Ranking factors are parameters that search engines use to determine where a website should rank in search results. Understanding these factors is critical to developing a successful SEO strategy.
- Content Quality: This is one of the most important ranking factors. Content should be unique, useful, and relevant to user queries;
- Keywords: Using the right keyword phrases helps search engines understand what your site is about. But it is important to avoid their overabundance, as it can lead to lower positions and even filters;
- Optimization for mobile devices: With most searches now being made from cell phones, it’s important that your site displays correctly and is easy to use on them;
- Loading speed: If pages load slowly, user experience and ranking will be negatively impacted;
- Backlinks (links from other sites to yours): these still play an important role in SEO. However, it is important that these links are of high quality and come from authoritative and relevant resources;
- Time and depth of visits, bounce rate: These metrics tell search engines how interesting and useful the content is. The more time people spend on a site and the less they leave it after viewing a single page, the better. Recent algorithm updates emphasize user experience;
- Structure and URLs: A well-structured site with CNC (human-understandable) URLs helps search engines better index the site – which means all pages will be considered;
- Social Signals: Although search engines claim that social signals (such as likes, likes and comments on social media) do not affect ranking, many SEO experts believe they play a role in the search engines’ overall perception of a site;
- Technical SEO: Technical factors such as the use of HTTPS, micro markup, robots.txt file, correct sitemap file help search engines index the site effectively;
- Images: Optimized images (correct size, use of alt attribute, description) can improve SEO, especially in the context of image search.
It’s important to remember that no single ranking factor works on its own. Search engines use hundreds of different signals and their interactions to determine which site deserves the highest spot in the top. In addition, the weight of each factor can change over time and depending on the specific query. Therefore, it is important to maintain a constant focus on all aspects.
