[UPDATED] Top 10 Google Ranking Factors with Video
Google has become such a prominent product in our lives that the name of this company and its search engine has become synonymous with Internet activity itself. In the same way that people used to “Xerox” photocopies or get a “Kleenex” when they sneezed, if you want to look something up, you “Google it.”
But now that Google is such a dominant player in search engines, it’s become more important than ever to get a good ranking. Doing that, however, means competing with dozens—or even thousands—of people all over the world that offer your product or service and are trying to do the same thing. So how can you raise your odds of success?
Here are the top 10 Google ranking factors that determine your search ranking.
1. Smart Keywords
This should be an SEO 101 cornerstone, but it still bears repeating. People use text/words in order to conduct their searches. You must be very careful about the words you use in your website content in order to make sure the words people use to look for your product/service are the words that appear in your website for easier searching.
2. Good Meta Descriptions
The Meta description is the brief sentence that actually appears on search engine results. It’s important both for the search algorithms and the person reading the results to decide how relevant this is to the search. Make this Meta description count.
If, for instance, you’re trying to rank for “in home senior care“, Meta description may look like this…
“In home senior care serving Toledo and surrounding NW Ohio and SE Michigan communities. Locally owned and operated. 24/7 assistance. Call Arista Home Care Solutions at 419.754.1897.”
3. Unique Content
Google is a big fan of looking at your website and seeing that everything is unique. In the same vein, Google’s search ranking really doesn’t like it when it looks at your web content and sees identical pages. Don’t have duplicate content from page to page, try to keep everything unique.
4. Mobile Optimization
In recent years, a big factor in Google rankings has been taking into account how mobile friendly a website is. Technology like smartphones and tablets have now overtaken desktop and laptop computers as the dominant platform that people will use to look things up on Google. If your website is not good for mobile, your rankings will suffer for it.
5. Image Optimization
Text is important, but images are too. If you have images that are used in your content to keep things visually appealing, make sure you make good use of tags, descriptions and titles for these images to further boost your search rankings.
6. Site Maps
A site map isn’t just good for telling people what the overall view of your website is, Google uses it too. Make sure that you have a good site map that is as accurate, clear and concise as possible. Your visitors and Google will thank you for it.
7. Inbound Links
When more people find your website useful, they will share that information. Google knows this and assigns ranking based on how many others are willing to share your links. It’s just like having a good reputation. If more people want others to find you, there must be something worthwhile about your product or service.
8. Domain Registration Length
Even in the world of the Internet, there’s such a thing as “the test of time.” If a domain has been in active operation for a year or more, that’s a good sign. Google will give more preference to an established, working domain registration than one that is new and has yet to prove itself.
9. Updated Content
Currency of time is, itself, a currency for Google in terms of value. A website that provides some new, periodic updates means that it is more active, and also has a chance to draw more visitors who are looking for new content. Don’t let your content stagnate, or Google will notice.
10. Content Is King
This was, is, and always will be the most important factor. You need to have something good, valuable and/or useful on your website. All the promotion and inbound links in the world won’t help you if you have a website with nothing people want on it. Make sure you have content on your website that justifies all the effort you put into convincing people to come here, and you will retain more visitors, which has a big boost on your ranking.
Raise Your Profile the Right Way
Toledo SEO for Growth is focused on keeping track of the latest trends in developments in search engines and optimizing your website for Google and other search tools. The whole world is moving to promote and offer their services online, and if you want to stand out, you’ll need to know how to play to your strengths and make sure people can find you easily. We know how to do that.
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