What are the main ranking factors that influence Google’s search results today?
1. Content Quality & Relevance
- Helpful, original content that satisfies search intent.
- Strong E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
- Proper keyword usage in titles, headings, and contextually throughout the content.
- Clear topical coverage — depth matters more than word count.
- Semantic relevance (using entities and related topics that Google associates with the query).
2. Technical SEO
- Crawlability: No blocked pages or broken links; optimized robots.txt and sitemap.
- Indexability: Correct canonical tags and meta directives.
- Core Web Vitals: Fast load time, interactivity, and visual stability.
- Mobile-first indexing: Fully responsive design.
- Structured data: Schema markup for better context and rich snippets.
3. Backlinks & Authority
- High-quality backlinks from relevant, authoritative domains.
- A natural anchor text profile — not over-optimized.
- Internal linking that distributes authority effectively.
- Mentions (implied links) and digital PR also contribute to trust signals.
4. User Engagement Signals
- Click-through rate (CTR) from SERPs.
- Dwell time / engagement — users spending time on your content.
- Low bounce rate and strong on-site navigation.
- Positive brand searches and repeat visits.
5. Local & Entity Signals (if applicable)
- Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) info for local businesses.
- Verified Google Business Profile.
- Entity relationships via structured data and consistent mentions across the web.
