What are ranking criteria?
A website is listed on search engines such as Google using an algorithm. This is based on various points of reference in order to assess the reliability, relevance and uniqueness of a website. The factors that website operators can influence with optimizations and adjustments are also called ranking criteria. Some ranking factors that can be used to successfully optimize a page are known. However, there are also individual ranking factors that are not publicly communicated by the search engines. However, it can be assumed that the secret criteria are also influenced if the publicly accessible ones are taken into account.
Why are the ranking criteria important?
Placing a website on the Internet is a big task to begin with. After all, the work is by no means done with the creation of a page, and it is usually only then that the most time-consuming phase begins. A website has to be placed on the market and listed with search engines such as Google. Although there are also other search engines, companies should primarily adhere to Google’s ranking criteria when optimizing. The goal should always be to achieve a top position on Google. Recent studies have shown that the first positions on Google receive the most traffic. Positions 2 and 3 already receive far fewer visitors than the top hit. As a rule, an ordinary visitor to Google does not stray to a second page if it is a normal search where the first page also delivers satisfactory results.
How do you achieve good positioning?
To achieve a good position in the SERPs, a page must be optimized for the search engine from the ground up. It is advisable to integrate the search engine crawler right at the start of the website creation process so that you can benefit from search engine traffic straight away. If a page is only adapted for search engines afterwards, this usually takes longer and some processes are significantly more complicated.
What are the ranking criteria?
For the average Google user, the search engine’s ranking criteria are of little relevance. Google always wants to provide users with the best possible results and regularly adjusts the ranking factors accordingly. For website operators, however, knowledge of any ranking factors is essential, as this is the only way to generate organic traffic in the long term. According to Google, there are around 200 ranking factors that influence the position of a page in the search results. Most of these are secret, as Google naturally wants to prevent the search results from being manipulated by site operators.
Although there are no really concrete ranking factors, there are some points of reference that companies can use as a guide for optimization. These include, among others:
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many backlinks
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Unique content with many keywords
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User friendliness
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Structure
Are there other ranking factors?
The adaptation for mobile users should not be underestimated. Back in 2014, Google announced that optimizing a website for mobile devices is a ranking factor. Since then, all major companies can also be reached via smartphone with an adapted design. The user-friendliness also increases enormously with a mobile-adapted website, as a large proportion of views come from smartphones.
