How Google ranks sites

First, it’s essential to understand the way that Google ranks websites. At a very basic level, Google displays the best quality, highly relevant content for users first. Google wants search engine users to receive the information that they need, fast. However, over two hundred different ranking factors can affect the position (rank) of your website in search engine result pages (SERPs).

Here are some of the most important ranking factors that Google considers:

Domain-Level Ranking Factors

Google examines the history of your domain and uses this as a factor in determining the ranking of your website in Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). Important domain-level factors include the age of your domain, spam activity associated with your domain, owner information or location, and potential alignment with keywords.

Site Level Ranking Factors

Google’s algorithm considers the quality of your website in determining your rank (position) in search results. Important site-level (on-page) SEO factors include site security (SSL), logical navigation, site architecture, and site map. Any successful SEO strategies must include on-page optimisation to ensure that both Google and regular site users experience safe and seamless browsing.

On-Page Ranking Factors

On-page optimisation is the process of ensuring that the technical elements on individual pages of your website are sending the correct signals to Google. Search engines review (crawl) your pages and examine important elements including keywords, content length, metadata, and internal linking structures. On-page optimisation is one of the foundational building blocks for a successful SEO campaign.

Backlink Profile Ranking Factors

The quality of your website backlink profile is still one of the most important factors used for site ranking in 2020. Google considers external links to your website (backlinks) from other sites to be a vote of confidence. The more authoritative and relevant the external link (backlink) the more confidence Google has that you’re delivering high-quality content for their users. Building a robust backlink profile is an essential part of any SEO campaign.

User Interaction Ranking Factors

Google considers the way that users interact with your website in determining the quality of the content and overall experience. Several metrics are used by Google to assess user interaction with your site:

CTR – Click Through Rate (High CTR indicates that the content that you’re offering aligns with users search intent)

Bounce Rate – Users that arrive at your site and leave immediately (High bounce rate indicates that the content that you’re offering may not align with users search intent or the content is poor quality)

Repeat Visitors – Users that access your site on multiple occasions (High repeat visitors numbers indicate that the content that you’re offering is valuable or helpful to users)

Okay, so now that you understand how Google ranks your website the next question is:

How can I optimise my website for Search Engines?