The Ultimate Guide to 200+ SEO Ranking Factors

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The reason that so many (big) companies heavily invest in SEO is the high impact that it can have when done right. To give you an idea, Google, the most-used search engine got around 8.3 billion searches per day in 2024. So if you have a website, you want to make sure to show up in Google and other search platforms.

seo ranking factors

They assume your content isn’t helpful, and that hurts your ranking. So, improve your site’s speed, simplify navigation, and make sure your content is easy to find. Google uses a multitude of factors to determine how to rank search engine results. Google announced website speed would begin having an impact on search ranking.

In fact, ensuring the “completeness” of your Google My Business listing has become even more important this year. In addition to the session duration, the end of a session indicates when the user leaves YouTube. If users quickly jump off the video after watching it, the YouTube algorithm will take a negative view and this will have also a negative effect on YouTube SEO. The session duration shows how long users stay on YouTube after watching a video.

User Experience

When crafting content for a website, marketers must be aware of what their demographic wants and are attracted to”, says Annie Everill, Digital Marketing Executive at Imaginaire. One of them is long and short clicks – evident in this Google patent as well. This patent refers to a weightage system that evaluates pages based on how long or short a click has been and the outcome plays one role in ranking the pages higher or lower in the SERPs. The bounce rate of a website shows how many people came to your site and immediately left without interacting whatsoever. Check out our list of the best SEO free tools to audit your site speed. Rony Mattar, Partner and SEO Manager at BlueEdge SEO, says “we give high importance to Core Web Vitals and website performance.

The YouTube Algorithm

seo ranking factors

Therefore, new, relevant keywords are used for current analyses, such as “Samsung Galaxy S5” or “iPhone 6”, which did not exist previously. SEO is free, but it requires time and effort to implement effectively. Paid tools and services, such as keyword research tools, analytics platforms, and professional consulting, can also assist with SEO. Also, research from Ziff Davis shows LLMs like Open AI prefer content from authoritative websites. Hence, optimizing for SEO increases your chances of appearing in generative search features like AI overviews, ChatGPT, and Claude AI.

A robots.txt file provides a pathway for Google bots and tells them how to crawl and index your website. It identifies which pages search engine spiders should crawl and which they should avoid. This is why you need to create amazing content that’s focused on your industry or main subject. And try to focus your website and blog content on one major topic. For more on search intent, check out How to Master SEO Search Intent to Improve Your Rankings.

seo ranking factors

Learn more about local SEO

  • The overall authority of the page that you are getting a link from also plays a big role.
  • The objective of Searchmetrics “Ranking Factors” studies is not to produce a gospel of absolute truth.
  • A good content calendar keeps you posting regularly, prepares you for events and promotions, and helps your team work together.
  • Google’s algorithms are increasingly focused on delivering the most relevant and high-quality content to users.
  • A combination of these factors helps us find the best match for your search.

In this guide, we will be breaking down the key SEO ranking factors and share practical strategies to help you move up and better in search results. But the good part is, by understanding these factors and optimizing your site, you can improve your rankings, attract more visitors, and grow your online presence as well. An SEO and content marketing specialist working on websites within the itrinity portfolio. I’ve been an SEO fanboy and online marketing enthusiast since high school. Focus keyword in the URL of the page may serve as a ranking factor – it makes the URL more user-friendly and relevant for the search engine.

seo ranking factors

Earning quality backlinks through valuable content creation and ethical practices is an important strategy for any site looking to improve its SEO performance. Backlinks are one of the most powerful ranking signals and continue to be a top-ranking factor in 2025. When high-authority websites link back to your site, it signals to Google that your content is valuable and trustworthy. For example, speaking at events, doing interviews, and blogging for other websites. These activities give you the opportunity to showcase your expertise and reach new people. In that case, it’s important that you focus on the experience that people have with your shop.

seo ranking factors

To be helpful, we need a step-by-step checklist for ranking a page starting from an idea, all the way to traffic pouring into your Google Analytics account. But an unnatural link profile with tons of low-quality or spammy backlinks can trigger Google penalties. Sites with a high percentage of links coming from unrelated or irrelevant sites rank lower. So make sure any links pointing to your site are relevant to your niche. Using “sponsored” or “UGC” (User Generated Content) link tags helps Google understand the nature of your links. Doing link building in the right way can be tricky so take a look at all of the factors below or just use a service like LinksThatRank or any of these other guest posting services to help.

That’s why SEO BHS Links companies like safaridigital SEO insist on crawlability as being such an important SEO ranking factor. Crawlability allows search engines to scan a website and review its content, so they can determine what the page is about and how it should rank. Search engine and Google ranking algorithms are constantly changing.


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