SEO is the process of improving the visibility and position of a website or web page on search engines. It can be done by optimizing the website content, design, and user experience. Additionally, it’s important to consider which Google ranking factors are most important for your website or web page. Here are important Google ranking factors that matter for SEO.
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Domain Authority
How high is the domain authority? The higher this number is, the higher the website’s trustworthiness (and thus its rank). A domain with DA 50 will have exactly half the credibility as a brand new site with an estimated DA 100, as you know that when it comes to SEO, quality over quantity! So always focus on making your website better than others rather than having more pages like many other sites. This also applies to backlinks, don’t go spammy, build only high-quality links. This is a big mistake I’ve seen people make in the past. To increase the DA of your website, try building internal linking structures; this will help in increasing the domain authority and, ultimately, your rankings.
Page Speed
Search engines pay a lot of attention to this factor. A slow-loading website gives visitors a poor impression and affects their decision to stay on the site or switch to another one. Also, slow speed can impact bounce rate and time spent on the site. This means businesses waste more money. However, there are ways to improve this factor without coding and redesigning. You can use compression tools like Gzip and W3 Total Cache plugin to compress CSS, JS, HTML and images. Make sure all elements on your site load fast because slow loading websites have more chances to lose potential customers.
Social Proof
Another very important element of any marketing campaign. Your audience needs proof that you’re legitimate. Without it, they might think twice about giving your business any feedback. Social proof is extremely critical for small businesses. What’s more impressive – a long list of testimonials or a single glowing review on Facebook? Choose wisely and make sure you spend some time getting reviews from real clients before promoting your product/service.
Landing Pages
The landing pages should match the goals of each specific social media channel. Every social network has different layout parameters, so create unique versions of your landing page for each type of platform. And remember, the goal of every landing page is lead generation, not conversion optimization. You want to get them to come to your website first, not force them to subscribe right away.
Website Breadcrumbs
The breadcrumb trail appears above each webpage. Most users scan it for navigation purposes. If your breadcrumbs are not optimized, it can cause problems with usability. In addition to the main menu’s organization, this trail should include information about your company name, address, phone number, email, etc.
Design & Usability
Your website is only useful if it performs well on various browsers and devices. Create different website versions for mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops and other mediums. According to Nielsen Norman Group, 56% of consumers visit companies’ websites using mobile phones, although the portion increases to 74% for desktop browsing. Since mobile usage is rising, make sure your website is easily navigable and easy to respond to user queries. Additionally, test how it looks on smaller screens like smartphones and tablets.
Reputation
Reputation refers to a company’s popularity in the industry. If you already have a good reputation among customers, people will trust you more easily and have no worries about buying from you because they know you. If a customer has any complaints against you, this will reflect badly on your business. A positive review can encourage potential clients to visit your site as well. To get a high reputation rating, you need to ensure you provide good quality products and services with good after-sale service. Reputation management involves ensuring positive reviews and keeping negative ones from appearing within the major search engine rankings.
Mobile Optimization
More and more users are turning towards smartphones instead of old-fashioned computers to browse the Internet. The fact that most websites were built for desktops doesn’t automatically translate into a good experience for mobile users. It is recommended to optimize your website for mobile viewing through the use of responsive web design. Responsive web design enables your website to adapt to the screen size of its viewer, allowing it to display properly across different platforms.
Quality Content
When it comes to content, the same rules apply to SEO. The higher the ranking of a keyword, the more likely it will be used in an ad. So, focus on high-ranking keywords while writing blog posts, press releases, articles and ads. This way, you’ll reach a broader audience than just those who visit your site directly. Remember, the high volume does not equal quality. A large quantity of poor content can hurt your organic search rankings, so edit and moderate carefully!
Backlinks
Backlinks refer to incoming links pointing back to your website. These links appear when other sites mention your company online. They’re one of the most effective ways to improve your SEO without investing much effort. However, it takes time to build relevant, natural links. To increase your chances of success, choose sites related to your products/services and engage with bloggers by commenting on their blogs. Use automated tools such as Ahrefs or SEMRush to find top sites linking to your competitors and then link to those sites using your preferred bookmarking tool.
Social Media Marketing
You may consider social networking all but dead, but the reality isn’t quite so bleak. Many marketers still believe the secret to business growth lies within these networks. As a result, they craft promotional campaigns that encourage engagement and promote brand awareness. While social media marketing is mostly a two-way street, some businesses may need to focus on getting traffic from others via paid advertising (Facebook Ads), sponsored posts (i.e., Twitter) or content creation (YouTube).
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
How many people convert after visiting your website? Once again, the answer depends on the search rankings of the keyword. A higher ranking will result in more conversions. Try to find out what works best for your target group and then optimize accordingly. Remember that not everyone will convert at once, which means that you need to provide incentives for your visitors to sign up for emails.
