Search Engine Optimization Positioning

There are many factors in Google’s algorithm in Search Engine Optimization Positioning. Google (via Matt Cutts) has often stated that it has over 200 ranking factors that Google uses to determine search engine ranking positioning. Since Google won’t tell us all of the positioning factors that are used in it’s ranking algorithm and which factors carry the most weight, we are left to guess which search engine optimization positioning variables to focus on.

Paid Search Trumps Organic Search In Positioning

Make no mistake about it, Google does not get paid for serving organic search results. Google is a for-profit company. Google makes its money by serving paid advertising that people click on and then Google turns around and charges the advertiser for that click. Google also knows that more people click on the top as well as the top right-hand side of the search results when looking for something specific. So guess where Google places its ads?

Knowing that organic search results take a back seat to paid advertising, you need a strong search engine optimization strategy to rank for the search terms you want your website to rank for. We have outlined below some of the “low hanging fruit” that you need to know when determining which search engine ranking factors you need to tackle first that have a heavier outcome on search engine positioning. We cannot stress enough that these are only a few factors out of hundreds of variables that search engines use to determine if your web page is relevant to the search results.

 SEO Factors To Consider:

Age of Domain

The search engines will place a greater weight on a domain name that has been around for several years compared to a domain name that was just created several hours ago. The older the domain name, the more weight it carries in SEO.

Clean URL Structure

Your website needs to have a clean URL structure that is intuitive to the end-user and uses descriptive words for each web page within that structure. A good URL structure would be www.xyzplumber.com/sump-pump-repair. Just by looking at that URL and nothing else, you know you are going to a plumbing website that should have content about sump pump repair. An example of a bad URL structure would look like www.xyzplumber.com/x123tfs. Even though you may guess at the description of the domain name, the sub-page is not descriptive at all.  Make your URLs descriptive and clear of any irrelevant characters.

Content

If you have read any of the articles we have previously published, you already know that Content is King. Not just any content, but relevant content for your website. Search engines love fresh relevant content. This is one aspect of SEO that is probably the most important and yet most underutilized. Your website should be publishing relevant content on a weekly basis, your competition that is ranking high within the search engines is, you should as well.

Strong Internal Link Structure

Your web pages within your website should link to each other to create a seamless end user experience. Search engines do not like broken links because it creates a bad end-user experience. Excessive broken links can be punishable by the search engines so monitor your broken links and redirect them to other relevant web pages within your website’s framework.

Target Keywords

You cannot properly optimize your website without first deciding which keywords you want to focus on. A good tool for deciding which keywords you want to focus on, and more importantly how competitive those keywords are, is the Google Keyword Research Tool. Start at this step before you do anything else.

Target Keyword in URL

If one of your target keywords is already in your domain name then you have an advantage over your competition. If not then you should properly name and label your sub-pages and URL structure what those target keywords should be. Take for example the www.xyzplumber.com/sump-pump-repair URL example. If the target keyword you are optimizing for is “sump pump repair” then you have accomplished your goal of creating a good target keyword in your URL.

ALT Tag

If you have images on your website, which you should, make sure you are using the ALT tag feature. Search Engines read ALT tags because they cannot see images. Make the ALT tag of each image one of your target keywords.

Bounce Rate

Let’s say you are getting good traffic to your website (finally) but when you look at your website analytics, you notice that your bounce rate is hovering around 75%. Not a good sign. Bounce rates occur when a web visitor goes to your website, checks out that web page that he/she lands on then turns around and leaves. A higher bounce rate means that web visitors are not finding what they are looking for, this creates a bad end user experience. Your website will eventually get penalized by the search engines for having high bounce rates because it does not enhance the end user experience.

Inbound Links

It is safe to say that the days of pummeling your website with inbound links to rank high within the search engine results is now officially over. Search engines place a higher weight on inbound links if they are from a trusted source and relevant to your website’s theme. Let’s take the plumbing URL as an example. A relevant inbound link we would want to have to go to www.xyzplumber.com would be www.CapitalPlumbingSupply.com or www.PlumbingReviews.com. An example of an irrelevant inbound backlink would be www.UsedVideoGames.com. 

There are more factors in Search Engine Optimization Positioning that the search engines use in their algorithms. The ones we have listed above can help lay the groundwork for a good search engine positioning foundation. If you have any questions then please contact us for a Free SEO Consultation.