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Google Rank Factors
Google rankings can be elusive. But boy, are they great once you have achieved a good ranking!
Great rankings come from great search engine optimization that is tailored specifically to Google. The list is ever-evolving. Occasionally, Google issues penalties for certain tactics that other search engines don’t penalize.
Staying on top of the algorithms is important if you want to gain and maintain an above- average ranking.
Here are some of the major things that Google uses to rank pages.
Mobile Compatibility
If your site isn’t optimized for mobile, you can expect a huge penalty from Google. Current updates to their algorithm were a bit of a shock for some people. But this particular criteria is a good reflection of the way people really use the internet.
In case you missed it, mobile traffic is huge. No matter what kind of money you want to save on building your site, don’t skip a responsive version! You will not have the kind of rankings you want without a strong mobile site.
Optimized Page Titles
Write your page titles descriptively in a way that reflects computer search. It’s an art getting it right. You can search for keywords to help you get started in the right direction. Remember to write with extra description, though.
Add to the keywords so that the search engine knows exactly what you are talking about. Categories can be broad. You want your articles to stand out as something very specific and unique.
Keywords
The keywords you want are up to you. But don’t stop at sprinkling keywords throughout your pages. Make sure to do in-depth research to see if the keywords relate in real-life searches.
Once you’ve found your keywords and the keywords attached to related searches, you need to make sure that you add value to them.
Whether you add your own informed opinion or do a lot of research, you have to use the keywords in unique content. It’s not just about the right keywords. It’s about their relationship to other important words that will help your site show up in search.
Natural Inbound Links
This takes a bit of time. But collecting links back to your site that aren’t paid links are very important for Google rankings. Especially if you want to create an authority site, you should create memorable content that people want to link back to.
Getting links back to your site is about having really polished content. Whether you need to create better photographs, include more headers and lists, or generally write better, you should consider your content to-do list in order to get more inbound links.
People often link back in order to cite sources, so if you have the ability to write authority content in some way, you should.
Updated Content
Did you know that you can create content that works for virtually forever? You can do this by creating content that is evergreen in the first place. Or, you can continually tweak and update your content so that it’s always polished and relevant.
Updating content isn’t just about changing dates. It’s about putting extra thought and ideas into your pieces. This is a worthy goal for all content creators because of the amount of effort and time it takes to create content in the first place.
Try revisiting pages that were spur-of-the-moment pieces when you wrote them. Find an idea that has stood the test of time and work with it. Get rid of irrelevant dates and parts that are more flash-in-the-pan than evergreen. Take the opportunity to polish the work even more.
URL Structure
URLs can be optimized, and thank goodness people do it! We’d probably be lost on the internet without properly named and labeled URLs. URLs should accurately represent the title of the page. There are other things you should do to optimize your URL that we won’t go into here.
If you run an ecommerce site, you should make sure to optimize the tags with the tracking elements for campaings.
Sitemaps
You should create a sitemap if you can. It makes it much easier for the search engines to crawl your site. The sitemap should include a layout and link to every page. Imagine that your site is a library or an online store that was huge.
Label your pages accordingly and put the sitemap in an easy-to-find location. Remember that people only have so much time and energy to look around a site, so make it easy on the viewer!
These things will keep your site in a better position to rank with Google. Like all search engines, Google keeps updating their algorithm. We’ve chosen tactics here that are not likely to change anytime soon, although anything can change at any time.
These tactics are employed by all high-ranking pages across multiple niches. Whether you are ranking for auto racing or keeping pet koi, you will benefit from using these ranking techniques.