(Salmön+Salmön SEO series part 1)

Finally, the day has arrived. After a couple of months of procrastination, today you are starting to write that blog you always wanted to. You feel so motivated that you are studying SEO principles to rank your posts in our beloved Google SERP. Nothing can go wrong. But before publishing, let´s do our last check:

1. Relevant keyword selection with a high volume search and correct search intent. Check!
2. Related keywords selection. Check!
3. Readable, organized, long and catchy content. Check!
4. Include images in the post. Check!
5. Main and related keywords are properly tagged in titles, body, image alts, SEO title and metadescriptions. Check!

Yes! After a full week of intense work you are ready to click the publish button. 1,2,3…

It has already been 1 month since you wrote that blogpost and it still sits on page 4. How is this possible? Well, I am afraid to tell you that you may be not paying attention to some Google ranking factors that play an important part in search engine optimization success.

5 Google ranking factors that will make it fall in love with your website

1. Time

SEO is a long term strategy in which a series of combined factors result in a better positioning of your website. This is the reason why SEO shouldn´t be your only strategy. If you want or need immediate results, then you should go for Google Adwords or Social Ads.

SEO is an investment because you invest in your own platform for increasing, lifetime results. In contrast, when a paid campaign stops, results also stop.

2. External links pointing to your website, one the most important Google ranking factors nowadays

Google understands links as a reference, a vote of confidence or popularity. If the link comes from a site with good authority such as press, or a relevant digital media platform, Google will give it more value and you will be rewarded with an increase of authority.

Linkbuilding as a strategy to obtain links is still one of the most important SEO ranking factors. Relevant, well optimized quality content is a crucial positioning agent, but only if this content is pushed with a powerful linkbuilding strategy.

3. Rich Snippets

Rich Snippets are a format of enriched information shown in the search engine results such as reviews, recipes with photos or rating stars. Enriched results offer a higher value to the search since they provide more information in the general view. In consequence, they also rise the CTR since the user is more attracted towards them.

You can add Rich Snippets including the structured schema mark up tags in HTML that indicate Google which kind of content it refers to and how to display on the SERPs or search engine general view. If you run your website on a CMS such as WordPress, you can easily add them with plugins such as Schema Pro.

To sum up, using Rich Snippets is very positive because you provide a higher visibility of your website in SERPs and you can generate more clicks without necessarily rank in first position.

4 Users stay time

User engagement or interaction with your content is a crucial Google ranking factor. If a user clicks in a search result and exits the website very quickly, it is harmful for your site. This behavior can be due to two factors that we must avoid:

1. The content the user landed in does not correspond to his/her search intent.
2. The user didn´t find the content useful.

Google is able to identify this feedback behavior and positions in a lower rank the websites that have low stay times.

 5 Page load speed

Web performance optimization or WPO is an essential Google ranking factor. It is even more important if searches are made from a mobile device. Taking into account that mobile searches are increasing exponentially in almost every field, it is decisive agent. When users navigate, they are expecting immediacy. A positive user experience starts with a fast load website.

Google knows this very well therefore, if your website is slow, not only it will rank you lower but also you will lose potential clients. I really like to use GTmetrix to manage the web performance optimization of our websites. This tool analyzes the errors which are causing the speed problems and provides a clear list of solutions that you can work on to improve your WPO.

Make sure to follow these Google SEO ranking factors to succeed in your SEO race

Hope you guys found this blogpost useful! If you have any questions, we are happy to answer in the comment section below or in any of our social media platforms.

Also, if you have trouble positioning your website, #Salmon+Salmon´s team can do it for you. We are a multidisciplinary team specialized on international SEO strategies among many other digital services. See you in our next blogpost!