There are several factors that inform Google’s rankings. To rank on Google, one needs to follow a set of extensive search engine optimization (SEO) tips and practices. By judiciously optimizing your webpages and feeding unique content in them, you can earn top ranking on Google in 2022 and ensure that your website appears first among the search results that potential customer enquire for. The task at hand is not a simple one, but with the right guidance and tips, it’s a possible.
The article serves as a comprehensive, crisp guide that provides the latest SEO tips to help rank your websites on search engines. The ranking practices range from creating quality content, keyword focus to backlinks and interlinks.
The major ranking factors are listed out in the following part of the article.
1) ON-PAGE SEO FACTORS
On-page SEO refers to the practice of optimizing your website content and structure in order to help them rank better on Google. The initial part of this guide to Google ranking factors, focuses on some basic, technical aspects that informs the search engine to rank pages. They include title tags, headings (H1 Tags), meta description, keywords, Search Engine Optimized URLs, Anchor texts etc.
Below the On-page SEO factors are discussed in detail:
a) Title Tags: the title of your webpage acts as a significant part of On-page SEO. Ensure that it is eye-catching and rich in keywords. It also should describe the webpage content in a concise, accurate manner. Never try to duplicate title tags on your webpage, or stuff it with keywords; as both these practices will not help in ranking your website on Google.
b) Meta descriptions: The brief summaries that display beneath your title in the search results are known as meta descriptions. They contribute significantly to on-page SEO. Make sure they contain your goal keywords and accurately represent the content of your website. Although meta descriptions aren’t necessarily a ranking factor, they can significantly increase click-through rates, so use them judiciously.
c) Headings: By using HTML tags, headings are a good means to format your content. They contribute significantly to on-page SEO. Make sure your headings are interesting, full of apt keywords, and accurately represent the information on your pages. H2 and H3 tags can be used to further segment your material, however you can only use one H1 tag per page normally.
d) Optimized URLs: URLs represent the web address of a page. Ensure that they are precise, crisp, and rich in keywords.
e) External Links: in simple terms, they are links to other websites. Even though they are not a crucial SEO factor, they can still aid in improving the website SEO.
f) Images: images form a vital part of on-page SEO. One must ensure that keywords are included in the image filenames and use descriptive alt-text. Alt-text refers to the text that appears when an image ceases to load.
g) Anchor Text: anchor text refers to the text used to hyperlink to other webpages. They like external links helps in improving the SEO attempts.
h) Internal Links: they are links to other webpages. They are tremendously important in SEO. They help Google to analyse your website content and rank accordingly.
These are factors that are completely under your control and that have a big impact on both how Google ranks your site and how it shows in the SERP. Therefore, mastering correct optimization techniques is crucial.
2) KEYWORDS
Keywords are still one of the essential building blocks of search engine optimization and a significant Google ranking signal, even if the importance of keywords in SEO has changed significantly from the early days of search with the evolution of long-tail keywords and natural language search.
Things to focus on regarding keywords
• Placement and appropriateness of the keyword are significantly more crucial than frequency. If possible, the first 100 words of your page should contain your keyword or keyphrase.
• Google gives metadata and headers the highest priority, followed by body copy, sidebars, and footers.
• Attempt to make sure the keyword phrase exactly matches the searcher’s entry in the search engine. This indicates that if you want to optimize for natural language search queries, you should phrase your terms in a conversational manner.
• Using keywords that are excessively repetitive or unrelated to the rest of your content could result in a penalty.
• Including keywords in the domain URL can also help you boost SEO.
3) UNIQUENESS AND QUALITY OF CONTENT
It is obvious that your content should be of high quality in order to rank at the top position of SERP but what qualities does Google look for in a piece of content?
• Avoid overusing keywords in your content and ensure that it is written to appeal to humans as well as algorithms.
• Use the Flesch reading ease test to determine the readability score of your content, and aim for a score of at least 60%.
• While you want your sentences and paragraphs to be brief, your overall content can be as long as you like – in-depth content is a big indicator of quality.
• Use line breaks (white space provides for a much smoother reading experience on mobile) and subheadings to split up your sentences and paragraphs.
Your writing needs to be simple to understand and free of unnecessary keywords. Additionally, the words and paragraphs should be relatively brief because long sentences and paragraphs tend to lose readers. If you follow these guidelines and produce a lengthy piece of content, then it can effectively contribute toward content optimization, as Google regards this type of content as “the quality content.”
4) FRESHNESS OF THE CONTENT
Google loves new material and favors websites that update more frequently. Googlebot will visit your website more frequently if you routinely upload new content and update your pages.
This will assist you in improving your search engine ranking and retaining visitors to your website. Use a cleaning technique every year where you locate a certain amount of outdated blogs and update them with new material. Pages can be updated with fresh information, statistics, or insights.
Some key factors to focus on include:
• Based on the date of publishing, a web page can be given an instant “freshness score” that declines over time as the material ages. Regular content updates can aid in maintaining that rating.
• An increase in the number of external websites linking to a piece of material might be interpreted as a sign of its freshness and significance.
• The newest result isn’t necessarily the greatest – for less exciting topics, an in-depth and authoritative result that’s been around longer may outrank newer, thinner content.
• Links from “fresh” sites might assist transmit that freshness on to your content.
5) CONTENT DUPLICATION AND SYNDICATION
Google will decide which version of a given post to rank if there are many copies available online. This decision is most likely made based on the site with the highest authority rather than which version was published first. Similar to this, you run the risk of hurting your own position in search engine results if you have different versions of the same internal content competing for rankings (this includes separate mobile and desktop versions of the same site).
Following are some key points to help you manage syndicated and duplicate content and help Google detect your preferred URL. They include:
• Implementing a 301 redirect to ensure Google indexes your desired page if you have duplicate material on your own website.
• Utilizing a responsive website rather than a different mobile site
• Telling Google which article in syndicated content is the original by using the rel=canonical or meta no index tags.
6) INTERNAL LINKS
Internal links are links that point from one page on your website to another. Not only are they a great way to keep users on your website, but they’re also a valuable SEO tool.
When you include internal links in your content, you’re telling Google that the pages are related. This helps to strengthen your website’s overall authority score, and it also helps to rank those pages for specific keywords.
Internal links are easy to add to your content, and you can do it in several ways:
- Including a link within the text of your article
- Adding a “related posts” section at the end of your article
- Creating a blogroll
- Adding links to other pages on your website in the sidebar
7) OUTBOUND LINKS
Outbound links, also known as external links, are links that lead away from your website and onto another one. They transfer a portion of the ranking power from your own website to the one you are connecting to (without any negative effects on you, unless the links lead to an extremely spammy website).
• Pagerank retention is a misconception; having more external than internal links won’t cause your site to “leak” link juice.
• In fact, outbound links are considered a trust signal because they show that you have done your homework and can be relied upon if you connect to sources to support your facts and study.
• Affiliate links are acceptable as well, but follow Google best practises and utilize a “nofollowmeta” tag.
8) BACKLINKS
One of the many factors that Google takes into account when ranking websites is the number and quality of your backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. The more quality, and related backlinks you have, the better. Not only does this show Google that your website is valuable and worth linking to, but it also helps to increase your authority score. When you’re looking for backlinks, you want to find websites that are related to your industry or niche. You also want to make sure that the website is of high quality and has a high domain authority score.
There are several ways to find quality backlinks, but some of the best methods include:
- Creating valuable content that other websites will want to link to
- Guest blogging on high-quality websites
- Participating in online discussions and forums related to your niche
- Adding your website to directories
- Creating press releases
- Harnessing the power of social media
The more effort you put into getting quality backlinks, the better your chances of ranking on Google will be.
9) SITE-LEVEL SIGNALS / INDICATORS
Now the focus shifts away from on-page content and examines site-level signals.
• HTTPS: In 2014, Google declared that it would begin utilizing HTTPS as a “extremely lightweight signal.” Using HTTPS is also usually excellent practice, especially if your website handles financial transactions, though it is unknown if it has become stronger since then.
• Mobile-friendliness: Since the initial “mobilegeddon” update in 2015, mobile-friendliness has been a prominent element in Google search results, and the signal has only gotten stronger since then.
• Site speed: If you take the effort to analyze and improve the speed of your site, especially on mobile, you may notice an improvement in your search ranking.
10) SEO
One thing that many people don’t realize about SEO is that it’s a long-term strategy. You can’t expect to rank on Google overnight, or even in a few months. It takes time and effort to develop a strong SEO strategy, and you have to be patient and persistent.
The best way to think about SEO is as a foundation for your online marketing strategy. It’s something that you build over time, and the more effort you put into it, the better the results will be.
SEO is an ever-changing landscape, so you have to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and changes if you want to stay ahead of the competition.
11) TRUST AND AUTHORITY
A logical site architecture can assist with a better level of authority. Content quality, content abundance, and website information are all elements in your Page Quality Rating. Establishing a blog helps demonstrate your company’s relevance and reliability while also keeping the information up to date. If you have a large number of overall reviews, your Page Quality Rating may not be affected by unfavourable customer feedback. In contrast to the actual rating, Google frequently checks reviews for content.