Module 3 – Factors That Influence Where Your Pages Rank on Search Engines

Search Engine Optimization is comprised of 3 components:

• Technical SEO
• On-Page SEO
• Off-Page SEO

Technical SEO: Secure, Crawled & Indexed

Technical SEO refers to improving the technical aspects of a website. Identifying and fixing issues related to Technical SEO may be beyond the capabilities of most small business owners, but most businesses will have someone who developed or manages their website who can help.

Indexation

You want your site to be added to a search engine’s index. Checking to see what pages of your site are indexed is easy. Type “site:yourdomain.com” (replacing “yourdomain.com” with your own domain) into Google and look at the results. You should see all of the pages you want indexed in the results. If there are pages missing, or some that should not be there, let your web developer know.

Secure Websites

Google gives preference to websites that are secure, meaning that the information from the website is transferred to the visitor securely. This is particularly important for information that may be added to forms such as contact forms, order forms or reservation requests. To check if your website is secure, go to your website and if the URL starts with “https://”, your site is secure. (A secure website will also display a small lock icon if all is good.) If it doesn’t, contact your website developer to increase your site security (there may be a cost). Websites without this feature may not be ranked and a warning could be displayed within the address bar, making searchers reluctant to open it..

Avoid Duplicate Content

Search engines do not like duplicate content. One way duplication can creep into a website is if the pages on the site all work with different URL prefixes (e.g. https://www.hellobc.com/plan-your-trip/about-bc/). Try typing in different variations of the URL for your site into your browser. All variations should redirect to just one of the variations.

Mobile-Friendly Websites

Google has started to base their ranking results on the content they find on the mobile version of your website, so your site needs to be optimized for mobile devices. These days, most sites are automatically built to be mobile-friendly. To check if your site is mobile-friendly, go to https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2016/05/a-new-mobile-friendly-testing-tool and enter your website’s address. If the results say your website is not mobile-friendly, talk to your web developer to find out what to do next. 

Fast-Loading Websites

Page speed is a ranking signal, so it is important to ensure that your site is as fast as possible, particularly for visitors using mobile devices. To test the speed of your site on a mobile device, visit the following page and enter your website’s URL: https://testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-us

On-Page SEO: Content That Meets The Needs Of Your Customers

Meeting the needs of prospective customers means understanding what Google calls “moments”, which define how and what people look for during the process of purchasing products or services. For travel-related products and services, these moments are defined as: 

• I want to get away
• I want to plan
• I want to book
• I want to explore before I go
• I’m exploring

At each stage, people search for different types of content (e.g. text, images, or videos) on different search engines, platforms, sites, or apps.

Your content should:

• Match a searcher’s intent (i.e. provide value) 
• Be of the best quality it can be
• Be unique (not copied)
• Have enough detail and length to be authoritative
• Not stuffed with keywords

Create a Strong Foundation

All content, on every page of your site, should have a clear purpose and be written for your target audience. If it does, you are well on your way to meeting the needs of search engines, as they aim to show the most relevant, high-quality content to searchers.

Well-written, well-organized content helps users have a great on-site experience, and it also helps search engines interpret the meaning of the content. Ways of improving organization of your content include:

Use Headings

Group similar content into categories or topics, and use clearly labelled headings throughout the content show which information on each page is more or less important (the hierarchy of content). If possible, include a keyword for which you’re trying to rank in each page’s main heading.

Thoughtful internal linking

I: Internal linking helps users easily navigate content on your website, and it also sends signals to search engines about your site’s hierarchy, which helps indicate what content on the site is related. This gives search engines a richer understanding of the site’s content and its context. Strategically linking content on a similar topic can be helpful.

The right amount of content

Focusing on the needs of your audience will help you determine how much content each page should have, and in what format (e.g. text, infographics, maps, images, videos, etc.). While the needs of your audience will change at different stages of their customer journey, research suggests that the highest-ranking pages often have longer content. This makes sense as it is easier for search engines to interpret the meaning and importance of longer texts. Longer text also tends to be more comprehensive, making it more likely to provide all the information a user is looking for in one place. Longer form content will usually earn more backlinks (or referral links from other websites) further improving your search ranking. But first and foremost, think about your visitors! Content should have a clear purpose and be written with your target audience in mind.

Unique, valuable content

Make sure each page is unique. Search engines don’t like duplication as it makes it harder for them to determine which is the authoritative content that should rank highest for a particular search query.

Keep it fresh!

Search engines like new, fresh content so, if possible, review and refresh the content on your website regularly (at least once a year), making sure it’s up-to-date and meeting the needs of your visitors.

If you have a blog, carefully consider what topics you could include that would be helpful to your visitors or might demonstrate your expertise or experience. It’s more important to publish longer, well-planned blog posts, than more frequent, short posts that may not offer any real or lasting value.

When you publish valuable, helpful, and unique content, others will link to it, which helps to build your site’s overall authority on the Internet.

Optimize Content

The following elements of a web page can affect how your site ranks, and if the result is clicked on when it appears in the rankings:

• Page Title
• The URL 
• Meta description
• Page copy, headings, and sub-headings
• Image alt text

Each of these elements send signals to search engines, and collectively, they help search engines understand what the content on the page is about, how should be indexed, and if and when it will be retrieved when a searcher types in a search query. 

When a page is surfaced in search results, it is typically the page title and meta description, along with the URL that make up the result.

The search result is important because in many instances, it is the first—and possibly the last—opportunity to persuade a searcher to click on your search result rather than that of a competitor. In other words, your search result needs to be compelling and persuasive when surrounded by other results and competing for attention, while also setting realistic expectations of what will be found when it is clicked. 

What You Can Do

Title Tags

A title tag is an HTML element that specifies the title of a web page, and it is displayed on a SERP as the clickable headline for a given result. It is also visible when the page is shared on social networks, at the top of the browser window, and as the title of the page if the page is added to a user’s favorites. The title tag of a web page should be an accurate and concise description of a page’s content.

• • Typically, titles should be in the format “Title of Page | Brand Name” or “Title of Page – Brand Name”. Whether a pipe or a dash is used as the separator varies by website – Regardless of which you choose to use, the most important thing is that you are consistent across all pages of your site. You may have seen a brand or business name used at the front of the title, but this is suggested most often for new brands and only on the homepage. Your business name can be used in other locations within the title if the title reads more naturally that way.
  • Do not include the word “homepage” or “home” in the title of the site’s homepage. This does not provide any value to search engines or the searcher seeing the title in the SERP.
  • Use a unique title for each page of your website and ensure it accurately reflects the page content.
  • Title tags should be no longer than 60 characters, or it may get cut off in the SERP.
  • If possible, title tags should include a relevant keyword for your audience (a term you think people will search for in a search engine). Use the keyword as a guide, but don’t just add the keyword alone as the title. Whenever possible, include your keywords at the front of the title.
  • Use keywords (or close variants of a keyword) only once on each page of your website. Keywords used multiple times on one page may be considered “keyword stuffing” by search engines, which can negatively affect your page ranking.

Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are HTML attributes that provide concise explanations of your page content. While not as important to search engine rankings as the Title Tag, they are extremely important in enticing your audience to click through from the search results, as they often show up in search results under the title of your page. Write meta descriptions for the searcher, to entice them to click on your site over a competing search result. 

Note: Search results will sometimes show content from other parts of the page rather than your meta description, if it determines that the other content better matches a search query.

• • Be descriptive and provide a clear and accurate overview of the page content.
  • Meta descriptions should be unique to each page of your website and should compel a searcher to click for more information.
  • Meta descriptions can be very long, but anything over 155 characters may be cut off in search results. When this happens, searchers won’t see the full description.
  • Include keywords, but don’t use the same keywords more than once in a description.
  • If appropriate, put keywords close to the beginning of the description. If a term used in the search query is found in the description, it will appear bold in the search result, which helps to draw attention to your search result and highlights your result’s relevance.

Off-Page SEO: Building your site’s authority

Off-page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages (SERPs). These are tactics that don’t involve updating or publishing content to your website. 

Backlinks

Building backlinks is at the heart of off-page SEO. Backlinks, or inbound links, are links from one website to a page on another website. Think of them as votes from other websites, each telling search engines: “This content is valuable, credible and useful”. Pages with a high number of backlinks tend to have high organic search engine rankings. 

Not all backlinks are created equal. It’s important when linking to other websites from yours that those links go to trusted, authoritative websites, and that the site you are linking to is related to yours. Don’t throw in a link to a Harvard article in your next blog post, simply to try and squeeze in a high authority backlink if the article has nothing to do with your blog topic—Google wants to see that both sites are related.

At the same time, if your website is linked to by another site in good standing with Google, this tells Google that your content is relevant as well as educational, authoritative and trustworthy (EAT), leading to a ranking boost. There are various ways to increase backlinks to your website:

• • Reviews: Google uses customer reviews as a trusted source, so the more positive reviews that link back to your site, the higher your website will rank in organic search.
  • Travel Media: Was your business featured in a top tier publication online? That is a fantastic way to earn authority links. Seek out opportunities to be featured in relevant media articles, always ensuring that links to your website are included.
  • Guest Posting: Consider partnering with others to provide content about your business on their website. Google will see the backlinks to your site on a trusted brand’s website which in turn builds your authority.

Local SEO — Enhancing the Network of Information

A “local search” is one that includes terms that indicate a geographic location, such as “campgrounds near me” or “campgrounds in Kelowna BC”. Local SEO refers to optimizing your online presence so that your business appears when a relevant local search is performed. 

Google’s algorithm reviews its index to determine what to present on Google maps, in the Local Pack below the map, and in the regular results. Google Maps is a top source of web traffic and impressions for many businesses and is Google’s most important product after Search. 

A Google Business Profile listing provides information that Google uses in various places across search results, including Google Maps. This makes having a Google My Business listing important to every business that wants to be competitive in the marketplace.

Additionally, ensure that your Name, Address and Phone Number (NAP) is clear and accurate on your website, in your reviews, and social mentions, as well as on any other websites where your business is mentioned.

In summary, search engines are constantly adapting to improve their results, but their goal is always the same – to deliver the most relevant content to a searcher. There are multiple elements that make up SEO; knowing what they are and how they work is key to understanding the factors that influence where your pages rank on search engines. By focusing on the top ranking factors identified to date, the following are currently considered to be some of the most important mentioned above, you will have increased your chances of showing up through search engines when and where your prospective customers are looking for you.

Last updated: August, 2024

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