There are lots of different factors that can affect your Google search engine ranking, and with every month that passes, the factors can change.
If you want to make sure that your website is at the top of the Google search results in 2018, here are some of the key ranking factors for the new year.
The mobile experience
Mobile internet use is extremely popular, and now there are more people checking the internet on their phones than there are people using the internet on their desktop. For this reason, it is absolutely essential that your website is completely optimised for mobile use – especially when it comes to website layout and page load times.
If you are looking for a London SEO agency who can help you optimise your website for mobile devices, check out https://www.elevateuk.com/seo-services/.
The power of links
Links have always been an important part of SEO, so you should make sure that your website links to other websites – but in 2018, it is important to the only link to high-quality websites. This is because linking to spammy websites will damage your SEO ranking, moving you down the results page. If you’re not sure which links are good and which links are bad, don’t worry – you can check out Backlinko’s Link Building Fundamentals to learn more.
HTTPS
Google first said in 2014 that it would start to use HTTPS as a form of ranking, and now it is finally happening. You may have already noticed this process in action if you open up an unsecured website, as Google will let you know that the website is secure rather than safe, warning you to leave the page. You can avoid this by switching to an HTTPS URL, which is a simple and easy way to improve your SEO ranking.
Content creation
Content is another important part of your website’s SEO ranking, and in the past, many websites were rewarded by Google for creating lots of content. Now the rules around content creation are slightly different, and writing lots of posts won’t improve your ranking. In fact, if the content is poor, you are more likely to be penalized for it.
In 2018, Google will prioritize high-quality, useful, relevant content that contains relevant keywords and authority links, so it is important to focus on quality over quantity.