The 7 key Google factors to improve your SEO, boost visibility and achieve higher search rankings.
Ieva Treiliha
Over 3.5 billion searches are made on Google – every day!
Yes – you read that right! 3.5 billion.
To handle this astronomical number of searches and provide the best possible user experience, Google continually evaluates over a billion websites using an algorithm based on a variety of factors. These are meant to ensure that the top pages in the search results are also the ‘best’ from a user perspective.
Google has confirmed that they use around 200 factors to rank websites, but many of these remain strictly confidential. The secrecy is partly to prevent sites from exploiting this knowledge to climb the rankings without actually delivering value to users.
A number of ranking factors are, however, well known, but an article covering all would be quite long. That’s why, in this post, I’m focusing on 7 of the most important factors that affect your ranking in the search results.
Specifically, I will cover:
On-page optimization is one of the key pillars of SEO. On-page has long been a recognized ranking factor and covers many aspects. Simply put, it’s about improvements you make on your website so Google better understands your content and can show the most relevant result for the user.
Because on-page optimization is so important for your ranking, this section is divided into some of the most central parts.
We’ve said it before – and we’re happy to repeat: Content is king!
When it comes to SEO, there are many smart tricks and shortcuts. Yes – chances are we’ve shared a few ourselves. But the fact is, you can’t just ‘hack’ your way past Google’s algorithms – not if you want long-term results. With 3200 algorithm updates every year, you can expect Google to close every loophole they find, and it’s impossible to know where they’ll strike next. However, you can always count on one thing:
Google’s goal: To make search results as accurate as possible and meet users’ needs.
You can read more about how SEO and content marketing are connected here:
Maximize your content marketing with SEO
Since Google’s goal is to provide exactly what the user is looking for, you must consider search intent when creating content. The user searches for a specific word or phrase – what do they expect to find and do you deliver? If you answer clearly and thoroughly, Google is pleased. Google also notices if the user visits several similar pages after yours – if they do, it indicates their answer wasn’t there.
So keep your promises – and answer the user’s question directly.
Read more about search intent here:
What does CTR optimization mean for your SEO?
Alongside search intent, you of course need to analyze exactly which words and phrases your visitors are searching for. What you think describes your products may not be the words they’re actually using. Then make sure to use these keywords in the page content and that the keyword density is appropriate.
Google’s algorithm is heavily dependent on keywords, so it’s crucial that the landing page really matches what the visitor is searching for. You show Google this by making sure keywords and phrases are clearly present in the text.
The amount of text on your website also significantly affects your ranking. As you can see in the graphic below, pages that rank high usually have more content than low-performing ones.
TIP: How much text is required depends on how much your competitors have. As a rule of thumb – write at least 10% more text than your closest competitors.
BUT: Since the amount of text is well known, lots of long texts are now produced. Therefore, it’s important your content is high quality, not duplicated, and offers something new and valuable.
You can read more about valuable content in Ieva’s article here:
SEO tips and tricks: Guide to Google’s algorithm updates
When you write text, it’s obvious that the content should be both comprehensive and relevant to what users are searching for.
But remember – Google is a machine! For Google to see what’s relevant, you have to make it clear. One way is to use your keywords in the headings. Make the H1 heading clear and use your primary keyword, and optimize H2 and H3 for secondary terms.
This helps Google understand the topic and the page’s structure, makes it easier to rank, and easier for the user to find what they need.
We can’t emphasize this enough – both Google and the user must quickly find your content and get answers to their questions.
Metadata consists of the title tag and meta description.
The title tag is the headline in Google’s search results, meta is the text underneath.
Title tag
It’s crucial to get the title tag right, Google looks closely at it to assess the page’s relevance. Put the primary keyword first and keep the title neither too short nor too long. Feel free to test here: https://www.storybase.com/da/ctr-tool/
You can also consider:
Meta description
Google doesn’t look for keywords in the meta description, but include your most important phrase anyway since the keyword will be bolded in the snippet. The main purpose is to attract clicks – the meta should be enticing, clear, and describe what the user can find on the page. Add a CTA and ensure the text isn’t cut off.
On-page optimization not only helps Google understand the page, but also increases the CTR by showing the page meets the user’s needs.
Structured data, or rich snippets, is taking up more and more space in search results. You’ve probably seen it as star ratings, reviews, and other info or images – e.g., if you search for “Swiss roll.”
It makes it easier for Google to find the most important information on your website so they can show better hits for users. At the same time, you stand out more, which increases CTR and gives you an even better ranking – a positive spiral.
Structured data is just a part of Schema Markup, a larger topic we’ll leave here.
Inbound links, or backlinks, are off-page SEO and involve getting other sites to link to yours. When others link to you, Google sees it as a recommendation. The stronger the site that links, the more value your site gains and the higher you rank.
There are many ways to get links, but not all are equally effective.
The best come from sites with high authority and relevant topics. Google trusts strong, relevant domains more than irrelevant or weak ones. If you sell men’s watches and GQ links to your product, it counts much more than a food blog.
Read more about links here:
How to build links
It’s hardly surprising that mobile is the most common way to search online. A mobile-optimized website is therefore critical – not just for Google but for users. Google runs so-called mobile-first indexing, meaning mobile-friendly pages are prioritized. If your site isn’t responsive, it automatically falls behind – avoid that!
Test your site here: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly
Algorithm aside, never forget that the most important is the user – for both you and Google! Today, 58% of all searches happen on mobile, and 40% of Google users only search via mobile. You can’t afford to not be responsive.
Read more about responsive design here:
Why responsive design matters more than ever
Already in 2014, Google announced that a secure website is a ranking factor. Insecure pages still exist – even if they get low placement. Google wants to show secure results, and even if they don’t say insecure sites are “penalized,” secure ones win in the long run.
A secure website starts with https:// instead of http://. If you haven’t switched yet, SSL certificates make it easy.
Christian takes a deep dive into SSL and which certificate suits you here:
What is an SSL certificate?
How quickly your website loads is an official ranking factor. Slow load times equal bad user experiences. Nowadays, everyone is impatient – a few seconds of waiting and the user flees to a competitor. If the page isn’t loaded within 3 seconds you lose most visitors.
You need to be as fast as possible. The faster the site loads the better user experience and the more Google values it – this is how you reach the top.
Note: Some plugins and scripts can slow your site down but are important, e.g. for reporting – the world’s fastest solution sometimes means compromises.
Test your speed here: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
After the test you’ll get suggestions for improvements.
Read more about influencing load time and what you can do in Mathias’ article: How to make your site fast
As mentioned, Google’s main aim is to show the best result for the user – and that should be your focus too. Therefore, user experience has to be on the list of crucial ranking factors.
Too often, the visitor is forgotten in the battle for Google’s favor. That might work short-term, but it’s no long-term solution. With thousands of updates per year, it’s impossible to keep up – but you can always be sure Google aims for the best possible user experience.
You have to look at how long users stay per visit. If many leave quickly because the page is boring, hard to navigate or slow, Google notices – and your ranking drops. Time per session and pages per session tell Google if the content is relevant and comprehensive enough.
You need a clear structure, intuitive menus and internal links, so users find the right spot and stay longer.
Besides following Google, you naturally want to sell your product/service. The job isn’t done when someone clicks in – now you need to showcase your benefits, design, interface, and convince them to buy from you.
There are no shortcuts to SEO success, and there are many factors to consider when working with this important area of digital marketing.
Many factors you or your developer can influence yourself – but beware of relying too much on tricks and quick fixes – they’re never guaranteed tomorrow. Focus should always be on user needs – or rather, how Google views user needs.
The best strategy is a long-term user focus, while leveraging the factors you know affect rankings. But don’t base your whole strategy on something that can change tomorrow – what Google never changes is its focus on the user.
SEO is constant, time-consuming work – but when you finally reach the top you can reap both clicks and conversions.
And if you need help – you know where to find us!
Contact us here »
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