Google is at the top of search engine pile and they have achieved so much by constantly updating their algorithms and gradually making their systems more intelligent and foolproof. Google has been sticking out to improve their techniques and when it comes to ranking your websites higher in searches, those good old “Black Hat” techniques have slowly been ironed out.

Not only does this mean that Search Engine Marketers have had to up their game and follow the prescribed and approved techniques but also has made Google one of the most trusted search engines in the modern day. The recent Google Algorithm Update emphasized on page load speeds and also ironed out few of the persistent loopholes in their system.

When you talk about getting ranked higher in Google searches, there are a lot of factors that have and still contribute to the overall ranking. However, with constant updates, ranking factors have evolved greatly and older not so significant ones have been diminished with newer much more efficient and acceptable ones getting the spotlight ever so brightly in the recent past.

Here are some of the most significant website ranking factor that still hold their ground even after the recent Google Algorithm Update:

1: Maturity of Mobile First

Google has been shedding the spotlight on Mobile First indexing and its impact on searches overall for a very long time. Although this one should not be a surprise to most of the SEO community, yet its importance is just too great not to mention it at all. Where in the past pages and sites used to get ranked only from their desktop versions, today, a cumulative score of mobile platform and also desktop one contributes to the overall ranking.

Considering the fact that mobile searches have surpassed desktop searches this year, it is understandable why Google emphasizes on mobile first so much. A separate mobile optimized page and site presence is required that serves its purpose on smaller screens and different platform efficiently.

Having your website mobile optimized with mobile friendly content on it is only beneficial as well. Many surveys have revealed that you are more likely to get a convertible lead from mobile searches than you are from desktop searches.

2: Loading Speeds for Webpages

As mentioned earlier, the recent Google Algorithm Update purely worked around page load speeds. This always used to be a ranking factor but with this recent update, more significance has been provided to it. Shorter your webpage or website takes to load up on its respective platform, better it will be ranked by Google’s bots and algorithms.

Having well optimized websites and pages for both platforms desktop and mobile is the best thing you can do. Internal coding of a website will always play a significant role as well. Nature of content on it and its relativity will make a page or site load faster or slower too. You must do whatever it takes to make your webpages and sites load quicker. An average time of around 4 to 5 seconds is acceptable, anything above that will get penalized.

Google works around a better experience for all its users. A quicker loading page or site is always better to visit by users as well and is more likely to have people pay attention to it and the content that is on it than a slow loading website. The later will always be more prone to be closed out and be regarded as ineffective.

3: Google’s Renunciation of Cookies

This should also not be a surprise to the SEO community as Google has been teasing their moving away from cookies for a long time. Google’s very own John Muller said on his Twitter feed that they are just not able to index a website that makes use of cookies. This of course has and will have major effects on information collection and its usage by different websites.

The news might not be new but websites that relied on cookies to gain user information will certainly have to change their ways and adapt new techniques of doing so. Cookie dependency will have to be removed. This was of course Google’s effort to not have themselves involved in information stealing from users without them knowing about it.

Gaining information through user’s intent is the answer to this puzzle. You must find out ways of achieving that and take cookies out of your website’s system to get indexed by Google.

4: Content Is Still King

That good old saying “Content is King” is still going strong. In fact, it is now even stronger than it has ever been. The shape of king content might have changed and there might have been new requirements regarding content both on-page and off-page in order for it to become king in Google’s new and evolved algorithms.

For a long time, more is better has worked. More is still good but it has to be high quality to get ranked higher today as well. Google’s crawlers have gotten so much more intelligent than what they used to be and now understand the basic purpose of content being on a website or a webpage. Some major traits required in content these days are:

• It has to be 100% relevant
• Keyword stuffing is just not allowed
• Content has to be written in an easy to understand way
• It must be engaging in any way possible
• Problem solving content will be ranked higher
• Visual relevant content like gifs, infographics or images and videos are of great importance
• Content should be spread across the whole website in a balanced way
• Meta Titles, Meta Descriptions and all other on-page content should be keyword optimized

5: Importance of User Engagement

A website or webpage will only be ranked higher if it is user engaging. The amount of time an average user spends on a page or site will play an important role in it getting ranked higher by Google. To get users spending more time on a website or a webpage, content needs to be engaging. This also shows the importance of content.

You can use whichever type of content to engage users. Textual content, video content or static images and GIF content are all great in their own right depending on the nature of website. A combination of more than one forms of content from the mentioned ones is usually the best solution. Active user engagement is a great offence for any website’s ranking in Google’s systems.

6: Expanding Your Keyword Base

All experienced SEO Experts know the value of keywords in search rankings. In fact, getting your keywords ranked higher in Google Searches is the best way to getting top spots in rankings as well. It is keywords that boost your website’s Domain Authority and Page Authority. However, things have changed with keyword strategy recently from Google.

Where things were good with on a few short keywords in the past, with increasing competition, that is no longer the case. Google advises website owners to go for a large number of keywords including key-phrases and long tail keywords as well. This increases your chances of getting direct search hits and hence be ranked higher as a result.

A good quality keyword research is key to boosting chanced of getting relevant workable keywords. When you have finally gotten the most relevant and actionable keywords for your website and webpages, it’s time to work on them with link building and other techniques.

7: Adapting to New Search Patterns

Search patterns are changing. Voice search is on the rise around the world. Modern people find it much easier to search with their voices instead of having to type in. Traditional text searches have also evolved greatly. Where people used to type in direct keywords in searches, today long phrases usually in shapes of questions are being typed in.

Including voice searches in your website is a great ranking booster and getting your website optimized for voice searches will land a lot more traffic on your homepage. Similarly, having your long phrases and questions optimized will also pull in a lot of traffic to your website.

General user’s search patterns will have to be studied and your website and pages will have to be optimized according to those search patterns.

8: Internal Linking Matters Most

One of the most significant ranking factors that have lasted the test of time and still contribute some solid ranking points is internal linking on a website. This is how Google interprets a website to be navigation friendly. All your pages must be interlinked efficiently making it easier for Google’s crawlers to look for certain information on your pages.

In true honesty, having your website internally linked helps users collect information they might be looking for as well. Imagine a visa consultancy website that offers all kinds of visa help for any given country. A user who is on a work visa page is likely to need information on immigration visa for that particular country as well. A link directing to the immigration page will help everyone out and make the website more map able at the same time.

When you website is not internally linked, it will be hard for Google to find out its structure and consider all pages on it to be relevant. Your website can easily lose important ranking points when internal linking is missing.

9: Quality Link Building

Then we come to the small matter of link building. Importance of link building has always been up for debate, yet SEO experts from around the world agree on it being one of the pillar stones of Search Engine Optimization. Recent updates from Google have magnified the importance of Good Quality link building, do focus on the emphasis on “Good Quality”.

‘More links are better’ is a phrase that had been used in the past in many SEO Offices from around the world. However, the modern phrase ‘Quality links are better’ has now replaced the old on completely. If you go for too many links that are not great quality, your website will actually get penalized.

Link building actually refers to posting relevant content on higher ranked blogs, websites and pages with a backlink to your own website. This will increase its visibility hence increasing traffic incoming. Good quality link building is achieved by posting good quality content on blogs, sites and pages with much higher Domain Authority and visibility across your domain. Be sure to find as many good links as possible and also remove all of the bad ones that might contribute to negative SEO.

10: On-Page Optimization of All Your Pages

On-page optimization for all separate pages still plays one of the most important roles in creating that website map for Google’s Crawlers and Bots. This might not be that much of a concern for your users or readers but is very important to get ranked higher. Different parameters of on-page optimization require keyword research for all pages separately. One set of keywords will not be good enough for all your pages and that should flow right through the website design.

Similarly, factors like your Meta-Titles, Meta-Descriptions and/or Header Tags should all be optimized for all pages. These should always fall in line with the content on all pages. A page with Canadian Immigration Visa on a visa consultancy website should have its title, description and header tags modified according to the content on it and a page for UK Student Visa should get its own set of on-page optimization techniques.

If you are looking for an expert SEO services provider who can not only get your website ranked at the top spots in Google Searches but can also improve the overall digital marketing techniques for your online business, www.seo.com.pk provide a complete package. We offer best quality SEO services, Google AdWords Campaigns, Facebook ads campaigns and also many other digital marketing services for all parts of the world. Get affordable solutions for your online businesses and make your website the next big thing in the digital world of the Internet.