So many new aspects have enhanced the ways of gaining high visibility for websites that nowadays people are asking if ranking high in search results is still the only way to do well in search engine optimization. The fact is that no matter what improvements have happened to SEO, ranking high in search results is still the way to excel in SEO. And this is the reason that people are always talking about ranking factors. Everyone is trying to decipher the secret ingredients of Google algorithms to gain mileage in their efforts of earning high ranks. People believe that once they can know what the ranking factors are and please them; they could be miles ahead in the race for earning the top spot in search results.
Now, the problem is that it is never a good tactic to try to chase all the ranking factors as it will leave you disillusioned in no time. What really pays is to build the best website and first understand what ranking factors are. Numerous factors come into play for judging websites to determine its worth that influences their ranking on the search result page. Elements like site structure, content quality, user experience, user signals, links, reputation, and technical considerations all come into play. Search engines consider hundreds of factors, but for this article, we will discuss only a few chosen ones that seem to impact ranking considerably.
Focus on user experience
According to Jacob Joseph Edward Clear, the founder of an Internet Media and Advertising Company, user experience or UX is undoubtedly a ranking factor although there is no direct method of measuring it on any given scale. It is an influential ranking factor but acts indirectly. For example, if the user experience is poor, traffic will reduce, and no one would show interest in your website. On the contrary, when visitors find the website pleasing, they would not only spend more time on it but also recommend it to many others and keep coming back to it again and again. Effectively, it increases engagement, reduces bounce rate, and does a lot of good that helps to improve ranking. Google picks up the signals of user experience and ties them together to judge website quality that influences ranking.
Be alert about the bounce rate
Bounce rate is another ranking factor, which is the cumulative effect of lots of things happening on your website. Unlike user experience, Bounce rate is a measurable factor directly related to user experience and a lower bounce rate means users are happy, so also search engines. When visitors are disheartened soon after visiting your website either because of poor website design, too many advertisements, and inferior content or for any other reason, it results in increasing the bounce rate. Google picks up the signals, and it negatively impacts ranking. Addressing the issues will undoubtedly help to reverse the trend and improve the user experience, which will likely improve ranking.
On the other hand, the bounce rate is not always as negative as we think it to be. How quickly visitors go away from websites is the way to measure bounce rate. They can get all the information and answers immediately upon visiting the landing page and therefore need not spend more to look into other pages but quit it on a happy note. In such a case, the bounce rate is not a negative factor.
Speed matters a lot in ranking
Google has made it very clear many times that website speed is a ranking factor. But this does not mean that there is a race for making websites speedier because only slow websites will experience poor ranking. It means that the impact is only on a small percentage of websites, but on the other hand, it has a considerable impact on user experience. People prefer faster websites, and since Google’s focus is on improving user experience, it becomes imperative to improve the speed of websites. Therefore, even if not felt important for ranking, at least for improved user experience it is crucial to have speedier sites which will then automatically result in improved ranking because of reduced bounce rate, more backlinks, etc. When users are happy, it makes search engines happy too, and naturally ranking would improve.
The role of Meta description in ranking
How much does Meta description impact ranking or help to improve it? This often-asked question does not have any definite answer because the Meta description of web pages might appear under the title in the search result page figuring your website, but there is no guarantee about it. Sometimes, Google might show something else instead. However, a good Meta description will surely give you a better chance of showcasing your website because if shown then there are good chances that it can improve CTR (Click through rate) as there would be more clarity about your website on the search result page itself. Therefore, the Meta description might ultimately influence the traffic reaching the site and effectively have some positive impact on ranking.
Content length is not a ranking factor
There is a wrong idea that longer content is useful for earning a high rank. Content length has nothing to do with ranking, but the quality of content is what matters most. To create quality content that answers all the queries of people, it cannot be short and flimsy but elaborate enough to address the issues comprehensively. Therefore, there cannot be any specified content length because even 1000-word content may be of better quality than 2500-word content. The idea is to convey value to the audience with the content, and its length can be as much as needed to fulfill your goal of achieving the right quality. Simply put, there is no need to restrict your content length and at the same time, no need to keep stretching but concentrate on fulfilling your goal of providing the right amount of content to users.
Instead of focusing exclusively on ranking factors, the best way to do well in SEO is to create the best website by following the best practices. This would ensure that many of the things discussed above would automatically fall in place and improve ranking.
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