Over 200 Google Search Ranking Factors determine your website’s rank on their massive search engine.

Adjusting every website, article, or page you have for each of those 200+ factors would be a nightmare. But luckily, you don’t have to adjust for every 200+ factors.

Instead, you can focus your efforts on 10 simple Google Search Ranking Factors, and in this article, I’m going to explain to you what to do and make it as simple as possible because you deserve to have it easy.

Google Search Ranking Factors for Content Creation

You’ve heard it a million times – CONTENT IS KING!

Content is indeed king. Google still sees content as the king. Engagement, consistency, community, brand, and more are still critical, but the content is above all those factors. And it always will be.

I put my content before everything. Content gets priority over SEO, even. Once I started treating my content as the priority, I started doing significantly better on Google. Content is one of those Google Search ranking factors that will never go away.

So, let’s look at the factors you need to maintain when creating content that you want to rank well on Google Search.

1 – Content Value and Unique Position

The number one of all Google Search ranking factors is unique content with extreme quality and value.

It should be this if you want to prioritize one of these factors. Google wants valuable quality content. Google determines if your content is quality and value based on how many people read it, stay on the page, and share or link. To make that happen, your content should be as unique as possible –original!

I provide content on what I research as the most challenging questions of the niche I’m creating content for. I go after questions and issues that are hard to answer. If you can answer those and give easy solutions every time you write, you’ll rank better on Google.

Of all the Google Search ranking factors, quality content has always been number one. You’ll shine in search results if you prioritize it as number one.

2 – In-Depth Content

You can mix this and the number one together as the most essential Google Search ranking factors because they go so well with one another.

The way you make content unique and valuable is by making it in-depth. This means it needs to go into detail about what it’s about. You’ve probably seen a lot of articles and blogs using a table of contents. That is a great way to go more in-depth with your content. People want quick information but need all the information to understand what your content is telling them.

I don’t really use a table of contents, but I use copywriting formulas such as AIDA and BAB when creating content. It allows me to speak to the reader how I need to and cover everything they need to know about the content topic.

You’ll fail at this Google Search ranking factor if you leave most of the pertinent details out of your content.

3 – Keywords in Headings

The internet is vast and highly competitive; your website is in a pool of billions of other websites.

If you’re not optimizing for search engines, you’re not going to do well in many important Google Search ranking factors. You need to target a keyword that is searched for but has low competition. You need to distribute that keyword into your content through SEO. Your H1 header should have the keyword in it. And then place it in a few additional headers, but not everyone is one of them.

I put my keyword in the H1 header (only have one H1 – your title) and then in all the H2 headers if I plan to have H3 headers. I don’t put it in H3 headers. If I have H2 headers after my H1, I put the keyword in the first and last H2 header. This system has done well for me.

Suppose this is confusing for you to understand. In that case, you need to start researching headers and SEO to do better with these Google Search ranking factors because they’re essential in this highly competitive internet.

4 – Length of Content

The length of your content mainly reflects the content length of whom you’re trying to compete with.

Don’t take this factor to heart in thinking you need to have a specific number of words or a certain length in your article or blog post. It isn’t what this factor is about. It’s about who or what you’re competing against. What is the length of their content? You need to match their length or go over as long as your content is valuable and in-depth.

I make it a general rule to write at least 3,000 to 10,000 words for keywords I am competing for that someone already does better with. I create a mini-eBook about the keyword subject. I read theirs to ensure I include all of their topics, twists, and new additional content in my own words.

You can see where we combine a few different Google Search ranking factors with this one to ensure it will be successful – you’ll have to make that a habit.

5 – Too Much SEO

Too much SEO will prevent you from performing well no matter what other Google Search ranking factors you use to help your content do better with search.

There is such a thing as too much search engine optimization. If you over-stuff your keyword, it’s too much. If you link to a bunch of websites you own that network your links, it’s over-optimizing. If you put your keyword in every single header and image, you’re putting it in too many times. Google will notice over-optimization and will penalize you for it. It could even mean blocking your website from search results.

I use SEO, and I experiment with different styles of it. What has helped me over the years is Yoast SEO for WordPress. It will give me a score for my SEO techniques and how well I use my keyword. If I’m using it too much, it will let me know.

I highly recommend using Yoast because it’s popular, it works, and it’s completely free.

Google Search Ranking Factors for Technical SEO

There are a few critical technical Google Search ranking factors that you should maintain for all content you create online.

Most of the 200+ total factors consist mainly of technical factors that often happen behind the scenes. Many of them you’ll never even mess with. But there are a few of them you need to ensure that is being done correctly.

I ensure I emphasize the five Google Search ranking factors below because they’re the ones Google has talked about the most.

Luckily for you, these factors aren’t that hard to maintain.

6 – Organic CTR

Organic Click Through Rate is a ranking factor that will help you do better on Google search by way of users searching for and clicking your website link.

You can get the CTR percentage by using the free Google Search Console. This factor depends on your position in the SERPs, which stands for Search Engine Results Pages. Your ideal position goal should be page 1 of a Google Search for your target keywords. Paid links are paid CTR, while non-paid links are organic CTRs.

This is one of those Google Search ranking factors that will depend on the age of your website and consistency to move up through the rankings. But I maintain good titles, descriptions, and attributes consistent with my keyword target and SEO techniques. It even falls to the URL structure of your content.

The best way to gain with this factor is to practice proper search engine optimization and be consistent about content publishing.

7 – Domain Authority is not PageRank

This section isn’t about two Google Search ranking factors; one is often confused with the other.

Domain Authority is a factor that predicts your search engine ranking score and how likely your links will show up on page one of Google. It uses a score of 1 to 100. It isn’t a Google ranking factor. It’s a tool created by MOZ, a famous SEO company. The Google ranking factor that needs to be considered here is PageRank. PageRank evaluates the quality and quality of links to your website.

I remember when a PageRank score mattered, but nowadays, the intention of PageRank matters more than the rank number. Focus on getting backlinks from websites, blogs, directories, and sources that match the quality of your content and relate to your niche.

If you get backlinks from the wrong types of websites, it will harm your ranking on Google.

8 – Backlink Relevancy

To touch more on one of the Google Search ranking factors above, let’s take a deeper dive into the relevancy of a backlink.

A relevant backlink will perform better in ranking for your content. This is because the backlink is about the same topic as your content. It targets the same audience as your content targets. If you write a blog post about a beginner growing a flower garden and target backlinks on truck repair websites, it doesn’t help you because it isn’t relevant. Stick to getting links on websites that directly relate to what your link targets as a topic.

Twenty years ago, I would submit my link to many directories to get backlinks. Everyone did it. Then Google said it wasn’t relevant and linked needed to be put on other websites about the same content. So, now I refrain from general link directories and focus on getting my links on websites about the topics I’m blogging about.

But don’t choose just any relevant website to get a backlink on. Choose ones that are playing a fair SEO game and not cheating because your website could become guilty by association and harm your ranking factor.

9 – Page Speed Optimization

If you want to rank higher on Google, your website must load up quickly.

These types of Google Search ranking factors were released a few years ago. They’re all about page speed optimization and core web vitals. Your website has to work correctly. All the links should work. Each page should load normally and quickly. The faster your website is, the better it will do on search engines. If your website is slow, you might not do well in search until the speed issue is consistently fixed.

I had many problems with site speed about a year ago. Using Cloudflare was my best solution to speed my website up. It sped it up significantly, and it protects it from bad actors. The best part about using it is the cost. It’s free! And aside from no cost, it is a stable service that is widely used by the internet.

One of the most critical technical Google Search ranking factors is page speed, and it always will be.

10 – Mobile Usability

And finally, the elephant in the room can be talked about – mobile usability!

Most of those using the internet use it from a mobile device. You could make a blog about using a desktop computer; most of your visitors and consumers will be on a mobile device. No joke! Ensuring that your website and content are entirely (I said COMPLETELY) optimized for mobile devices is vital for your ranking on Google Search and any other search engine.

I still use a desktop, but I use my phone more. My girlfriend uses her phone. My mom and dad? They use their phone, too. And they’re from the generation that grew up without computers or the internet. Soon, it will be nothing but mobile devices, as many predict.

If you want to do the best on Google Search, make sure you put mobile priority before anything else.

And here you thought mastering these Google Search ranking factors would be a challenging endeavor. But it isn’t that complex to put into practice. I’ve shown you what to do with the recommendations above. Now you should follow me on Twitter to get more tips and content like this article.

About the Author

Shawn Gossman has created content, blogged, ran online communities, and shared a passion for digital marketing for over twenty years. Shawn believes the best way to help content creators, businesses, brands, and marketers is to give away more than you sell. The same advice is recommended for the readers who follow this blog. Shawn also offers various services for extra help in content creation and blogging.