Google ranking is still one of the most important factors in bringing traffic to your website. Not only is Google the most visited website in the world, it also captures 92% of all search volume compared to its competitors.
Out of the billions of searches happening every day, users will click on the top-ranking search result 39.6% of the time. That number has risen from 28.5% since 2020, so it’s only becoming more essential that you rank as close to the top of Google search as you possibly can!
If you’re wondering how to improve your Google ranking, read on to learn what kind of search results Google displays, how SEO will impact those results and what the important ranking factors are when marketing your website.
Google Ads and Organic Search Results
There are two types of search results you’ll see on Google: paid-for Google Ads with a clear Ad label, and organic search results that are listed for free and make up the majority of the results.
Google Ads is Google’s paid advertising program, and is considered a product in itself that can be used to promote your business, sell products or simply try to grab attention and pull traffic to your website.
Organic search results are free listings, and they appear in the order of relevance to a user’s search terms. The more likely a website is to satisfy a user’s needs or queries, the higher it will appear in the Google ranking.
Why Does Google Display Organic Results for Free?
It might seem smart for Google to fill the top results with Google Ads – they would make more money and advertisers would soak up all those coveted first clicks – but there’s a reason Google lists organic search results for free.
Ask yourself, why do you use Google for every search? Because it’s quick, it’s clear and you’ll always find what you’re after. Google ranking exists to make sure that first organic search result is the one you were looking for, and that’s because Google values search intent above all else.
Google Expect Good Quality Content
Search intent refers to the whole reason you use Google in the first place, to get that exact search result you needed. You might be trying to learn some new info or find a specific answer to something, or you might be shopping around and looking to compare several results across multiple sites.
In either case, Google is interested in satisfying your search intent with only the most relevant results. This is best achieved through organic or ethical SEO methods, in which relevant keywords and good quality content will push your website higher in the Google ranking than spam or keyword stuffed content.
Basically, you can’t expect to rank on top of Google search if you aren’t delivering useful and valuable content. Proper SEO will push your Google ranking higher, all by hitting all the right keywords and satisfying the ranking factors that Google values most for the best possible consumer experience.
You can learn more about choosing the right SEO keywords for your business here, but there are many other ranking factors that can help you improve your Google ranking.
What Else Impacts Your Ranking?
Let’s go over some of the additional ranking factors to be mindful of when designing your website and developing your SEO strategy.
Relevance
Google needs to see that your content is relevant to a user’s search for it to rank higher, but there’s more to it than just ensuring you use relevant SEO keywords. Including links to other relevant sites in your content, providing internal links to relevant content within your own site and using synonyms and variations on your keywords will all cast a wider net for potential searches and push your Google ranking higher.
UX Experience
Branding, design, usability and function are all elements of the overall user experience, or UX experience, that Google ranking values highly. If your website is clear, well-designed and easy to use, it’s far more likely to rank higher than a site that users have quickly clicked away from once they experienced an issue while browsing.
The bounce rate refers to users who visit a single page of your site and leave without viewing any other pages. The less people who bounce from your site the better, so you can learn about reducing your bounce rate here.
Improve Your Google Ranking With iVersion
If you’ve had a sudden drop in your Google ranking, you can check out our post over here. If you’re starting fresh and need help with SEO optimisation, iVersion offers results-driven SEO services right here!
