Google Ranking Factors for 2025 The 10 Most Important

While we didn’t expect a strong level of correlation here we did expected some level of correlation, as sites with more images do load more slowly. The TTFB result was surprising in a clear correlation was identified between decreasing search rank and increasing time to first byte. Sites that have a lower TTFB respond faster and have higher search result rankings than slower sites with a higher TTFB. Of all the data we BHS Links captured, the TTFB metric had the strongest correlation effect, implying a high likelihood of some level of influence on search ranking.

Is Your Site Optimized for All SEO Ranking Factors?

To monitor keyword optimization, use a tool like Clearscope as you write. It automatically performs basic keyword research like identifying variations and secondary keywords. Use these signals as a guide to aim for higher rankings in Google search results. We tapped Sonya Gonzales, SEO and SEM manager at HawkSEM, for expert insights on ranking signals and getting more value from SEO. Below, she’ll help us cover 11 signals that matter most to the Google algorithm.

• To rank well, help Google meet its goal by creating content that satisfies users and is original, unique, and reliable.
• Individual behavioral factors include click-through rate, mobile clicks to call, and check-ins.
• However, EMD or keyword domains only work in conjunction with other factors like a good user experience and relevant content.
• In an era where misinformation can spread rapidly, E-A-T is Google’s way of ensuring that users receive content that is not only informative but also reliable and created by credible sources.
• Schema markup is code (semantic vocabulary) that you put on your website to help search engines return more informative results for users.
• We’ve talked for years about making your site more accessible for both search robots and humans, but we rarely discuss how those usability factors affect rankings.

If you have an authoritative page with a link to another page on your site, that helps your visitors find the other page and pass on some authority. You’ve likely heard inbound links referred to as “backlinks.” You aim to get as many highly authoritative sites to link back to you. That also means you want to have very few inbound links from low-quality domains. Open a Google search in your in-private browser and type in your keyword.

Site Speed

Mobile-first indexing refers to Google’s practice of indexing and ranking a web page’s mobile version rather than its desktop version in its search results. This approach stems from the increasing prevalence of mobile internet users over desktop users. Click-Through Rate measures the percentage of users who click on a link to your site in search engine results pages (SERPs) out of the total users who viewed the link. For SEO, tracking conversion rates helps you understand how well your site is performing in turning organic traffic into valuable actions.

It is very important that you stay on top of your outbound link profile. Make sure that you are only linking to clean and related sites as Bing will punish you for this seriously. Bing prefers sites that have lots of unique content which is also of good content quality. PageRank is a measurement of authority created in the early days of Google. It is not as relevant as it once was and hasn’t been updated for a long time now. So if you have an older domain that includes your keyword – you are golden!

Moz’s research suggests that the theme the link points too can influence your relevancy. Google may use this tag to identify a particular piece of content as not duplicate. Your keyword should be the most frequently used phrase within your article. Assuming everything is equal the page on the more authoritative domain will rank higher.

Search engines prioritize websites that are fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate. As the name implies, local SEO utilizes many of the aspects of regular SEO, but is focused on targeting users in a specific city or region. Your local online marketing efforts are designed to reach those customers and bring them either onto your site or into your store. As a local business, you’ll want to focus your SEO efforts on reaching searchers in your area.

I’ve been using social media schemes to rank in the search listings consistently for the past 2 years. Just enter your URL into the SEO Analyzer and it will return a list of suggestions to improve your rankings. They offer a range of free diagnostics and SEO tools to help you understand and use their algorithm and it would be a good idea to take advantage of them.

For instance, in some cases, Google displays mostly videos and infographics in the top results. This means you should create a video or an infographic for the best chance of ranking for those keywords. So, if you were to create content on either of these example topics, it’s important to match the search intent and create the right type of content.