Understanding the Ranking Factors

The position of your site in Google search results is determined based on hundreds of variables, all derived from the content in Google’s index. Now, some of these factors are specific to a keyword. Say how many types it appears on your site. If it appears in the title, If your site includes synonyms of that keyword. Beyond the keyword, Google is looking for the quality of your site. How many people link to it? How you are using your titles and any similar pages. Another important factor is how easy Google can crawl your site. Is it clear what is most important? Can Google find all the content by following every link on your page? They may even take into consideration the browsing habits of the users conducting the search. In general, you can improve the rank of your site by making the site something users want to use and share.   That’s not specific enough and based on what I shared earlier, hundreds of variables would be a lot to take in to consideration when you’re just getting started. So, I have bolded down to what I see as the five most influential components to good rank in Local SEO. If all you could do was work in five areas you’d likely be in good shape. But we cover this in more details throughout the course but let’s touch on them now.

The first is having high a quality Google my business profile when you verify your listing in Google my business you gain authenticity and authority on the category you have selected. You have given Google a very strong signal as to who you are and what you are about.

The second is having really relevant on page content. Your Google category is fairly broad. So, carrying on the example of cupcake bakeries if you have categorized yourself as a bakery, You need to confirm that you are indeed a bakery but also introduce the fact that you are cupcake bakery. This is where on page keyword optimization is crucial

Third is listing your business name, address and phone number around the web. Authoritative local sites such as the Yellow Pages and Yelp are all beneficial in reaffirming to Google that you are who you say you are.

Forth is collecting great links. Google wants to know that people are interested in your site. If you have quality sites linking back to yours Google is going to take note, the most inbound links that you have the more popular you probably are.

And the fifth components are reviews. Now I’d argue that Google’s reviews are insignificant value. But reviews on yelp and other sites are going to be helpful as well. The reviews should be authentic but I will talk on that later. These five components are tied together with the theme of consistency. They are better together than they are in silos. So, make sure that you have consistent information across all of your efforts to maximize the impact.