Website ranking

How do you make your product visible online? Creating a website and filling it with content isn’t enough. You need to implement a set of measures that influence your website’s ranking, bring it to the top of search results for keywords, and, most importantly, attract your target audience.

From this article you will learn:

• What is ranking (of a website);
• How search engines rank web resources and why their algorithms are constantly changing;
• What ranking factors should be taken into account first and much more.

We’ll explore specific ranking mechanisms, provide examples, and show you how to improve your website’s search rankings. Let’s get started!

What are search engine ranking algorithms?

Ranking algorithms are methods of filtering the results of user queries in search engines that determine the order in which websites are displayed in search results on Google and other search engines.

In simple terms, ranking is a set of rules that, when followed, elevates your website to the top and elevates it above competitors. Therefore, to rank in the top three or at least the top ten search results, you need to consider these factors, optimize them, and ensure maximum relevance of your pages to search queries.

The analysis of the relevance of a web resource is carried out according to three basic criteria:

1. The meaning and content of the pages must correspond to the user’s request.
2. The site’s compliance with specified search engine algorithms and the absence of so-called black hat optimization tools.
3. Link ranking based on the number and quality of visits to the site from other web resources.
4. Many people confuse the terms “ranking” and “indexing.” There’s a huge difference between them.

What is indexing?

Website indexing is the process of “reading” a website’s pages by search engines, which extracts and stores the necessary data about their composition. Indexing is an integral part of ranking, but not a synonym for it!

The indexing process can be divided into several stages:

1. Sending a request by a search engine.
2. Reading your website.
3. Filtering and clustering data.
4. Recording indexing results in the search engine database.

Please note! Indexing is not a one-time process. Search engines periodically re-index to keep the information up-to-date.

Search engines typically index your site automatically unless the webmaster has blocked your site or individual pages from indexing. However, you can speed up this process by manually submitting your site to search engines.

What is ranking?

Search engine ranking is the direct sorting of websites in Google and other search engine results, based, among other things, on indexing results.

The ranking process is as follows:

1. Submitting a search query.
2. “Understanding” of this request by the system.
3. Displaying relevant search results.
4. Filter results, exclude duplicates and irrelevant pages.
5. Sorting according to the search engine’s internal algorithms and displaying the final list of sites on the search results page.

In other words, indexing and ranking are interconnected, but by no means interchangeable, processes. Indexing is the analysis of a website. Ranking is the assignment of a specific rank to it, which determines its position in search results for keywords.

How search engines rank websites

There are dozens of website ranking criteria that have remained relevant for years:

1. Commercial links. The more external sites link to your resource, the more trusted it is by search engines. However, there’s a caveat: since 2020, Google has learned to identify “artificial” and spammy links. An excess of these can lead to a serious ranking penalty.
2. Age of the site. Google’s official position is that domain age has no impact on a website’s ranking. However, in practice, new websites perform significantly worse.
3. Content type and quality. Blog posts, product cards, categories, and landing pages rank differently. High-quality, unique, and relevant content helps boost a website’s rankings. Conversely, filler text and non-unique images lower rankings. And in some cases, they can even push a website into search filters, making recovery a difficult and tedious task.

And this is just a tiny fraction of the ranking factors. We’ll cover more details about how ranking works and what you need to pay special attention to later in the article.

As mentioned above, website ranking algorithms and criteria are constantly changing and improving. For example, in 2021, Google introduced new quality assessment factors—Core Web Vitals.

There are more than ten of these factors, but there are three most important:

1. The speed at which the main content on the page is rendered.
2. Minimum wait time before first interaction with content.
3. Visual stability of the content and the absence of any obstacles to interaction with it.

This means that the priority now goes to websites that render faster, look correct, and with which the user can begin interacting more quickly.

Google Search Ranking Principles

There’s no single list of search engine ranking factors. Moreover, they vary across search engines. Consequently, there are hundreds of them. And if we dig deeper and try to break these factors down into their individual components, there are thousands. Therefore, the list is endless. And given the constant changes in algorithms, this list will become outdated faster than we can compile it.

Take a look at how much ranking factors have changed over the past few years:

There is a list of internal and external ranking factors that are basic and relevant. We propose focusing on these.

Domain ranking factors

A domain is the first thing a search engine can tell about your website. It also plays a significant role in the ranking process. Numerous parameters are taken into account, from the domain’s age to any penalties it may already have.

Website (domain) age

As we wrote above, the older the domain, the better for ranking a resource. Although Google continues to deny this.

Domain renewal period

If a domain is renewed for a year or more, it increases search engines’ trust in it. Conversely, a renewal of just a month could indicate that the site is fraudulent and will soon be shut down.

Domain history

Regular changes in domain ownership or its prolonged release may cause a deterioration in the website’s ranking.

Hiding WHOIS data

Hiding contact and technical information about the registered domain owner can also negatively impact a website’s search engine rankings. However, there’s a caveat: in the .ru domain name extension, this information is hidden by default.

Domain zone

A domain extension, on the one hand, improves a website’s ranking within a country or region, but on the other, it negatively impacts its global ranking. So, if your website is in the .ua domain extension, don’t expect it to rank high in search results in Russia or Belarus. And vice versa.

Penalties applied to the domain

This is particularly interesting. For example, if you purchased a dozen domains, and several of them were subsequently penalized, there’s a high probability that other sites will also be removed from search results.

Content ranking factors

Content is everything! Its role in search engine rankings is difficult to overestimate. And it’s not just about the quality of the text or the uniqueness of the images on the website’s pages.

Headlines

A page must have headings of several levels—H1, H2, H3, and so on. You can limit yourself to H1-H3 headings, but if the content allows, it’s worth using lower-level headings as well. Don’t forget about the page title, header, and so on.

Availability of Meta Description

Description is a short description of the page that appears in search results.

Keyword citation frequency

If the primary keyword is cited more often than others on a page, this is a ranking benefit. Conversely, if it is displaced by other keywords, this may negatively impact the resource’s ranking.

Content volume

It’s believed that long and informative text helps improve a website’s search rankings. Many SEO specialists recommend adding at least 2,000 words of text to pages. However, firstly, it’s not just the length but also the quality of the content that matters. Secondly, not all pages are suitable for such long reads.

Number of keywords on a page (particularly at the beginning of the page)

Relevance is influenced not only by the number of keywords and phrases, but also by their placement in the text. We recommend placing them primarily at the beginning.

The presence of synonyms of keywords and phrases in headings and text

We’re talking about LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing)—words and phrases that are semantically related to the primary keyword but don’t duplicate it. However, LSI isn’t limited to synonyms; it can also include any words and phrases that logically relate to the main query. For example, in a text with the main keyword “buy an iPhone in Kyiv,” it would be useful to use LSI words like “Apple,” “smartphone,” “online store,” “Kyiv,” and others.

The presence of different keywords on one page

Related relevant keywords and phrases also influence ranking. They can either improve a site’s ranking by complementing the primary search query, or they can detract from it. Therefore, it’s crucial to properly segment the semantic core rather than randomly throwing in keywords.

To automatically divide similar queries into groups, you can use the SerpStat service by selecting the menu item “Tools” – “Clustering and Text Analytics”.

Lists, tables, highlights, etc.

Well-structured text with lists and tables not only improves user experience but also helps your website rank better in Google and other search engines.

User-friendliness of the page

Microdata, metadata, and tags are all important for ranking. Search engines love user-friendly websites.

Uniqueness of content (texts, images)

Your content must be unique, period! Text, titles, images, link attributes, image alt tags, and so on. Non-unique content can send your site into search engine filters faster than you can fill it completely.

rel=canonical links

Canonical URLs are addresses that are indexed when a site contains duplicate pages. To ensure proper indexing, you must manually designate canonical pages by adding the rel=canonical attribute to the tag.

Website update frequency

If you update your website regularly, this encourages search engines to index it more frequently. Conversely, if a resource hasn’t been updated in a while, it’s indexed less frequently.

Regular updating and updating of pages

Any information becomes outdated. Keep it current and up-to-date—this also helps your website’s ranking.

Note: Old pages that have been updated and updated with fresh information (if they are relevant to the old text and URL) carry much more ranking weight than new ones. Therefore, it’s usually wiser to update them rather than create them from scratch.

Age of pages

In this regard, it’s difficult to definitively assess how ranking algorithms work. On the one hand, search engines “love” new and relevant content. But on the other, older pages often rank better.

Different keyword formulations

Again, this is also a tricky area. Using only direct matches (for example, “buy iPhone in Kyiv”) will help your site rank higher for that specific query. However, using other keywords (for example, “cheap iPhone in Kyiv”) helps search engines better understand what your page is actually about.

Links to authoritative resources
Many people talk about the importance of external links pointing to your website, forgetting about outbound links. And they are also important. By linking to authoritative sites, you automatically increase search engines’ trust in your own site.

Note: The link must be set to nofollow. These are hyperlinks with the rel attribute set to “nofollow.”

Number of outgoing links

Don’t overdo it. Outbound links are important, but within reasonable limits—they shouldn’t distract users from the main content or, more importantly, lead them to third-party resources.

The presence of broken links

Broken links are a clear signal to search engines that a website isn’t being maintained properly. Therefore, search engine rankings can be ineffective.

Multimedia on the page

Videos, images, animations, various charts (including animated ones), and the like are important. These elements can improve the behavioral factors of website visitors, which, in turn, positively impact rankings.

Readability and informativeness of the text

Avoid overcomplicating text content with complex terminology, huge tables, formulas, and the like. It should be clear and easily understood. However, avoid overly simple texts either. A “golden mean” is needed.

Errors in the text

Errors in text are bad. Firstly, they impair user experience and reduce trust in your website. Secondly, search engines have learned to “notice” them and use them as a ranking criterion.

Page category

It’s important to understand the page hierarchy correctly. Pages within a single category will be more relevant to the keywords in that category, while pages without a category will be less relevant.

URL length

Search engines aren’t too fond of long URLs. So try to shorten them whenever possible. But don’t overdo it. The address should be readable and reasonably informative.

Note: Don’t include the date in the URL, as search engines will simply stop reading it after a year, deeming it outdated. However, you can include the year/month in H1-level headings. You can update the information later and make it current at any time. You can’t update the date in the URL.

Keywords in URLs

Keywords directly in the URL also influence search engine rankings. They work on the same principle as keywords in titles.

PageRank

PageRank is a Google algorithm that determines the importance of a website’s page among others. The higher the PageRank, the greater the likelihood of reaching the top of search results.

Validity of HTML web resource

It’s impossible to say with 100% certainty that HTML validity directly impacts a website’s ranking, but the likelihood is high. You can check validity at validator.w3.org, but verification is only available after registration.

Download speed

It’s simple. The faster the page loads, the better. You can speed it up in a variety of ways: by reducing the code size, lowering the image resolution, using more modern formats, and so on. If a page takes more than 2-3 seconds to load, it’s time to optimize it.

Site-Wide Ranking Factors

When ranking, search engines evaluate not only each individual page but the entire website as a whole. The key requirements are simplicity and convenience, usefulness, and meeting user expectations. If we consider the ranking mechanisms for an entire website separately, we can identify several key ones.

New and valuable information for the user

Even among top resources, there’s a huge amount of duplicate information that “migrates” from site to site—rewritten texts and hastily customized images. Search engines are becoming increasingly better at recognizing borrowed content and prioritizing only new, relevant information.

Site structure

The better your website is structured, the better it will be indexed, the faster the ranking process will be, and the better the results will be. Furthermore, structuring makes pages more understandable and user-friendly. And improving user experience is a key metric for SEO.

Number of website pages in search results

The rule is simple: the more landing pages, the better for ranking.

Availability of a sitemap

A sitemap is one of the webmaster’s key tools. It helps search engines quickly find and index individual pages.

Website uptime

Regular website crashes and long recovery times negatively impact rankings. Don’t even expect it to reach the top.

Server geographic location

If the server is located far away, the website’s loading speed decreases. This also reduces trust in the site—both from search engines and from users. Server location is especially important for geo-referenced rankings.

SSL security certificate

Sites with a default SSL certificate rank significantly better than those without one. Furthermore, the lack of a certificate causes the browser to report that the site is unsafe.

Website Privacy Policy

Not everyone agrees that this is an important factor in the ranking process. However, many experts agree that having terms and conditions/privacy policies increases search engine trust.

Breadcrumbs

These elements simplify website navigation, making the structure simpler and clearer. Ranking algorithms also take this into account.

Availability of YouTube videos on the website

It’s quite an interesting observation, but having YouTube videos on a website increases search engines’ trust in it. This is especially true for Google, as YouTube is their service.

Usability

The more user-friendly a website is for the end user and the fewer difficulties it causes during interaction, the more effective its ranking will be and the higher the resource will rise in search results.

Reviews of the site on other resources

If your site is mentioned on third-party sites, it’s good for ranking. But it’s not just the presence of reviews that matters, but also the type of reviews. There have been cases where excessively negative reviews have attracted the attention of search engines, leading to penalties.

Using Google Analytics

This isn’t just a convenient tool for developers, SEO specialists, and website owners, but also an important ranking factor. It automatically provides search engines with more important information about your website.

Favicon – website icon

Even something as small as a favicon can impact rankings and increase a website’s click-through rate (CTR). For example, when users see a favicon in search results, it can make your link stand out from the crowd and generate interest. This increases the number of clicks to your website, and search engine crawlers take this into account.

Link ranking factors

Let’s emphasize again that the more third-party sites link to your resource, the better for ranking. And if we delve deeper, it’s not just the quantity but also the quality of these links that matters.

Age of domains from which links come

The principle is the same as with trust in the website’s domain itself. The older the domains linking to your resource, the better. Links from top-level domains are especially important.

Number of links from different IPs

Ranking algorithms take into account the IP addresses from which links originate. The more IP addresses there are, the higher the site’s chances of reaching the top.

Special domain zones

It’s difficult to say right now how important this website ranking criterion is. But in the near future, it will likely be quite significant. It’s important to keep an eye on algorithm updates.

PageRank and TIC of referring pages

These are some of the key ranking factors that must be taken into account. High PageRank and TCI signal to search engines that a website can be trusted.

The presence of links from “bad” resources

Trying to “overwhelm” you with sheer numbers by placing external links on every possible platform is a dead end. They won’t yield any significant results, but they won’t cause any damage either. So, if competitors suddenly decide to “drown” your site by placing a hundred or so links to it on “bad” sites, they won’t achieve their goal.

Link diversity

Ensure that external links are placed on as diverse a variety of resources as possible, not just forums or Twitter. Furthermore, the links themselves should be diverse—text and image links, full and shortened, anchor and non-anchor. This has a positive impact on search engine rankings.

Nofollow links

It’s logical that search engines don’t take them into account. This is, in fact, the principle behind the rel=”nofollow” tag. But! Search engines “see” the presence of such links on a website and rate your resource as more “honest.”

Texts surrounding links

Search engines have learned to consider not only the link text itself but also its context—the words and phrases surrounding it. If the context is missing or inappropriate, it negatively impacts rankings.

Frequency and “quality” of resource citation

The more external links with “positive” context, the better for a site. Conversely, “negative” context lowers a site’s ranking.

Incoming link anchors

Anchor text is one of the most important link factors taken into account by search engines. Anchor text requires special attention.

The title attribute for links

The link title must be unique, relevant, and no longer than 55 characters including spaces. Never use the same title for different links.

Links from Wikipedia

A very subtle website ranking factor that we simply must mention. Wikipedia is a highly authoritative resource. And if a Wikipedia article cites your website as a source of information, that’s a huge plus.

Links from top-level domains

They are valued higher by search engines than links from lower-level domains. For example, a link from wezom.com.ua will be much more valuable than from wezom.com.ua/blog .

Site presence in directories: Yahoo! and others

Various major directories and aggregators can significantly increase search engines’ trust in your website. And presence on such platforms is an important ranking criterion.

Cross-cutting links

How other search engines perceive them isn’t entirely clear. But Google’s position is clear: it treats cross-links on pages as a single link.

Behavioral ranking factors

How users interact with your website is incredibly important. If visitors love your site, search engines will too. It’s that simple.

Page CTR in search results for a keyword

The page a user lands on through a keyword search must match that search query. Otherwise, they’ll immediately leave the site, which negatively impacts rankings.

CTR of sitelinks in snippets

This factor can also be perceived by search engines as a behavioral factor, although not always.

Total number of clicks on website pages

User activity and click-through rate influence a website’s ranking. These metrics can either improve or detract from a website’s search ranking.

Bounce rate

The bounce rate is what signals search engines whether your site meets user expectations. If your bounce rate is too high, you definitely shouldn’t expect to rank high for keywords. However, it’s important to note that Google calculates bounce rates differently.

Returning the user to the search after visiting the site

If someone returns to the search engine after exploring your website, it means they haven’t found the information they need. Consequently, your site’s ranking will drop. So, it’s time to work on your content—refining and updating it.

Number of direct visits to the site

If users come to a site not from a search, but directly (for example, from the browser history or even by entering the URL manually), search engines value this ranking factor very highly.

Repeat visits

Search engines can see that a user has already visited the site and returned again. This is also a positive signal that influences rankings and improves the resource’s position in search results.

The presence of the site in the browser bookmarks

This ranking mechanism doesn’t work in all browsers. However, Google Chrome, for example, “sees” if a site is bookmarked and rates it favorably.

User time on site

If people spend time on a website rather than leaving it after a few seconds, this indicates the content is useful and relevant. Therefore, it’s crucial to engage users and keep them on the page.

Viewing depth

When people don’t limit themselves to viewing a single page, but rather “browse” the site, this also has a positive impact on ranking. But there’s a caveat. Too many page transitions may indicate that people can’t find the information they need. And that’s a negative.

Availability of reviews and comments on the website

The very presence of a comment section with the ability to leave your own is an important indicator of a resource’s openness and quality. This will improve the site’s search ranking.

Social ranking factors

How users respond to your website is an important ranking factor. Search engines, in turn, consider a range of social signals.

Number of Twitter mentions and author authority

If your site is frequently and positively mentioned on Twitter, especially by reputable accounts, this is a powerful signal for search engines. So, if someone like Elon Musk tweets about you, it will trigger an unstoppable wave of social activity.

Number of likes on a social media page

If your page, for example, on Facebook, has a lot of likes and subscribers, this is also a positive signal for search engines.

Reposts

This is another website ranking criterion that can significantly improve its ranking. To encourage users to actively share your content, you need to create viral content or motivate them to take action through other means.

The authority of the accounts that link to your site

The more authoritative an account is about you, the faster your resource’s importance to search engines grows. This means that a mention in an account like Musk’s is incomparably more important than a mention by an average internet user.

Relevance of linking profiles

Yes, today search engines can consider not only an account’s authority but also its relevance to your website. And if the linking profile is relevant, it’s a ranking advantage.

The number of subscribers to your RSS feed

When users actively subscribe to an RSS feed, this also serves as a positive signal in the ranking process.

Brand ranking factors

It’s important to constantly build trust not only in your own website, but also in your brand. These are two different things, and brand factors are different too.

Brand mention frequency

Both link-based and unlinked mentions have a positive impact on a website’s ranking. In fact, in some cases, the latter option is even preferable.

Specifying the physical address of the company

Having your business address listed in Google’s mapping services also has a positive impact on rankings.

The actual proximity of the company

A search engine can take into account the user’s physical proximity to an office or online store. Depending on this, the user will receive relevant search results.

Multiple search results on a search page

Often, when you enter a company name, you’ll see the site appear in several search results. This is also a ranking factor.

Brand Presence on LinkedIn

Some search engines analyze whether a company (and even its employees) is on LinkedIn. If so, this has a positive impact on the site’s search rankings.

Content Spam Factors

There are simply a ton of negative ranking factors that can negatively impact your resource’s position.

Links to “bad” sites

“Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are.” Surprisingly, this rule applies here too. If you link to “bad” resources, search engines’ trust in you also decreases.

Substitution of content

Any attempt to alter website content, both for humans and for search algorithms, is considered fraud. Penalties will be appropriate, including the complete removal of the website from search results.

Hidden redirects

Any attempt to covertly redirect users to other sites and pages may have negative consequences for your resource, including de-indexing.

Text color that blends with the background

It used to work. A webmaster would add a “towel” of small white text with a bunch of keywords to a white page; search engines would read them and boost the site’s search rankings. But now, this approach works exactly the opposite.

Hidden content

Hidden content of any kind is generally considered bad practice. For example, blocks that only appear when hovered over. This doesn’t currently have a significant impact on site rankings. But this could change significantly in the future.

Too intrusive advertising

The desire to place more ads to make money isn’t the best approach, especially if they’re intrusive ads like pop-ups and other elements that obscure the main content.

Excessive and not entirely honest optimization of a website or individual pages

Search engines can catch you trying to inflate your SEO scores. Google even has a special algorithm for tracking such actions, called “Penguin.”

Features of placing ad units on a page

For example, webmasters sometimes try to place ads under a content block. While they’re effectively on the site, the user doesn’t see them. This “deception” doesn’t work—search engines have learned to spot it and take appropriate action using their ranking mechanisms.

Monotony of the resource

If your website is a near-exact copy of similar sites and is built using a template, don’t expect high rankings. This is especially true if combined with non-unique content.

Affiliated sites

Entrepreneurs and web developers often launch so-called affiliate sites—websites focused on the same topic and promoted using the same keywords and phrases. The goal is simple: to occupy as many top search results as possible and outshine competitors. However, search engines are now able to identify affiliate sites, which significantly impacts rankings.

Automatic content generation

The prospect of using auto-generating services, for example, for texts, without paying specialists, seems all too tempting. After all, there are already algorithms that create text based on keywords and phrases. But the quality of these “masterpieces” raises serious questions. And search engines detect them with lightning speed.

Link spam factors

In the early 2000s (and even a little later), it was enough to buy a lot of external links through a link exchange, and you’re done. Now, this method is far less effective. Yes, it can still be used. But it shouldn’t be the primary focus. Moreover, search engines have learned to use link ranking factors more accurately.

Rapid growth in the number of external links

If the number of external links suddenly skyrockets, it will only hurt your site’s search rankings. Search engines can easily detect that this is unnatural link building.

Links from the same IP address

The situation is similar. If links are directed from the same IP address, search engines perceive them as unnatural, and the site’s ranking declines.

Low-quality links

If the links are of low quality, posted on questionable resources, and are growing in number, this is another alarm bell for the search engine.

Mismatch between the page topic and incoming links

When a link to an online store selling handmade wallets is included in a text about washing machines, it looks strange to the user, at the very least. At the very most, search engines take this into account when ranking the site. Naturally, the results will be negative.

Selling links

If a website owner starts selling links themselves, especially in large quantities, this can also lead to certain penalties from search engines. Therefore, don’t put the desire to make money ahead of the prospects for developing your own website.

How to improve website rankings

As you’ve already realized, there’s a vast number of internal and external website ranking factors to consider. And before you start calculating how many years it will take to fix and improve all of this, we hasten to reassure you: it’s not as complicated as it seems at first glance.

By optimizing four key page parameters, you can achieve improved rankings:

1. Technical website optimization . Improving the mobile version, speeding up page loading, cleaning up the code, and implementing UX/UI design principles can significantly improve your website’s ranking.
2. Improving usability . The more user-friendly and intuitive your website’s interface is, the easier it is for users to interact with it. This improves behavioral factors, which, in turn, has a positive impact on rankings.
3. Content optimization . Again, readable, interesting, and useful texts (plus other content) improve user behavior and help your website rank high in search results.
4. Internal linking . Many people forget about it, but internal links are incredibly important. They help users find the pages they need more easily, simplify navigation, structure the site, and ultimately impact rankings.

Plus, let’s remember about such an external factor as link ranking: the number of external links leading to your site and the authority of the resources on which these links are posted.

Conclusions

Website ranking mechanisms change regularly, and algorithms are refined. Tools and methods that worked just a year ago may prove not only ineffective today, but also detrimental to your website. Therefore, website optimization and promotion is an ongoing process.

We recommend prioritizing the following areas of work:

1. Develop and regularly update your content. Remember: it must be high-quality!
2. Building an external link base on authoritative resources.
3. Correct title and description for all pages without exception.
4. Correction of broken links, unnecessary redirects, and micro-markup errors.
5. Continuous analysis of relevant keywords in your segment.

And most importantly, work with professionals. Those who have not only studied internal and external ranking factors but also know how to apply their knowledge in practice, helping your website rank at the top of search results.

FAQ

Source: Wezom