Understanding The Google Search Algorithm

Understanding Google’s search algorithm is an extremely complex task as there are no set rules and guidelines which Google has published. However, experienced marketers like ourselves and many other members of the global marketing community have come together to share our findings. Based on the experience we have gathered over the years, we have prepared a summary that will give you a rudimentary understanding of the Google search algorithm.

First, it is important to understand Google’s search algorithm because it has a number of parameters that it goes through in order to determine where your link should rank. Making that ranking better on the search engine results page is our entire objective from an SEO standpoint, which is why this exercise is highly important.

1. Mobile Optimization: With the sheer number of mobile devices growing at an unprecedented rate, this is a crucial factor. Given the better chance of mobile affordability than desktops, more Google searches will take place on mobile phones and as a result, this is a massive factor that the algorithm considers when you are ranked.
2. Backlinks: The links to your website from other sites are a massive factor as they can help or hurt your domain and page authority. This basically determines the credibility of your page by quantifying it. Hence, it is important to obtain a good volume and at the same time obtain those backlinks from authoritative websites.
3. On-page SEO practices: Things like meta tags, keyword densities, and unique content are very important to the user and as a result are very important to Google. However, Google’s algorithm is now sophisticated enough that it can recognize black hat practices like copying content from other obscure sites, keyword stuffing even at the cost of disrupting the flow etc. So, make sure that you optimise for both the user and Google’s algorithm.
4. Security: HTTPS sites are more secure in comparison to HTTP sites and as a result Google considers them to be a better option.
5. Site Speed: This is a massive factor as the bounce rate increases dramatically after 2 to 3 seconds. So it is important to streamline your website code and make sure that it has a very fast loading time for both desktops and mobile phones.
6. Keywords: This is perhaps the most important factor of all. The search terms used by the users are used by the algorithm to search for content throughout its indexed database. This is why it is important to optimize your content for keywords for which you want to rank. Also, Google takes into account past experiences of users in the form of average session time and bounce rate. Hence, it is important to have a good user experience now to attract future users.

These are just some of the most widely accepted factors when it comes to understanding the Google search algorithm. If you want to learn more about this, please visit us at Idecution.