While there are factors that definitely matter when it comes to your website’s search engine ranking, Google, has never publicly announced which ones matter more. However, after years of studying Google’s ever-changing search algorithms and over 200 ranking factors, Backlinko has compiled the complete list in an infographic.
The infographic compiles all the domain factors, page-level factors, site-level factors, backlink factors, user interaction, special algorithm rules, social factors, brand signals and on-site website spam factors.
Of the over 200 ranking factors, which ones are the really important ones?
Omkar Mishra, Digital Insights Chief Blogger sums up the important ranking factors nicely in his post on B2B Community, You Need to Know About the SEO Ranking Factors for Google in 2014.
Our Top 10 Google Ranking Factors
#1 – Title Tags with relevant keywords in the beginning as opposed to being at the end. Having keywords in your title tag is as equally important as having them the content on your website.
#2 – Ensure that there are keywords in your meta descriptions. A meta description tag is a short description of the contents on the web page and is also the snippet that shows up on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
#3 – Equally important are keywords in your header tag or H1 tag. The first header tag is usually the second title tag of your web page. This usually allows the website visitor to navigate through the web page’s content easier.
** Before I move on, it’s important that I note that you don’t stuff your title tags, meta descriptions and H1 tags with keywords. Although, they are important, search engines like Google will penalize websites that stuff their pages with keywords. It’s important to be relevant and think from your website visitor’s perspective and how they will navigate around your site.
#4 – How long does it take to load your website or the pages of each of your site? Your page load speed an important ranking factor. Ensure that your website is optimized for different devices (be mobile friendly!) and aren’t crammed with very big images, big videos or very text-heavy.
#5 – Fresh content. Today, an average online users processes over 285 pieces of content daily. To be constantly relevant to your users, be sure to have relevant, good quality and fresh content on your website. Today’s websites are more than just static websites but a piece of the sales process that keeps consumers engaged through blogs and other means.
#6 – Optimize your images with proper alt and description tags. These will help Google determine the relevancy of the images on your site. Also, this is a ranking factor for users who are doing an images or site search for something related to your brand.
#7 – Delete or fix broken links on your website using tools like Google Webmastertools.
#8 – A responsive website designed for multiple screens, devices and browsers.This is a must-have for websites today. Users are constantly switching and using multiple devices when searching for your brand and it is important to keep your website experience consistent – much like your brand.
#9 – Having an intuitive website architecture is an important factor for Google. But a must-have is a sitemap. A sitemap allows Google to crawl your website and its pages and index them for website visitors.
#10 – Google has made it clear that having proper contact information appear on your website is an important ranking factor. Having contact information allows for consumers to be able to find about more about products and services and essentially close the sales process.
Google algorithms may always be changing but some of these factors haven’t changed for years. These ranking factors are an important part of staying on top of the search engine game but also equally important is having content that is relevant and fresh for your consumers.
