Six Ranking Signals

Google has been constantly changing its algorithm to continuously provide reliable information to people. Most internet marketers have been frustrated with the ever-changing algorithms of Google and have given up. Most of them also tried some SEO techniques that others have thought to be long dead like web 2.0 postings, profile links and article directory submission. The truth is there are only few factors that determine the ranking of a website in Google and here are the six critical ranking signals that we think describe them the most.

           

            Age or Time

The age of a domain or the amount of time that the site is live is one of the ranking signals. Google gives priority to those sites that have been continuously providing high information for some time. Meaning, the older your site is the better but having an older site does not necessarily mean you will rank first, it’s just one of the things your site should have.

            Users or Visitors

Another ranking signal is your site’s visitors or users. The more people coming to your site in search for more information, the more Google views your site as an important site that deserves to be ranked. Most people will use automated methods just to drive traffic to their sites, this is not advisable since Google can easily detect if the visitors are legit or just coming from software or a robot.

            On-Page SEO

How your site is optimized also determines its ranking. Over optimized sites and less optimized sites usually falls in the bottom place. Doing some On-Page SEO can either make or break your site’s ranking. Make sure your site is optimized enough to rank and not too much to lose your rank.

            Keywords

Finding the right keyword will give you a chance to be on top despite how many competitors you have. Just be sure to diversify your keywords since Google now looks into how diverse your keywords are. Instead of using the keyword “Ranking Signals” as your anchor text or main keyword, you should also consider using some other semantic keywords like “Ranking Factors”, “Ranking Signs” and “Ranking Basis”.

            Social Media

Social media are playing an important role in determining the ranking of your site. Social media is now being used as a form of SEO especially in disseminating information that can be found on your site. In Google’s point of view, websites that receive a lot of social media attention is important and therefore should be ranked higher.  Too much social media to your site can get your site flagged by Google as a spam site. Exercise extreme caution when using social media as a form of SEO.

                       

           

              Backlinks

Another key factor in determining a site’s ranking is backlinks. Backlinks can easily be created with profile links, article directories, web 2.0 sites, social bookmarking and site directories. Though it is very easy to create backlinks, it is quite difficult to find a high quality and relevant backlink. Based on the recent Google updates (especially Penguin), Google now wants high quality and relevant backlinks rather than volume. Sites that have 100 backlinks to their sites might be ranked lower than a site that has 20 high quality and relevant backlinks.

                       

Though these are the six ranking signals that Google is looking for, an excess or lack of one of the signals can affect your site’s ranking. Just make sure to balance all of the six signals and you will be seeing your site rank as number one on Google.

Ranking your site can be quite hard without the proper SEO techniques. Keep in mind that SEO unlike in previous years is harder than ever. You must work hard to achieve great ranking.