How many ranking factors does Google use?
The term “Ranking Factors” describes the criteria that search engines use when evaluating web pages and the ranking of search results.
For a decade, SEO specialists have been researching and searching for correlations with various ranking factors. But Google has turned on the algorithms, which has meant that the methods and rules of the game have continuously changed and ranking studies are sometimes criticized as pseudoscience because the search results have become increasingly controlled by algorithms and AI.
The most important factors for ranking high on Google are that the content is good, technical implementation, user signals and that there are external quality links that point to the site. Understanding ranking factors is a prerequisite for effective search engine optimization.
Important ranking factors
- Quality in text and content
- Google has confirmed that Page Experience is a ranking factor
- How visitors experience the site and that they stay on the site is important for the user experience. Read more about layout and design
- To use the right keywords, phrases and topics based on users’ search intentions and that there is volume in the searches
- Optimized images , ie images that are clear about what they represent and support content
- Personalization
- Quality sites that point to the site. The links need to be relevant and preferably within the same niche. Previously, some SEO companies manipulated the links through link networks but that method is very risky and not something we recommend.
- That the page is fast to load
- On page optimization
- Time that users visit the website before returning to the search results
- Internal links
- Social media sharing
- Page structure such as HTML code and schedule coding
- The length and depth of the content in the content
- Structural data
- Canonical links
- A href lang tag (language support)
- Volume in brand searches
- That the website is built according to mobile first
Critical factors
- Content that matches search behaviors and search queries
- That the content is spun by the search engines
- Quality and quantity of external links
- Responds to users’ intentions
- That the content is unique
- That the content maintains high credibility and authority
- Updated content and news value
- High CTR (clickthrough rate)
- Speed one on the web server
- That the content is built for multidevice such as mobile, iPad and desktop
- https setting (that the page is encrypted)
Factors that provide benefit
- Permalink friendly URLs
- Checking parameters
- Robot.txt files
- Link velocity
- Sitemaps
- Link to pages with high credibility
- Domain age
- Where the server is located
- Readability
- That the content is correct and fact-based
- Semantic content