Google ranks the sites based on certain algorithms that are never flexible for any site that fails to pass. The process of being ranked is much taller than it looks. For a site to rank on the search engine result page (SERP), it has to make sure certain boxes are being ticked. For a site to be ranked Google looks into, The uniqueness of the content When a piece of content is being posted, Google indexes the content and checks if it is unique. If Google finds out that the content is being duplicated from some other website, then the site will be made sure it stays farther from ranking on the SERP. There are even some scenarios where the site could be penalized. Contact us Google needs a certain amount of information that will be useful for the users in contacting that particular brand. When you design the contact us page, make sure to add every aspect of relevant information that will help your customers. The information that is being provided should be valid and appropriate. In simple words, it should go similar to the whois information. The structure of the website When a site is being organized well, it can be easily read by Google. Whereas if the website architecture is difficult to read or index then it could give a bad impression when the spiders try to index them. So it is better if all the categories are put in right the shape, easily accessible so that the Google bots can index them with clarity. The updates on a site When a site is being designed and maintained for the first time everything will be fresh as new but as time flees by everything gets old and that needs to be fixed. The website should be updated to keep it on track. An outdated site does not attract the attention of the audience. A sitemap A sitemap helps the spiders as well as the users, get to exactly what they are searching for. This will also help the spiders in the process of indexing your page. These may not play a major role in ranking yet they help in indexing. Website maintenance Google ranks a site that keeps up to its mark and not the ones that keep crashing like a paper boat. Once or twice will be acceptable but if the site keeps crashing and taking a lot of time to go up then the site needs a serious expert to help you with it. If the issue still exists then there are chances where Google will de-index the website. Where the server is situated The location of the server plays a major role in a location based search. This is more important if you are targeting a location based audience. HTTPS as a ranking signal by Google "Security is a top priority for Google. We invest a lot in making sure that our services use industry-leading security, like strong HTTPS encryption by default. That means that people using Search, Gmail and Google Drive, for example, automatically have a secure connection to Google. Beyond our own stuff, we're also working to make the Internet safer more broadly. A big part of that is making sure that websites people access from Google are secure. For instance, we have created resources to help webmasters prevent and fix security breaches on their sites." - Google Thus Google has officially declared HTTPS as a ranking signal. The E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) principles Google gives little priority to sites that undergo the E-A-T principles. If your site is a health care site, then sure you are given more priority compared to other sectors. Copied Meta content Like already said, Google is completely against copy and paste content. If Google finds out the content is being duplicated from other Meta descriptions or tags, then it is sure that the content will be invisible to Google. Following the breadcrumbs This is one of the oldest methods yet it is still up and functional. The breadcrumbs help in finding the way from where you started. “Google Search uses breadcrumb markup in the body of a web page to categorize the information from the page in search results.” - Google Mobile-friendly websites Most of the population has turned to mobile users where they search each and everything within a few taps. But to satisfy the users it is more important to set the site that can be easily accessible and user friendly. A mobile-friendly site has more chances of being ranked on the first page of the search engine result page. Easy to use website The site should be in a way that it could be accessed easily without any difficulty. When it is difficult to interface with a site, you should probably forget about being ranked, as there are very low chances for ranking. Put yourself in the shoes of a customer, you are in search of a particular product and you find it difficult in getting hold of the product from a particular site, what would you do? If you ask me, I surely will go with the next site that has better clarity on guiding their audience. Make use of Google tools When you wish to be ranked on Google, it is more important that you use their tools. Google Analytics and Google search console are here to help you with. Downloading these two can help you identify where you are standing. But there is very little advantage from Google's end. But you will be able to get accurate data on your performance, the amount of traffic, the bounce rates and much more valuable information that will help you improve the level of your performance. Google reviews The customer reviews are also an important factor that helps Google in identifying if the site is doing well or not. The customers who pop into the searches will click on to your site seeing the reviews. This could gain you more conversion as well. These are some of the site level ranking factors used by Google. Coming to an end, make sure to look out for these factors as they could seriously affect the tanking of your site.
Google ranks the sites based on certain algorithms that are never flexible for any site that fails to pass. The process of being ranked is much taller than it looks. For a site to rank on the search engine result page (SERP), it has to make sure certain boxes are being ticked.
For a site to be ranked Google looks into,
When a piece of content is being posted, Google indexes the content and checks if it is unique. If Google finds out that the content is being duplicated from some other website, then the site will be made sure it stays farther from ranking on the SERP.
There are even some scenarios where the site could be penalized.
Google needs a certain amount of information that will be useful for the users in contacting that particular brand. When you design the contact us page, make sure to add every aspect of relevant information that will help your customers.
The information that is being provided should be valid and appropriate. In simple words, it should go similar to the whois information.
When a site is being organized well, it can be easily read by Google. Whereas if the website architecture is difficult to read or index then it could give a bad impression when the spiders try to index them.
So it is better if all the categories are put in right the shape, easily accessible so that the Google bots can index them with clarity.
When a site is being designed and maintained for the first time everything will be fresh as new but as time flees by everything gets old and that needs to be fixed. The website should be updated to keep it on track. An outdated site does not attract the attention of the audience.
A sitemap helps the spiders as well as the users, get to exactly what they are searching for. This will also help the spiders in the process of indexing your page.
These may not play a major role in ranking yet they help in indexing.
Google ranks a site that keeps up to its mark and not the ones that keep crashing like a paper boat. Once or twice will be acceptable but if the site keeps crashing and taking a lot of time to go up then the site needs a serious expert to help you with it.
If the issue still exists then there are chances where Google will de-index the website.
The location of the server plays a major role in a location based search. This is more important if you are targeting a location based audience.
"Security is a top priority for Google. We invest a lot in making sure that our services use industry-leading security, like strong HTTPS encryption by default. That means that people using Search, Gmail and Google Drive, for example, automatically have a secure connection to Google.
Beyond our own stuff, we're also working to make the Internet safer more broadly. A big part of that is making sure that websites people access from Google are secure. For instance, we have created resources to help webmasters prevent and fix security breaches on their sites." - Google
Thus Google has officially declared HTTPS as a ranking signal.
Google gives little priority to sites that undergo the E-A-T principles. If your site is a health care site, then sure you are given more priority compared to other sectors.
Like already said, Google is completely against copy and paste content. If Google finds out the content is being duplicated from other Meta descriptions or tags, then it is sure that the content will be invisible to Google.
This is one of the oldest methods yet it is still up and functional. The breadcrumbs help in finding the way from where you started.
“Google Search uses breadcrumb markup in the body of a web page to categorize the information from the page in search results.” - Google
Most of the population has turned to mobile users where they search each and everything within a few taps. But to satisfy the users it is more important to set the site that can be easily accessible and user friendly. A mobile-friendly site has more chances of being ranked on the first page of the search engine result page.
The site should be in a way that it could be accessed easily without any difficulty. When it is difficult to interface with a site, you should probably forget about being ranked, as there are very low chances for ranking.
Put yourself in the shoes of a customer, you are in search of a particular product and you find it difficult in getting hold of the product from a particular site, what would you do? If you ask me, I surely will go with the next site that has better clarity on guiding their audience.
When you wish to be ranked on Google, it is more important that you use their tools. Google Analytics and Google search console are here to help you with. Downloading these two can help you identify where you are standing. But there is very little advantage from Google's end. But you will be able to get accurate data on your performance, the amount of traffic, the bounce rates and much more valuable information that will help you improve the level of your performance.
The customer reviews are also an important factor that helps Google in identifying if the site is doing well or not. The customers who pop into the searches will click on to your site seeing the reviews. This could gain you more conversion as well.
These are some of the site level ranking factors used by Google.
Coming to an end, make sure to look out for these factors as they could seriously affect the tanking of your site.