Ranking factors have a huge impact on where your website ranks in the search results. They never stay the same, which makes it difficult to stay on track. The trouble is, if you don’t keep on top of the latest developments, your site will probably drop in rankings and people won’t be able to find your site. This means less traffic and fewer sales.
To ensure that you are keeping up with the latest ranking factors for 2018, I’ve compiled a list of the most important elements to pay attention to. There are many more, but these five will give you a great head start for a healthy SEO strategy.
Let’s begin!
A Crawlable URL
In order for Google to reach and crawl your URL, it must be accessible. This includes having a robots.txt.file, a sitemap that lists all your pages and a secure site (HTTPS).
Quick Page Speed
Google wants to improve the web experience for users, and one of the best ways to do this is by offering fast loading web pages. Mobile page speed counts, too, so make sure you’re not ignoring it. Starting this month, Google is rolling out a speed update that will penalize sites for not loading quickly on mobile devices. To determine how fast your pages are, use Google’s mobile testing tool.
Mobile Friendliness
Speaking of mobile websites, mobile friendliness is another ranking signal. People use their mobile devices more than their computers, so providing a good user experience on these devices is crucial. Here are the key factors you should have:
- Responsive site that automatically adjusts to the screen size
- Large fonts that are comfortable and easy to read
- Good navigation with clickable menus and large buttons
- Content that isn’t blocked by ads
Optimized Content
Google’s search algorithm relies on keywords to deliver the right content to the right users. Keep in mind that more and more users are searching for information by voice, so consider how this might change the keywords you use. Conversational phrases are always best. Also, avoid using duplicate content and keyword stuffing.
Technical SEO
Optimizing your content can be done by applying the right code. Here are a few key factors to have on your radar:
- Include keywords in your page titles
- Use headers to show content hierarchy
- Create meta descriptions between 150-160 characters
- Add keywords in image alt tags
- Use schema markup to tell Google what you’re producing
There are hundreds of ranking factors, but these five are some of the most important. By giving attention to these aspects, you can make it easier for the search engines to crawl and rank your site so that it can be found by the right people.