Important factors in SEO to be able to get ranking in search results will continue to change, it may be a little difficult to keep up with the latest developments. But if you want your website's ranking to rise from invisible to top position, then you must know the following information. The following are several factors that influence Google search rankings.
It cannot be denied that a website is one of the tools that is needed for the development of a business in today's times. In this digital era, websites make an institution, both profit and non-profit, easier to recognize by many people. Not only that, you can also use the website for personal gain, such as personal branding and so on.
However, whatever mission you bring to your website, it will not be achieved optimally if the website is of poor quality. Therefore, a webmaster must understand the factors that can affect the quality of the website.
Of course so that the website owner can achieve the goals that have been set. Then, what are the factors that can affect the quality of the website? Let's take a closer look.
What are the Factors that Influence Search Engine Rankings?
There are many factors that can affect the quality of the website, these factors can be conditioned even before we make the website. But you don't need to worry, websites that are already running can be optimized so that their quality increases. So, here are the factors that affect the quality of the website.
1. Hosting or Server Specifications Used
A website requires a server to run. Be it servers such as hosting, virtual private servers (VPS), and other types of servers. The specifications of this hosting or server really support the performance and quality of a website, you know.
Simply put, hosting is like a land where we build buildings, and a website is a building that will be built on that land. The better the land, of course the stronger the building, right? Therefore, in order for your website to be of high quality, you must choose the best hosting.
Good hosting servers generally have high levels of security, up-to-date storage media such as Solid State Drives (SSD) and various latest technologies. All of these technologies will make websites accessible quickly thereby increasing the value of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That means, your website can appear well in search engines and can bring in lots of visitors or prospects.
2. System and Framework Used
Did you know that a website can be created in various ways? You can use a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and so on in building websites. Apart from that, you can also build websites from scratch using frameworks like CodeIgniter, Laravel, Vue.js, and so on. The selection of these systems and frameworks greatly affects the quality of the website.
Basically, all systems and frameworks can be used to build a quality website, it's just that you need to match which one suits your website type. Using the WordPress CMS as a popular CMS is the easiest option for building websites, because this CMS is very easy to learn and has a lot of plugins that you need.
3. Website Design (UI/UX)
Another factor that affects the quality of the website is the design of the website itself. Talking about design, of course the two terms user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) must be included. In creating a quality website, we must consider these two things.
UI focuses on how the website looks to the user's eyes. The beauty and comfort of display or design is taken into account in this UI. Make sure your website has an attractive appearance. Meanwhile, UX focuses on user satisfaction when visiting or using your website.
There are times when the UI of a website is good, but the UX is bad. For more details, see the following article on the differences between UI design and UX design.
A beautiful design is not enough, it must be followed by ease for the user to use it. That means all website elements must be arranged for placement and function, right? Starting from the navigation to pages such as About, Contact, and so on. Subscription form or whatever is needed.
4. Content Quality
Content is the lifeblood of a website, it is even commonly understood that content is the king. A website will be useful if the content in it is of high quality. Therefore, website owners must pay extra attention to this content.
Then, what can be done so that the site has quality content? The first thing we can do is research content ideas or keywords related to the business or niche of our website. After that, make sure you post content that adds value to readers.
Preferably, the content is also optimized using SEO techniques to make it attractive to readers and also attractive to search engines. You can also apply copywriting, hypnotic writing, or other techniques such as soft selling and story telling.
a. Completeness of Content
Complete content doesn't have to be long because there are no standard rules regarding the number of words. Some require a minimum of 2,500 words, others require 1,890 words. However, one thing is certain: the comprehensive content covers the topic in depth.
For example, people search for the keyword “best movie list.” It's clear that he wants to know what the best films ever made are, right?
Still the same example. So that the content is complete, try not only to provide a list of films but also other information related to each film. Starting from who the director is, cast list, budget, box office opinion, awards won, your short review and so on.
Apart from that, if other websites only list 10 or 15 films, you can provide 20, 25, or whatever films as long as there are more. This way, your content is more complete and in-depth than competing websites.
b. Updated Content
This Google ranking factor actually depends on the website and keywords searched. For example, your website is a news website. This means that the content you load is news whose information must always be updated.
For example, updates on the number of accident victims, match scores in certain minutes, and so on. So that searchers always get the latest news every time they search with these keywords. However, it is different if the type of content you are looking for is not news, but a guide or list of recommendations. For example, "how to wear a tie."
Well, as you know, the shape of the tie has not changed much and the way to wear it has been the same since the beginning. So guides from any year can grace the top of Google.
The same thing also applies to recommended content or listicles. For example, the keyword "best fan." Google knows that fan companies don't release new products every day. So recommendations from a few months/years ago are just as good.
c. Content Accuracy
What's the point of long, up-to-date content, but it turns out to be misleading/just a hoax? Just imagine there is a user who searches for "Indonesia's first president" and what appears is Atta Halilintar. Users might leave Google and run to other search engines.
Especially if the keywords searched are related to people's lives, such as "lansoprazole dosage." If Google incorrectly displays the correct dosage, the user could overdose or not recover from the disease.
Therefore, you must create content that contains facts and do not try to deceive Google or users. Because, Google uses sophisticated algorithms such as Knowledge Graph and SEO Database to detect misleading content in its search results.
d. Content Structure
Not a few website owners underestimate the content structure on their website. In fact, visitors will get fed up if the content is messy because they can't get the information they are looking for easily. In this way, the content is useless and not useful for visitors.
So, when you create content, you must pay attention to its structure. Generally, articles are divided into three parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. Don't go back and forth between the discussions in each section, okay? Because, it will really make your visitors confused.
Apart from that, you can use headings and subheadings (H2, H3, H4, and so on) if the discussion points are still the same. Don't forget to use bullet points if you explain several things at once. Moreover, bullet points can also increase your chances of being featured in featured snippets.
5. Page Speed
Page speed is an SEO ranking factor that has been known for years. Google wants to improve the user experience on websites, with pages that can load quickly, this can be achieved. Google announced an algorithm update focused on mobile page speed. If your site doesn't load quickly on mobile devices, then it can be penalized.
6. Mobile Friendliness
Nowadays more people use mobile than desktop to access websites, and that's one of the reasons there has been a change in the way Google ranks search results. A mobile-first Google would mean fetching results from mobile-optimized websites first, rather than those aimed at desktop computers.
If your website is not optimized for mobile the risk of getting a good ranking will be very low.
7. Domain Age, URL, and Authority
Authority is important. As you will see, this will usually come from a combination of good content and off-page SEO signals like links and social shares. And thanks to E-A-T, authority will become even more important. Likewise with URLs that contain keywords and the age of a domain. These three are important factors.
8. Backlinks
The results of Off Page SEO efforts are also included in Google ranking factors. One of them is backlinks. Backlinks are links placed on other websites that lead to your own website.
The more backlinks, the more important, useful and trustworthy your website is. Because, other websites will not hesitate to make you their role model. Even if you are a competitor. This is why backlinks are one of the main factors in Google Ranking.
However, you have to be careful with backlinks. Like content, backlinks must also be high quality. So, you can't just randomly receive backlinks from random websites.
Your backlink must be relevant and come from a trusted website with stable traffic. It's okay if the number of backlinks is small, as long as they are quality. Instead of random backlinks from obscure websites that are not connected at all.
9. Routine Repair and Maintenance (Maintenance)
Apart from all that has been mentioned above, another factor that can affect the quality of a website is whether or not repairs or maintenance are carried out regularly. However, information technology continues to grow.
The programming language used to build a website is also continuously being developed, which means website owners must maintain their site regularly. Examples of this maintenance can be system updates, bug fixes or gaps, security improvements to feature enhancements.
10. Security
The security aspect, however, cannot be separated from the value of the quality of a website. Especially in this day and age, Google, as the largest search engine, prioritizes websites with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) in the best position on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Websites that have high security can also protect user data properly.
There are various security features that you can embed on a website. Apart from the default security features on hosting like Imunify360, you can also add various security features such as login restrictions to prevent bruteforce attacks and so on. So, make sure your website is safe.
Conclusion
In the end, a quality website cannot just exist, it must be built in such a way by considering the various factors that affect the quality of the website that we have reviewed earlier. You can start by choosing hosting with high performance and security for a quality website.