Whether you have just launched your website or struggling to rank your website in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs,) you should first understand the SEO ranking factors that affect your site’s performance and rankings. Of course, there are many things to consider when it comes to SEO. But, ranking factors are the key elements of successful SEO.
Do you know? Google uses about 200 factors to rank a website. The number might be intimidating, especially for someone who has just started. But, not all the factors are important. While some are must-haves, others don’t make much difference.
This list from our SEO expert team can give you insights into the five important ranking factors to build strategies that help put your website on the first page.
Responsive Design
Responsive design is one of the significant factors that will affect your rankings. In a recent study, about 48% of users said that they feel frustrated and annoyed with non-mobile-friendly websites and felt they had wasted their time.
Your website design should adapt to whatever device the user is using. Responsive design is essential for ranking results. So, if your website isn’t user-friendly, it will impact your rankings in terms of accessibility and usability.
Page Speed
Make sure your website loading speed is not more than 2 seconds. Yeah, “about 70% of customers admit that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer,” according to a survey. Website loading time significantly affects conversion rates and your business as a whole. Start thinking about optimising your page loading speed.
Backlinks
Backlinks are one of the major ranking factors for Google. You will want trusted and authoritative websites to link back to your website as it sends positive signals to search engines that your website has valuable content that the user is looking for. Focus on link-building strategies and the internal linking process. If you find them too complicated, your best bet will be to work with a reputable company like us.
Quality Content
Content is still the king when it comes to ranking your website on search engines. The content should be unique, engaging, fresh, and has valuable information. Only then, Google will rank your content higher on SERPs.
User Experience
Many factors contribute to giving users a good website experience. But, how do search engines measure this? Google uses RankBrain, an artificial intelligence program that factors in certain ranking signals, like CTR, Bounce Rate, and Dwell Time. Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of users who click on your website in the search results while having a high bounce rate is not good for the health of your website. Dwell time is the measurement of how long a visitor stays on your website. All of these affect the user experience, and Google considers it for ranking the websites.
These ranking factors can make or break your digital marketing strategy. If you are struggling to rank your website higher in SERPs, it’s a good idea to get help from our SEO expert team.
About the Author
Kennedy Imuere, The author is a blogger and SEO expert working within our team of SEO experts. Along with a team of passionate individuals, he is dedicated to helping small businesses to survive and thrive in the digital marketing world.
