The Top Ten Google Ranking Factors For Better SEO (2021)

Google ranking factors are the factors that determine how a page ranks in Google’s organic search results.

There are two kinds of ranking factors.

‘On Page’ ranking factors are signals coming from your page. An example would be the placement of keywords in your content.

‘Off-Page’ ranking factors are signals coming from other websites. An example would be links pointing to your web page from other websites.

The ranking factors that make up the Google algorithm are a closely guarded secret.

No one knows exactly what they are.

What we know about Google ranking factors has been pieced together from three sources:

1. Formal announcements by Google (e.g. the July 2018 ‘Speed Update’)
2. Statements made by Google employees in forums, Google hangouts, and informal discussions
3. Things that SEO experts have extrapolated by analyzing millions of Google search results

SEO experts believe there are about 200 Google ranking factors. And Google has apparently confirmed this.

According to Search Engine Watch, the top two ranking factors are content and backlinks and the third most important ranking factor is RankBrain. 

RankBrain studies the way visitors interact with your web page.

With that out of the way, let’s dive in and look at the top ten Google ranking factors:

It’s no surprise that content is one of the top two Google ranking factors.

After all, that’s what people go to Google for: to find content that answers their queries.

But what are the attributes of content that ranks well on Google?

Good quality content means content that covers a topic in depth. A piece of content that covers a topic from A to Z is likely to provide all the information a searcher needs.

But a piece of content that covers only a part of a topic will leave the searcher still looking for answers And that means more clicking around in the search results.

Google favors content that acts as a ‘one-stop shop’ and provides all the information in one place.

So how does Google measure whether a piece of content covers a topic well?

Through latent semantic indexing or LSI.

Latent semantic indexing detects patterns in the way that words cluster together. It uses these patterns to understand topics.

Any topic you can think of will produce certain words that cluster together in predictable patterns.

For example: “the force awakens”, “the last jedi”, “latest movie”, “rogue one”, and “episode 9” are words that cluster together for the topic ‘star wars’.

Here’s another example: the words ‘cash’, ‘mining’, ‘worth’, ‘gold’, ‘trading’, ‘40x’, ‘code’, and ‘wallet’ cluster together for the topic ‘bitcoin’.

Using patterns in the way that words cluster together, Google is able to map out entire topics and understand the sub-topics that make up the main topic.

In short: Google now understands the breadth and depth of the topic you are writing about.

It knows whether your content covers that topic completely or only partially. A piece of content that covers the breadth and depth of a topic better than any other, will rise to the top of the search results.

For more information about topical authority as a ranking factor, see my article: How To Get Your Blog Post on the First Page of Google in 2019.

Backlinko studied 1 million Google search results.

They found that the average piece of content on Page #1 of Google contains 1,890 words.

So, if your articles are at least 2000 words in length, your content is in the right zone to rank on Page #1.

There’s quite a lot of evidence that Google favors content that is well structured. This stands to reason: well-structured content is easier to read. And that’s going to make Google a more popular search engine than its rivals.

Here are some factors that contribute to well-structured content:

Header tags are the HTML code that tells a browser to display text as a header. The header tags come as H1, H2, H3, H4 and so on.

H1 is reserved for the title of the page or post and should only be used once on a web page.

H2 is for your top-level headings, H3 for your second-level headings and so on.

Table of Contents

If your content uses header tags, you’ll be able to display a Table of Contents (ToC). Having a linked table of contents is probably a ranking factor (Backlinko)

Again, this stands to reason: a Table of Contents makes it easier for users to access your content. And anything that makes your content easier to use is likely to be a Google ranking factor.

If you use a WordPress page editor, it’s likely that your editor already contains a table of contents module. The table of contents in this article, for example, is part of Thrive Architect.

Bullet Points

Bullet points draw your reader in and break up monotonous chunks of text. It’s little surprise then, that bullet points are probably a ranking factor.

For some tips on how to use bullet points to maximum effect, see Little Known Ways to Write Fascinating Bullet Points by Brian Clark.

Backlinks are the foundation on which Google was built and they are still a key ranking factor.

Brian Dean states that backlinks are “one of the most important ranking factors in Google’s algorithm”.

His study showed that the top-ranking pages in the Google search results have, on average, between 100 and 300 backlinks:

The curve shows that lower ranking pages have fewer referring domains or backlinks.

Contextual backlinks are links that are surrounded by relevant content.

Non-contextual backlinks are links that are not embedded within relevant content. Examples would be links in sidebars and footers.

Contextual backlinks are the ones you need, as Neil Patel points out:

“In order to get the authoritative links that Google respects and sustain your search rankings, you need to concentrate on getting contextual links (i.e., links surrounded by relevant content)”

As your domain gains authority, you will become a target for toxic backlinks.

These are links from spammy websites, most of which are not even indexed in Google.

Backlinks from spammy websites harm your domain authority. So you need to remove them or disavow them.

In most cases, having the links removed is not practical as there is no one you can contact. And even when you do find a real person, they will often want to charge you a fee for removing the toxic backlink.

So, in most cases, the only practical option is to use Google’s ‘disavow’ tool to neutralize these backlinks.

Become a source for reporters (HARO)

 Journalists often need quotes from people with expertise in a particular area. ‘Help A Reporter Out’ or HARO is a website that connects journalists with sources.

When you sign up to HARO, you’ll receive queries three times day on various topics.

If you see a HARO query on a topic that you know something about, respond to the query. You’ll probably earn yourself a do-follow link from a website with high domain authority.

I used this technique recently and got a do-follow link from a website with a DA of 91. And it took me exactly 15 minutes!

For an excellent guide to using HARO to get backlinks, see Mondovo’s Why HARO Should Be Your #1 Source for Quality Backlinks

Broken link building

In broken link building you find a page that has a lot of websites linking to it, but which no longer exists.

You then re-create what was on that page.

Then you reach out to the websites that link to that missing page and suggest that they link to your page instead.

The chances are the website owner will link to your page simply because:

1. you pointed out the broken link to them and
2. your resource provides a solution to their problem (i.e. a broken link).

You can find out more about this technique in Moz’s The Broken Link Building Bible

Resource page link building

Resource pages are a collection of useful articles on a particular topic.

In this link building technique, you first create a useful piece of content. An example would be a definitive guide, such as: “The Complete Guide to Choosing a Web Host in 2019”. You then search for websites that have ‘resource pages’.

You then contact the owner of the website and ask if they would like to link to your article.

For an excellent guide to this topic see Resource Page Link Building by Brian Dean.

Backlinks from infographics

This a well-established link-building technique. You create infographics which other websites link to.

But for this technique to work, the infographic has to be of a high standard. 

Unless you are a graphic designer, you will need to spend a couple of hundred dollars having the infographic designed for you.

For more information on this link-building technique, see Visme’s How to Use Infographics to Boost SEO and Build Links

Guest posting

Guest posting is a popular link-building technique amongst bloggers.

In this technique, you write a piece of content for another website. In return, the other website gives you a do-follow link back to your website.

But there’s a question mark that hangs over guest posting as a link building technique.

Google is not keen on backlinks derived from guest posting.

This is because in guest posting the backlink is part of a quid pro quo (or “this for that”).

The only backlinks that Google really likes are links where there was no exchange.

In other words, the linking website links to a web page because that page provides a valuable piece of content.

But the link you get in guest posting is not a link to a valuable piece of content. Instead, it’s a form of payment.

Five years ago, Google’s Matt Cutts seemed to sound the death knell over guest blogging:

On the other hand, guest blogging is still very much alive. So, it must be working as a link-building strategy.

For more background on this issue see Search Engine Land’s Stick A Fork In It, Guest Blogging Is Done.

Writing statistics-based articles

Bloggers and journalists are always looking for statistics to give their articles more credibility.

If you write statistics-based articles AND you manage to get those articles on Page #1 of Google, expect to get some valuable backlinks.

Journalists write for news sites which typically have very high domain authority (DA 80 and above). So if you get a few links from media/news sites, your own DA will get a nice boost!

But it’s not enough to just regurgitate statistics from another website. If possible, try and create your own statistics. You can do this by compiling tables of information that no one has so far put together.

For example, if you have a real estate website, you could compile a table showing median sale prices in the last 12 months for a given suburb. If you run an outdoor recreation site, you could compile a table showing average prices for different brands of quad bike. You get the idea…

People in your industry will link to those kind of resources!

Here are some things you should definitely avoid doing when building backlinks:

Never pay for backlinks

Never, ever pay for backlinks.

Paid backlinks are always spammy, and very low quality. Google will detect that you paid for these backlinks. And those links will likely earn you a Google penalty.

Avoid reciprocal linking

Reciprocal linking is where you link to a website and in exchange, they link to you. Google can easily detect reciprocal links.

In the best-case scenario, Google will discount both links. So neither website will gain any benefit.

In the worst-case scenario, you may get hit with a penalty because it looks to Google like a ‘link scheme’.

Google has published a short article on link schemes. In this article, Google defines reciprocal linking as a link scheme.

Avoid irrelevant backlinks

Irrelevant backlinks will damage your link profile.

Let’s say your website is about baking bread and you get a backlink from a skin cancer clinic. That’s an unnatural backlink and could attract a Google penalty.

Avoid low-value, self-built links

Self-built links are backlinks that you create. This could be through commenting on blog posts for example. Google considers these kinds of backlinks low-value and discounts them.

If you do enough of this kind of link-building, you may even attract a Google penalty.

Avoid sitewide backlinks

Sitewide backlinks are links to your site that appear on every page of the linking website. They often appear in the sidebar or the footer of a website.

These kinds of links were once a popular black-hat SEO technique. With sitewide backlinks, you could get hundreds of backlinks from a single website.

The Penguin 2.0 Update in May 2013 put an end to this practice. Sitewide backlinks may now result in a penalty to your website.

Avoid backlinks from pages with more than 100 links

Avoid getting links from pages with more than 100 external links. To search engines, these kinds of pages look like link farms, created for selling links. Backlinks from these kinds of pages will only harm your SEO.

Never use a service that submits your site to search engines

Never use any kind of service that submits your site to multiple search engines.

These services result in spammy backlinks. They will likely earn your website a penalty from Google.

Never offer to sell backlinks or link insertions

Google hates the practice of selling or buying backlinks and it’s a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. If you get caught doing this, expect a penalty from Google.

In October 2015 Google announced a new algorithm: RankBrain. RankBrain studies and measures user experience (UX) of your web page.

How users interact with your web page creates a number of metrics such as:

• Click Through Rate (CTR)
• Bounce Rate
• Time on Page
• Exit Rate
• Return to SERPs

It’s believed that RankBrain watches these metrics closely.

That’s because these metrics tell Google if your web page answered the searcher’s search query.

And that’s all Google really cares about: whether the searcher found what they were looking for.

– Click Through Rate (CTR)

Click Through Rate or CTR is the number of times searchers click on your listing in the search results.

If your listing gets fewer clicks than the listing below you in the SERPs, Google will move you down and move the other one up.

And if you don’t do anything to improve your CTR, your web page will eventually fall off Page #1 altogether.

A low CTR indicates to Google that your web page does not match the search query.

For tips on how to improve your organic CTR, see TorqueMag’s article: How to Improve Organic CTR (Click-through Rate) in WordPress.

– Bounce Rate

Bounce Rate records the number of times visitors come to your website and leave from the same page they entered, without visiting any other page on your website.

A high bounce rate is usually negative.

Why?

Because it indicates to Google that there was nothing on your website that was relevant to your visitor.

For tips on how to reduce bounce rate, see Neil Patel’s article: 13 Ways to Reduce Bounce Rate and Increase Your Conversions.

– Return to SERPs

Return to SERPs is the amount of time a searcher spends on your page before clicking back to the search results or SERPs page.

Let’s say a searcher clicks on your link, then immediately hits the back button and returns to the SERPs page. This tells Google that your web page did not match the searcher’s query.

– Time on Page

Time on Page is the amount of time a searcher spends on your page after clicking your listing in the search results

The longer your visitor spends on your page, the more likely it is that your content answered the searcher’s query.

If your average ‘Time on Page’ is higher than the web page immediately above you, Google will move your page up and move the other page down.

These user engagement metrics are vital if you want to stay on Page #1 of the search results.

With poor user engagement metrics, your page will start sliding down the SERPs.

And before you know it, you’ll be on Page #2.

For tips on how to increase Time on Page, see OptinMonster’s article: 11 Hacks to Increase Visitors’ Average Time Spent on Site.

In July 2018 Google announced the ‘Google Speed Update’ to their algorithm.

This made official what SEO’s had long suspected: website speed is a ranking factor.

In 2016 Google’s John Mueller suggested websites aim for a load speed of between 2 and 3 seconds (Source: SERoundTable).

In 2016 SEO whizz Brian Dean analyzed over 1 M search results to find out what factors make a page rank on Page #1 of Google.

Brian found that web pages that rank in positions #1 and #2 on Google have an average load time of 2 seconds or less:

Even pages that rank in position #10 have an average load time of less than 2.5 seconds.

This study shows a strong correlation between website speed and Google ranking.

Here are three strategies I’ve used to get my web pages loading in less than 2 seconds:

• Use Cloudflare nameservers (free)
• Use a free website performance plugin such as Swift
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) such as StackPath ($10 p/month)

For a good tutorial on how to customize the settings in Swift, see this article by Tom Depuis: The Ideal Swift Performance Settings With Cloudflare + StackPath CDN Setup Instructions

One of the easiest ways to speed up your website is to delete unnecessary WordPress plugins.

All WordPress plugins will slow down your site to some extent, but some are worse (in this regard) than others.

For a list of the worst offending plugins see Small Biz Daily’s article: Top 10 WordPress Plugins That Slow Down Your Website

Another easy way to speed up your website is to optimize your images.

Images often account for up to 80% of the size of a web page, as you can see in this analysis of one of my web pages:

StatCounter reports that in late 2016 mobile overtook desktop as the main source of internet traffic:

By October 2015 more than half of all Google searches were on mobile devices.

Not surprisingly, Google began changing its algorithm to favor mobile. In April 2015, Google announced the so-called ‘Mobilegeddon Update’.

This update gave ranking preference to websites that display well mobile devices: