Google is by far the most popular search engine, holding 70% of the search market share. The numbers show there are around 4.39 billion internet users, and 4 million of those use Google. That is why there is such a focus on Google and what expectations it has of a website.
Google uses the quality of your website and decides how your website ranks in search engine page results (SERPs). This article will discuss what Google and the spider bots want from your website to consider it rank-worthy.
First And Foremost - A Good Website
It is so frustrating when a website designed for a desktop won’t adapt to mobile browsing. Considering over half of all internet browsing happens on mobile devices, it is poor practice for a website design not to be responsive. Some of the best websites of today are designed using free templates, so it is unfathomable why a website doesn’t have a responsive design tailored towards the needs of the consumer.
You may have had an experience with a poorly designed website- they are incredibly easy to spot. Poor design, poor user interface, and an unresponsive design are characteristics of a website that won’t rank well. Let’s have a look at some fundamentals of an excellent website:
- Speedy loading times - Quick loading times are achievable with high-speed hosting, optimized images and content, and good website templates.
- Responsive designs - Visitors need to have the same experience on a desktop, mobile device, tablet, and on any screen size.
- Relevant content - Google needs something to rank. Keep up to date with posting relevant content that includes natural follow links.
- Clear site navigation - This benefits Google bots and visitors. It is essential to have a clear navigation and site map so visitors and bots can move seamlessly from page to page.
Security
Security is a major internet issue. Globally, there are about 30,000 websites hacked each day. Over 64% of businesses are saying they have been the victim of a cyber attack. It’s a big deal. That’s why Google has put a focus on the importance of security - making it one of the ranking signals. Google encourages every site to have HTTPS and favors those sites when organizing the SERPs. Whether or not you are an e-commerce website, it is essential to have an SSL certificate if you care about SERPs.
If you do happen to run your own e-commerce store, consider investing in high-quality cloud hosting. The best hosting companies now provide DDoS protection on a system-wide basis. Cloudways, for example, has recently launched a free Cloudflare integration, making it easy for users to stay secure when conducting business online.
Page Quality
Page quality is a big ranking factor. Google released a document called the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. The 160-page document outlines how Google evaluates web page quality and its importance.
What is page quality? Page quality refers to the purpose of a website and whether it fulfills that. The document concluded Google is most interested in the main page content. For a website to be considered to have a high page quality, it should have an acceptable amount of main page content. That is content that is most valuable to readers. The more useful information your website contains, the higher it will rank.
Relevant Metadata
To put it simply, metadata is data about data. Google uses the information to help it understand what is going to be on each page. Metadata is most effective if your page has multiple videos or photos, which Google bots can’t crawl. Bots instead rely on meta descriptions and alt tags to tell if the content is relevant.
Meta tags are also a point of reference for search engine users. Each search result should have a meta tag that provides searchers with a brief description of the content, allowing them to decide whether it is relevant for their search. It can massively improve the click-through rate.
How Does Google Rank Websites?
The elusive ‘Google bots’ — a Googlebot software commonly referred to as a spider — scour every website using links as a navigation point, hence why links are such a big thing for search engines optimization campaigns. The bots use these links to process data into a collective index. Search engine spiders work alongside a mystery algorithm - one many marketing masters are still trying to unearth. Google rarely gives anything away.
However, what they have said is that search algorithms look at many factors. These include keywords, the usability of pages, and user search settings. How much weight each of these holds is what marketing masters spend their time trying to figure out - but it is ever changing, and there’s no way of knowing.
SERPs will continue to be a focal point for many marketing campaigns. The fight to gain the top spot on SERPs has made the SEO industry net worth over $80 billion. Google demands a high-quality website with relevant content, a detailed site map, and keywords and links to rank it high on the SERPs. Start with the fundamentals of an excellent website and create relevant and exciting content that appeals to the Google bots.
