Imagine this: You finished your latest blog post, a piece on the best coffee joints in your neighborhood. After publishing it on your website, you open a new browser window and search for the best local coffee shops, only to find your article buried deep in Google’s Search Engine Results Page.
You feel like you’ve done everything right; you’ve written something that you’re proud of and you’ve made plenty of coffee shop recommendations, but your piece is still on page 12. The result hierarchy is a mystery to you, and what seems even more confusing is how to solve it, placing your website on top of the food chain.
On the surface, search algorithms mimic a cold case. But you’re in luck! We are detectives in the case of understanding how Google ranks your website, and guides to navigating the mysterious world of algorithms.
Cracking the Code
Allow us to decode Google’s website ranking and algorithm by diving into the mechanics of the system.
Remember, the algorithm is technology, rather than an unidentified person behind the screen. More specifically, this tech comes in the form of spiders. For our readers with arachnophobia, no need to panic; these are search engine spiders.
Search engine spiders, often referred to as web crawlers, move across pages in order to index them. For Google specifically, there are two types of spiders, generically referred to as Googlebots. Your phone uses Googlebot Smartphone and your computer employs Googlebot Desktop.
While the majority of sites are indexed through Googlebot Smartphone, spiders are on both devices. They peruse your website, evaluating its content, backlinks, proximity and function to decide if it’s worthy of a spot at the top.
Content Optimization
Google’s algorithm looks for pages with content that is not only relevant to search intent, but content that is comprehensive, original and well-written.
To evaluate content quality, Google employs Search Quality Raters to assign Page Quality and Needs Met ratings. Page Quality considers Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
- Experience: For Raters to evaluate this category, your content must display first-hand experience. For a blog post on the best local coffee, adding an anecdote about your feelings after trying a latte from your top-rated spot will signal to Raters, and readers, that you’ve actually tried the coffee you are recommending. Add a picture holding that latte for some extra experience credit.
- Expertise: A blog post with expertise is written by someone who is considered an expert in the topic at hand. For your coffee shop content, this is a more difficult piece of criteria to master. You may not be an employed barista and that’s ok. What you may not have in Expertise points you can make up for in Experience.
- Authoritativeness: Your industry reputation is measured in the Authoritativeness category. For your coffee shop piece, this may also be difficult to apply. However, let’s pretend you are rating coffee shops in your area for Food Network or a well-known travel company. Your position, as well as your content and your employer, would rank high on Authoritativeness because readers would recognize who you represent.
- Trustworthiness: Nothing matters more than Trustworthiness for Raters, and it’s a category that you can thrive in with a few simple action steps. Think back to the basics of writing an essay for school. What were you told to include? For starters, clarity about the authoring and sourcing of your piece is a must. Beyond that, make sure you fact check your words. Mentioning a coffee shop but adding the wrong address or hours of operation won’t score high in Trustworthiness.
One Page Quality rating will not make or break the success of your page, but this criteria is helpful for boosting your website’s SEO compatibility.
Backlinks
Backlinks, or hyperlinks, play a crucial role in the ranking process for search engine spiders. Lots of backlinks flag a website as popular or important to Google. However, having a high volume of them isn’t enough. Backlinks need to establish authority to get Google’s attention.
Besides volume and reliability, make sure your links are embedded in the body paragraphs of your website and over words related to the link. For example, when linking to the best local coffee shop for an iced latte, the name of the coffee shop should be used as anchor text, not random words in the sentence.
But how do you increase backlinks on your website? The easiest way to start is to ask external websites to link your content on their page and add links to your page manually. Additionally, links are earned when sites independently link your content, like the coffee shop blog.
Proximity and Function
This facet of the algorithm is more technical than the ladder. Regarding proximity, a searcher’s location in perspective to yours does play a role in Google’s SERP. Google’s algorithm would consider proximity for your coffee shop piece because the businesses local to you should also be local to readers.
The three components of this proximity hierarchy are relevance, prominence and distance. For relevance, search engine spiders analyze local Business Profiles in relation to searchers. For prominence, Google wants to know “how well known a business is.”
As for distance, Google’s algorithm makes sure the source of the content it recommends is near the searcher. According to Google, “Distance considers how far each potential search result is from the location term used in a search.” With no given location, Google calculates distance with the information it does have.
Functionality ensures that your website has good technical SEO. This entails easy navigation on a mobile device, reduced pop-ups, no redirections for users and minimal loading time. For those search engine spiders crawling around, the algorithm wants them to explore with ease.
Applying the Insights
Now that we’ve solved this behind-the-screen mystery, let’s practically align with the algorithm to bring that coffee shop blog to prominence.
Before you post online, craft your content with clarity to increase the likelihood of a high-quality rating. Use straightforward language, lists and bullet points for easy comprehension. Dive deep into details, answering unexpected questions in your piece. And remember, Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness are key!
Backlinks should enhance user experience and provide relevant information. Reach out to other sites for potential collaborations, manually add links to your site and attract organic links by delivering valuable content.
Make sure your site masters technical SEO. Focus on mobile compatibility, minimal interruptions, a smooth user experience and speedy loading times. Make your site experience a seamless journey for both users and search engine spiders. A hard-to-navigate page will disappoint readers and crawlers alike.
Your SEO Checklist
Use the questions on this checklist to ensure that you can beat the algorithm, make those search engine spiders and Search Quality Raters happy and secure your spot on the search results leaderboard.
Partner with Our SEO Detectives
If these steps seem daunting, that’s ok! Here’s where Rivers Agency comes in. Founded in 1993, our talented team of designers, writers, developers, account managers and strategists have been achieving advertising excellence for clients for three decades. Working with businesses across many industries, our team addresses the individual needs of each client.
Rivers is equipped to help you comprehensively understand and implement SEO, positioning your website atop the SERP. Utilizing keyword research and the strategies outlined above, our team of local SEO experts can guide you in making the most of your content.
In the case of Google’s algorithm, this guide should leave you feeling empowered with simple action steps. Embrace the art of content optimization, and utilize backlinks and technical SEO to rise to the (search engine) occasion today!