There are five factors which the Google search algorithm considers when ranking content on the web. These factors help with improving your website's visibility online.
In summary, these are:
- Meaning of the query
- Relevance of content
- The quality of content
- Usability of the page
- Search user context
They’re so simple but it's easy to forget or not realize how you can leverage them in your general marketing strategy.
By taking the time to include Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in your business’s marketing strategy, you can get customer leads for free by improving your website's visibility.
This makes your website work whilst you sleep!
Want to leverage SEO in your marketing?
Meaning of the Query
Firstly, Google will understand the meaning of the query that's been typed in the search bar.
Before Google can provide results, the algorithm must first establish what the user is looking for.
The great thing is that Google doesn't just take the search query word for word. It thinks of all alternative possibilities of that query.
This gives the best chance to find content that meets the searcher’s needs.
Language models are used to index the words that are entered, including equivalencies and to find the best content.
Google uses a few tricks to do this, including correcting spelling and providing synonyms to the words that were entered.
Meaning that the words entered do not need to match the content exactly.
The key thing is that the content pulled up for the search query provides the solution and best information for the user. It can also often decipher the best type of information for your query whether it be images, video, or text.
Relevance of Content
Google will then assess the relevance of the content it has indexed against the search query.
Gone are the days when you could just stuff keywords into an article to get great SEO results.
Google now factors in how relevant the content is with several variables. It's all about giving the best user experience by finding relevant content for the user’s search query.
Quality of Content
The algorithm will then figure out how helpful the content is to the search query and the general quality of the content it finds.
High-quality content is now important on the web in terms of SEO.
So, when you're looking to produce content for certain topics remember that Google looks for quality. This could be the length and richness of the content you've created and how much useful information the user gets out of it.
This is probably the most important factor for improving your website's visibility.
The higher the quality of content, the better Google will rank it.
One way Google determines quality is the number of other websites referring to it, especially those with a high profile or strong domain authority.
This is done through backlinks to your site. If you have a partnership where they could put a link to your content, that will help increase your domain’s authority.
Google wants the results of the search query to be trustworthy and high quality. This is so that users come back to use Google as a reliable source of information.
Without using quality, Google could recommend irrelevant articles to the search query. This is bad for business.
Usability of the Page
We've covered lots of information about how important the content is.
But user experience is becoming increasingly more important when Google ranks content for a search query.
One key attribute is the usability of web pages that contain the content.
If the website is slow and each user finds it difficult to find the content, you will find that the user will not stay on the website very long.
Google uses these statistics to give a well-rounded understanding of the user experience when viewing the content.
There are several page experience signals, which Google uses to determine the high usability of a page or website.
These include tests such as loading performance, visual stability, whether the page is mobile-friendly, general accessibility, and if the site connection is secure.
Search User Context
Finally, the wider context and search user settings bring everything together.
There is a large list of these things that Google considers for the context of the user.
Some of the key ones are the language, location, and other privacy or search optimization filters. Making your content rank and work locally is a fantastic way for customers near you to find you through Google.
Google generally gives preference to local results.
You should consider this when writing your content and make sure that it mentions the locations you want to serve if this is your target.
The world of SEO and the web can be confusing and time-consuming.
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Thumbmuffin Productions is a Marketing and Branding Agency based in Calgary, Canada, which can support all your marketing needs.
