According to Google, they use more than 200 ranking factors for ranking a particular website for a specific keyword. The sad part is that no one knows all 200 factors that Google uses for ranking. But there are many known factors that SEO experts believe that affect ranking of websites to a large extent. So, let’s learn about these factors in detail.

HTTPS

Google announced in 2014 that HTTPS is a ranking factor that their algorithm uses while ranking websites on Google SERPs, and if your website does not have an HTTPS certificate, it will show a “Not secure” warning in chrome. So, if you don’t have an HTTPS certificate installed on your website it’s time to get one installed

Mobile-friendliness

Mobile-friendliness is another important ranking factor that Google uses to rank pages on Google. How do we know? In 2015 Google released a new mobile-friendly algorithm that gave a boost to mobile-friendly pages in Google SERPS. So, if you want to rank high on Google, make sure that your site is optimized for mobile and provides your website visitors great user experience.

Page speed

Page speed has been a ranking factor since 2010 and used to affect 1% of desktop search queries. But that changed in 2018 when google extended the ranking factor for mobile searches too.  

Does it really affect only 1 % of search queries?

The answer is “No”. According to research, most of the people left a website that took more than 2-3 seconds to load. Don’t believe us? When was the last time when you waited for a website to load for 1 minute? Probably never. So, make sure that your website is optimized to load quickly on both mobile and desktop if you don’t want to lose your customers.

Backlinks 

Backlinks are the most important ranking factor when it comes to google. Why? Because they form the basis of page rank, which has been a foundation of almost all Google ranking algorithms. But not all backlinks can help you rank on Google. Only the links which have been acquired naturally from relevant authoritative sites in your niche can help you in your ranking. So, make sure you acquire only these types of backlinks for your site.

User experience

When it comes to content, Google ranks only that content in top results, which gives its user a positive experience. So, make sure your site does not have elements like annoying ads and popups in it. Instead, try to make your site as user-friendly as possible by making your site well organized and easy to navigate. 

Search Intent

When it comes to ranking a webpage, Google does not rank the same type of content for every query. When a person enters a query on Google, the Google algorithm tries to identify the intent of the searcher and then present the user with the most relevant content. So, when you write a piece of content using a keyword, make sure that the content matches the keyword’s intent.

Elisa Wilson is an avid technical blogger, a magazine contributor, a publisher of guides at mcafee.com/activate and a professional cyber security analyst. Through her writing, she aims to educate people about the dangers and threats lurking in the digital world  .

Source :- https://askactivate.com/google-ranking-factors-you-shouldnt-ignore/