How Google’s Algorithm Ranks Your Website

Every time someone searches on Google, they engage with an incredibly complex algorithm even though they may not completely understand it. Google uses an algorithm to return results from any search query automatically. The algorithm can instantaneously return results based on a variety of factors. For digital markets or businesses looking to improve their visibility, understanding these factors is vital to optimizing your page in the most effective way possible.

Quality of Content

One of the essential factors that the algorithm considers is the quality of your website’s written content. While quality was an important factor in the past, it could often be circumnavigated through stuffing keywords into a given page. However, with an update called Panda, Google put an even heavier emphasis on high-quality content.

Google’s algorithm will analyze content on a page to make sure it is properly formatted, with little to no spelling or grammatical errors. At the same time, Google also looks to make sure that the content is original, meaning that it is not copied from another site or source and that it is not a simple rewording of another site.

When working with SEO content, it is crucial to ensure that all written content is entirely original and well-thought-out. Planning out content and putting in time and effort is needed to get a page to rank higher.

Relevance of Content

Even the highest-quality content still needs to be relevant to the original search query. One of the most straightforward ways that Google analyzes relevancy is the use of keywords or phrases. Google will look at keywords used in a search query and check them against words used in a piece of content, choosing to focus mainly on the content that uses those keywords in headings. 

Google will also analyze content to ensure the page contains the answer to the searched question instead of just the question itself. This aspect of Google’s algorithm is incredibly sophisticated, and they continue to refine and improve it as time goes on.

Usability and Functionality

Even perfectly written content might be buried on a search engine results page if the website itself is not up to par. Not only does Google analyze the content on the site, but they also look at the website itself. Loading speeds, formatting, ease of use, and ability to appear correctly on different browsers and platforms are all factors that Google considers on a website.

One significant aspect of a website’s functionality is its ability to be appropriately used and read from mobile devices. More than half of internet users browse from either a phone or tablet, so a webpage’s mobile readiness and appearance have never been more critical. The attention of web designers often primarily focuses on the desktop appearance of a site. Still, in the modern industry, an equal amount of effort should be put into ensuring the mobile version is the best it can be.

The good news for many is that Google provides several free tools for business owners to ensure that their site is up to par. Google has a service called Test My Site that will show a site’s speed and compare that speed to similar sites. 

Authority Score and Reputation of the Website

Writing SEO-friendly content is not enough sometimes. A great writer still needs to be careful when creating optimized content, especially when it comes to linking sources. Every website has a score that represents its reliability and credibility. Google will rank websites with a better authority score higher than a website with a low score. Every time a company links out to another website, Google checks the link’s quality and directly relates that quality to the site.

Suppose a piece of content uses an optimal amount of links, and those links all come from credible sources with a good reputation. In that case, Google will naturally give that content a boost and the website a higher authority score. Building quality links within the content is crucial, but doing so in the wrong way can be detrimental to a website.

Content will be penalized if using links from questionable sources or trying to mislead people with your content by using bad sources purposefully. Google will not only consider your site to be reputable but may even try to bury your content even lower on a results page. Whenever writing content, you must pay close attention to the sites you are linking to in order to avoid penalties from Google’s algorithm. 

Taking shortcuts, or using methods outside of Google’s intended methods, is often referred to as Black Hat SEO techniques. One of the most significant violations of Google’s terms and conditions is purchasing links. Often, overseas companies will sell backlinks, meaning that they will place links to your content in theirs. However, their content is often low-quality and stuffed with links with little to no relevance. If Google catches a website engaging in this practice, they may level costly penalties against a site that can have a long-term impact.

Contact Us

With the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing, it can be challenging to navigate the field on your own. At Transparent Strategies, we make sure we are constantly up-to-date on the latest policies and trends across all search platforms and browsers so that we can make sure your marketing strategy is always the best option.

At Transparent Strategies, we have your best interests at heart. We focus on transparent and ethical marketing strategies that are completely catered to your business’s unique needs. Our company is different, and we believe that your marketing strategy should reflect that. Other marketing agencies will use generic “one-size-fits-all” marketing strategies to cut down on time and work they need to invest. We guarantee that we will build a complete plan from the ground up that works best for you. Never let a marketing company talk you into a campaign that doesn’t convert or wastes your money. We get results, and most importantly, you keep the data!