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Google Ranking Factors
15 Things You Should Do to Help
Google Do Their Job!
What is Google’s job? In essence, Google’s job is to give their search visitors the most relevant webpage for their search query.
So how do they decide which page is the most relevant? Well, no one knows the exact formula but if you know some of the things they are looking for you might be able to convince them that your webpage is the most relevant page for the keyword phrase that you’ve chosen.
Truthfully, I’m no expert, but from what I’ve read and studied here are some of the criteria that seem to matter:
- Keyword phrase in the domain name.
- Domain name extension (.gov, .edu, .org, .com, .net, .info, etc.)
- Keyword phrase in the URL (using keyword in the page/file extension).
- Keyword phrase as (or in) title tag (some say it’s the most important factor).
- Keyword phrase as the h1 meta tag (and relevant words in h2, h3, etc.).
- Keyword phrase in the meta description.
- Keyword phrase in the keyword meta tag.
- Amount, nature, and freshness of page content.
- Keyword use in the content (keyword density).
- Use of keyword phrase throughout page (meta tags, content, navigation, alt tags, etc.)
- Latent semantic indexing – the use of words that are often used in the same context (i.e. car and automobile) throughout the tags and the page.
- How long the domain name has been registered to the current owner.
- How far out the domain name is reserved for into the future (5 plus years is best).
- Inbound links (aka “backlinks”) … considers the number of links, the quality (preferably from high-ranking sites), links from the same or related theme, etc.
- Outbound links to other authority sites pertaining to the keyword phrase.
Well, that’s a start to what you can do to help Google do their job … please use the comments section to let us know what you think Google wants to see to decide which page is most relevant for a keyword phrase. Let’s grow this list so we can all learn from it. *SmiLes* Suzanne
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Hi … My name is Suzanne Franco (Land) and I’m a wife (newlywed actually) and mother to 5 amazing kids (my 3 and his 2 – ages 9 to 16) and we live in the Texas Hill Country where we try to spend a lot of time in the water (river, boating, wakeboarding, the beach, etc.) and running from one kid’s sporting event to the other (mainly football, cheerleading, and soccer).
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Remember to balance the pics with the text tho. cheers!
Hello Suzanne, You hit the nail on the head regarding meta tags but I thought Google didn’t quite like them. Although they are used to markup keywords and content description,I was under the impression that Google doesn’t favor them. Google loves tags, and I support what they do. Anyhow, I am still learning and every tip we get helps in one way or the other. As I progress, I am focused purely in raising funds online. From sales when they happen to donating 85% of all commissions. I found your site using Keyword Elite, you can find a recent article I wrote on Blogger and also on: http://www.eSnips.com/untacticcal000's stuff and look for the title, “Giving Back” or *The True Story of Frank & Sylvia Burns Revealed”. If you find time in reading my article it will give you a sense of the person I am, and where your information may better help others, not necessarily just myself. To help you I quote a link given to me from the Authors Library, http://www.buzzurl.com which belongs or comes from Larry P? I haven’t heard a whisper coming back to me that I’m promoting his page to others in the hope that new sales are generated from serious buyers, and with Google’s unfortunate losses recently, I imagine every bit of support will help. Thank You Suzanne.
@ acai berries ~ Do you mean to make sure there’s more content than images?
@ frank burns ~ Just clarify for me what you mean by Google not favoring meta tags so I know we’re talking about the same thing. As for tags, do you mean on a blog? And … I’m curious how you found my blog using Keyword Elite?
Thank you both for stopping by and I hope to hear more from you soon.
*SmiLes* Suzanne
Hello Suzanne, it would appear with meta tags that they are acceptable in some instances but not on all. Maybe I got it wrong, but then again as we’re shifting focus from old ways to new, we have to adapt to the changes as they’re presented to us. As far as tags are concerned, it is true that Google loves tags. It helps them to identify the context not just the content. And lastly, when I found your site it was through a variety of cross links as well that landed me here.
If you don’t want me to stay, I will honor your decision Suzanne. I am building my skills & knowledge in raising funding for charities and I suppose, every available resource can be an advantage.
Bearing in mind, I am 300 kilometers from our main city of Perth in Western Australia and our resources are thin. Thank You
Hi Frank ~ I’m certain that none of us will ever know what Google is REALLY looking for! LOL It’s so secretive due to so many who try to cheat the system … and that’s too bad for the rest of us. I guess we just keep building sites and pages using common sense and good content and hope that good beats out evil … right?! LOL
I am excited to know more about your charity … thanks for the links and I will check them out later today or tomorrow (it’s my birthday so I’m working on and off today LOL).
It’s always fun for me to hear how someone found my blog so that’s why I was inquiring about your mention of Keyword Elite. Of course I WANT you to stay! I need to know I’m researching and writing for someone out there! Thanks again for contributing … that’s why I love web 2.0 so much … is so we can all interact and learn from each other and get to know each other. *huGs* Suzanne
This is a great list Suzanne|!
Frank, Meta Tags should ALWAYS be optimized for every page of your website. Google wants you to, not only to relate what your site is about for Google but because those Meta Tags is what shows up in SERPS to describe and relate your site to searchers so they know what your site has to offer, so they are good for clickthroughs and therefore more traffic. You can read it in Google Webmaster Tools.
Thanks Suzanne,
JR
Great list Suzanne. I had never heard about #12 and 13 regarding the length of time you have owned (or will own) the domain name. Does this mean I should renew my domains for 5 years at a time? I just keep learning all the time. Great blog and I have finally gone through all your posts! Thanks!
Hi Suzanne
Another great post, am slowly reading my way through them. I will have a pretty good idea of links etc by the time I get to the end of your blog.
Paul
Suzanne
I love your posts!
Thanks!!!!
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No nation can progress without education.Because education is the backbone of a nation.
I’m glad you didn’t mention about meta keywords. Because they are less important now. Anyone who uses meta keywords can be tagged as spam. So we better be careful on that thing.
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When registering your domain name 5+ years there is one things to keep in mind. It was no problem with my provider to register my domain for a longer period of time. When I looked up my domain name I saw it was registered till later this year. Turned out they only made an internal note that my domain name was already paid for 5+ years but the actually renew it themselves every year.
@Bedrijfskleding hmmm … interesting info … I use GoDaddy for my domain names and I’ll have to double check that on my domains
Thanks …
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