Whether one is a professional or a consumer, one finds themselves using search engines for everything in today’s day and age. In fact, it has become an actual verb that we use in our daily lives, whether it be Google, Alexa, or Siri. So it is important to understand SEO ranking factors and which are crucial.
The sheer number of factors by which search engines rank sites can appear to be daunting. The high number of SEO ranking factors creates the impression that search engine optimization is complex and time-consuming. However, that is not the case if one does a little research like any other marketing strategy.
The assumptions have meant that businesses and people have not been gotten around to adopting SEO strategies properly. And this means missed opportunities to reach a wider audience and brand growth.
What is SEO, And What is Meant by SEO Ranking Factors?
SEO defines the strategies that improve the overall discoverability and traffic of a website. It is implemented through on-page, off-page, and technical approaches. The exact strategy is dependent on the end goals of your website.
SEO ranking factors are metrics by which search engines evaluate and decide where to place your website in relevant search results. Overall there are some 200 factors that Google uses to rank websites. However, not all factors are equally important. Through this SEO article, we will cover six essential factors.
SEO Ranking Factors That Matter
The list of SEO ranking factors is massive, with over 100+ aspects that are evaluated for rankings. However, as we stated earlier, not all are equal in terms of importance.
We go through the factors we feel are crucial and easily implementable regardless of whether you are a new or an older domain.
Are You Secure?
You could have the best-built website with excellent content, but it will negatively impact the rankings if it’s not secure. Therefore, site security is an important SEO ranking factor.
Search engine results drive users to websites that are trustworthy and fully secure. However, your site is not secure if your web address begins with HTTP, not HTTPS. This difference means that you should add an SSL certificate.
It is interesting that several websites do excellent web page SEO but forget to secure their sites. One can easily find examples of such sites. So, despite doing everything right, if you do not see rankings, perhaps it’s time to check whether you are secure.
What is Crawl Ability?
Don’t forget to make sure that search engines can find your website. If they cannot find it, then they cannot rank it. All the best SEO writing practices will not help you get ranked if this is the case.
Crawl ability makes it possible for search engines to skim a website and determine where to rank it based upon SEO ranking factors. If you want to be ranked, ensure that the proper protocols are in place to allow search engines to crawl through your website.
Are You Mobile-Friendly?
As mobiles become more and more powerful and common, the mobile-friendliness of a website has become an important SEO ranking factor. At the moment, almost 50% of all internet traffic comes from mobile devices, and the number is rising.
So any content and design need to be adjusted to look good and be responsive regardless of screen size. Any top notch SEO writing service will bear in mind the requirements for content on mobile.
Mobile Friendliness is an SEO ranking factor that is crucial to any digital platform. And the importance of it will only continue to rise as the shift from desktop to mobile continues.
How Fast Are You?
How fast your loading times are is another SEO ranking factor that matters. As internet speed has increased, users expect quicker response times. Therefore, search engines will showcase sites higher that load quickly for users.
You can have the best content writing team for your site, but it will not be enough if it is slow. To put it further in context, let’s take the example of two websites. Both have the same content marketing strategy, but one is faster than the other. Therefore, the faster one will consistently rank higher.
So, if your website is slow, then take steps to rectify the issues. Because it is one of those SEO ranking factors that may not seem as important, it has a big impact.
Do You Have Quality Content?
Quality content is what determines the level of user engagement your content will receive. Therefore, it is one of the most crucial SEO ranking factors. Quality is the priority regardless of the kind of writing, whether it is newsletter writing, blog writing, or anything else.
People use search engines because they want to find the right content quickly. So, search engines prioritize the quality of content being presented. As a result, top-ranked websites consistently have well-crafted content.
And it needs to be fresh as well. Because fresh content attracts search engines crawlers and it has a positive impact on your visibility. And if you have something worth sharing, then it is a win-win situation for your brand.
What is in a Keyword?
A keyword is a specific phrase or word by which the search engine knows what to show. Keywords are how you drive traffic to your website. Finding the right keywords is another aspect of addressing SEO ranking factors.
Three things need to be understood when talking about keywords in light of SEO ranking factors. The first aspect is to use the requisite long tail and shorter generic keywords to target your content.
The second aspect is understanding how keyword search intent works. This intent is taken into account by estimating the kind of search queries people may generate. Search engines rank platforms higher that take into account this intent.
And lastly, an understanding of your platform’s competitive range. For example, certain keywords may be relevant; however, they are extremely popular and difficult to get ranked with.
SEO ranking factors, especially when it comes to keywords, need to take into account certain things. Things like the volume competing for a keyword ranking and content saturation on a particular set of keywords.
Final Thoughts
SEO is not a miracle or quick in its outcomes. Instead, it is a gradual process where the SEO ranking factors are improved over time. Even if you implemented and improved on every factor listed above, it will still take time for the results to show.
The process of managing best practices based upon SEO ranking factors is ongoing. And needs to keep up to date with the changing trends and audience needs. As long as your domain is functional, optimized, and caters to your audience, you will see continuous organic growth in rankings.