Understanding what Google is recognizing as a ranking factor in 2017 can make or break your online presence. Because of this we’ve compiled the 12 top ranking signals based on our analytical research.
1. Backlinks – High quality backlinks account for 30% of your overall page score in Google. Keep in mind not all backlinks are created equal. Backlinks from sites with high citation flow and trust flow affect your overall score. Too many backlinks from sites with NO citation or trust flow will affect your site negativly. You must constantly monitor your backlinks with companies such as ahrefs. Having the proper mix of anchor text, company name and naked url’s are another ranking factor.
2. Fresh Content – Fresh content accounts for 24% of your overall page score in Google. Google awards sites that frequently update their content or blog posts on a regular basis. This content must be original and contain high quality information to your potential clientel. Make it a jbit to share this content on your social media properties.
3. Title Tags – Title Tags account for 9% of your overall page score in Google. Title tags such as H1 tags should be the main keyword or keyword phrase of that specific page. Having generic title tags such as Home, Welcome or a company name may not be reletive to what the page is about, and each page of your website should be unique.
4. Landing Page Optimization – Landing page optimization accounts for 8% of your overall position in Google. Making sure your titles, content, images and videos are properly tagged for your main keyword or keyword phrase is essential to how Google grades your page. Content must be original and contain your main keywords.
5. Mobile Responsiveness – Mobile Responsiveness accounts for 8% of your overall page score in Google. If your not sure whether your site is mobile friendly, use Google Friendly Website tool here https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
6. User Experience – User experience accounts for 5% of your overall page score in Google. Creating easy user navigation and a call to action will improve your user experience. Videos are a great tool to keep users on your page longer, which is also considered a Google ranking factor.
7. Social Signals – Social signals account for 5% of your overall ranking factor in Google. Be sure to share your blogs and webpages on your social channels as it will improve your social signal ranking factor with Google.
8. Well Coded – Well coded websites account for 5% or your overall position in Google. Making sure your website is properly coded to avoid any limitations to how Google ranks your web page is essential to your rankings. Google awards sites that are properly coded.
9. Site Speed – Site speed accounts for 3% of your overall page score in Google. It can also effect how you rank on mobile platforms, so ensure you optimize images, enable gzip compression and browser cache solutions.
10. Keywords in Content – Keywords found in your content account for 2% of your overall page score in Google. Ensure your content contains your main keyword at least once in your content, and place it preferably at the beginning of your 1st paragraph.
11. Keywords in URL – Keywords found in your url account for 2% of your overall page score in Google. When you create a sub page for a product or service you offer, ensure it contains you main keyword.
12. Domain Age – Domain age accounts for 1% of your overall page score in Google. Not much you can do for brand new domains, unless you are changing a domain name and can point the old domain name back to the new one via a 301 redirect. In most cases, it will mature as it ages.
For more information on how we can Improve Your Google Rankings, contact us today for a FREE initial consultation.
