Google Website Ranking Explained
Google Website Ranking Explained
All you need to know about Google ranking. How it works and what you can do to get your website ranking higher for better results and smooth business growth.
Have you been wondering why your business website isn't ranking on the first page of the search engines, where you hoped it would?
Well, since Google’s inception in 1998 businesses have been vying with each other to try to get to the top of the search results and SEO specialists have more or less figured out the science to this cyber mystery. (Check out this Google SEO guide to learn more too - it's designed for beginners).
Since Google dominates all other search engines with over 5 billion searches per day, it definitely matters how well you rank on this particular search engine. In this blog we hope to shed some light on the essentials of Google rankings. We’ll do our best to explain in simple terms so you can apply some of these insights to your own business and get ranking higher in no time.
HOW THE GOOGLE ALGORITHM WORKS
An algorithm is a set of rules or processes that a computer must follow. It’s put in place by computer programmers and can be highly sophisticated, as is the case with Google algorithms.
When someone types a search term in the Google search bar, Google's web crawlers will scan the entire web for information that is relevant to the search and rank them according to the algorithm. You may have noticed that if you misspell a word, Google will still return relevant results. This means that the algorithm is smart enough to understand your user intent.
Google algorithms also take into account your searching context and search history to determine your search results. For example if you type in ‘disability provider’, the algorithm will return results in your geographic location without you having to enter it.
WHAT ARE GOOGLE'S RANKING FACTORS?
Google algorithms give each search result a score based on what is known as Google's "ranking factors" to determine which websites rank well and which don't. There are more than 200 ranking factors and Google doesn't make these publicly known, but SEO specialists have been able to gain some insight into this after years of research. Here are ten ranking factors that are considered to be among the most important.
✔ Website security (ie. an SSL certificate)
✔ High quality content
✔ Length of content
✔ Page loading speed
✔ Mobile friendly website
✔ Keyword optimisation
✔ Clear, easy-to-follow structure
✔ User experience
PAGE RELEVANCE
Let’s talk about your page relevance, because this is key to ranking high on the search results page (SERP). When an internet user searches for a topic in Google, the algorithm will check if your content is relevant, mainly by scanning for matching keywords. Machine learning is another advanced way in which Google matches search queries to relevant pages. (Good news! If you're a 2Brownies client, we design your site with these ranking factors in mind).
Over time the algorithm picks up signals on what people are searching for around particular topics. For example, if you type in ‘NDIS’, you won’t just get information from the NDIS official page, but you will also see pages coming up for NDIS providers in your area.
PAGE QUALITY
The quality of your website refers to several things, including the quality of the content, keyword optimisation and the structure. Google ranks the most reliable sources higher, so ensure that your content is well researched, informative and includes quality links to other reliable sources. (Again, if you're a 2Brownies client, we've already taken care of this).
Structure is important so that web crawlers can easily go through your page to pick up the relevant keywords, so make it as clear and logical as possible.
MAKE IT USER-FRIENDLY
User experience is highly important when it comes to ranking. We're big on the user experience here at 2Brownies.
You could have the most detailed, reliable content but you still won’t rank high enough if your site is not user friendly. This means it should be easily accessible and thoroughly checked for any technical glitches. Make sure that your page loads quickly and all images are properly formatted to appear correctly on all devices.
Is your site accessible and legible on both PC and mobile phone? Does it work well with different forms of internet connectivity? A site that is sluggish and does not perform well on different devices will immediately be pushed down on the ranking scale.
IN SUMMARY: OUR TOP TIPS TO RANK HIGHER
✔ Make sure your page is professionally designed and formatted
✔ Check and double check your loading speed
✔ Create high quality, informative and relevant content that matches searcher intent
✔ Make sure your content is long enough and optimised
✔ Have a site that is user-friendly and mobile friendly with easy click-through prompts
For a high quality website that's optimised for the search engines, speak to us at 2Brownies. We can take care of everything for you from attractive design to writing reliable content to keyword optimisation and making your site as user-friendly as possible. Book a time to chat with our General Manager, Vanessa. There's no obligation and we can answer all your questions on getting your business online.
