website analytics: Set up and use tools (at minimum, free tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools) to collect performance data.

Tools and platforms: There are many all in one platform (or suites) that offer multiple tools, but you can also choose to use only select SEO tools to track performance on specific tasks. Or, if you have the resources and none of the tools on the market do exactly what you want, you can make your own tools. After you’ve collected the data, you’ll need to report on progress. You can create reports using software or manually.

Performance reporting should tell a story and be done at meaningful time intervals, typically comparing to previous report periods (e.g., year over year). This will depend on the type of website (typically, this will be monthly, quarterly, or some other interval),

Analytics and Tracking

• Set up and monitor:
• Google Analytics
• SEO tools (e.g. Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz)
• Track:
• Keyword rankings
• Organic traffic
• Conversions
• Technical SEO metrics (e.g. page speed, mobile-friendliness)

ONGOING OPTIMIZATION AND IMPROVEMENT

• Continuously monitor and improve SEO efforts
• Stay up-to-date with algorithm changes and best practices
• Refine keyword strategy
• Adjust content and link building strategies