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Google as well as Bing SEO ranking systems run on a mix of algorithms that take a variety of elements into the game. What factors are important the most to SEO rankings in 2021?
If you type in the term “SEO Ranking Factors,” you’ll see small lists of 3 ranking factors, up to lists of over 200 key ranking factors! This can be overwhelming before we get too deeply, let’s take a look through the information that Google & Bing actually tell us.
What are the SEO ranking factors?
According to the Google’s How Search Works guide, Google defines “ranking systems” as a collection of algorithms. The factors that determine ranking are detailed in the following paragraph:
Bing Webmaster Tools offers a more in-depth description of the ranking factors:
- Sitemap that has consistent URLs
- Backlinks
- Avoid duplicate content
- Make use of robots.txt within the root directory.
- Improve page speed
What About Other Search Engines?
ALL search engines employ algorithms to provide the most accurate and pertinent information. Google is the clear most popular and market leader search engine being followed by Youtube. It is likely that this will not change until 2021.
Voice search tools can also be found through search engines. Alexa & Microsoft Cortana use Bing. Google Home & Siri use Google. What is the difference between DuckDuckGo, Facebook, and Yahoo? Alexa puts all of them among the top 500 websites on the internet.
3 Types of SEO
Before we dive in to the ranking aspects, we need to identify the different types of SEO. There are three major types of SEO that allow search engines to locate keywords on your site and allow them to present your website’s URL in front of your competitors.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is an “backend” implementation that sets the structure of your site and pages to ensure optimal indexing and crawling.
Onsite SEO
Onsite SEO, often referred to as on-page optimization is a method of ensuring the use of keywords in appropriate spots on the site and the creation of a hierarchy of keywords that links related subjects. Images, content anchor text, anchor text that has interlinking, title tags meta-description tags, as well as H1 tags are all part of the category of SEO on-site.
Offsite SEO
Offsite SEO improves the credibility of your website by way of backlinks. The quality and type of backlinks have been important in algorithm adjustments over the years However, in 2021, backlinks are still going to have a significant impact.
Which Type of SEO is Most Important in 2021?
Consider the three different types of SEO as complementary; they all play a role in this SEO Marketing flywheel. However, in 2020, Technical SEO has been the element of Google’s algorithm adjustments. Don’t forget that Google shared its three most important ranking factors in 2016 They’re also relevant:
Let’s review the latest Google releases and enhancements as they are able to relate to technical SEO as well as the RankBrain.
Ranking Factors for Mobile-First Index
Mobile algorithms first came into play in 2016, and are significantly more sophisticated than the first “responsive design” recommendations. The month of March 2020 was when Google declared that the mobile-first algorithm would be applied to all websites from September. In July they extended the period to enable mobile-first indexing on all websites until March 2021.
The importance of making sure that Googlebot can access your content isn’t an entirely new idea However, when Googlebot cannot crawl your website in a way that is compatible with an index for mobile devices it’s wasting your time (and money) in SEO.
Robots Meta Tags
Check that your page-level settings are identical for desktop and mobile. Find out more about robots meta tags and settings for page/text by visiting Google Search Central.
Images
Image optimization is essential to mobile indexing. Follow the steps below:
- If you’re considering lazy-loading, ensure it’s possible for Google is able to crawl, index and search lazy loaded files. Make use of this Lazy Load Images and Video Guide from Google.
- Speed. If a webpage doesn’t conform to Google’s standards for speed the most likely cause is an issue with the loading of images. If you suspect that your images may be the cause of poor speed on your page then you should use Google’s URL test for mobile-friendlyness. In the event that speed issues are a website-wide issue, try GTMetrix for a comprehensive speed test. Don’t think that your CMS or plug-ins are optimizing your images to speed! Examine the Google Search Console’s Mobile Usability report every few times to make sure your images don’t cause any problems with crawling or indexing.
- Quality. Do not publish images with tiny text or low resolution. If your site contains more than 10 images, think about using thumbnails for the mobile version.
- Alt attributes. Utilize alt attributes for every image you have, and ensure that it is in line with the keywords you want to target or similar words.
Video
On mobile devices, ensure your video isn’t pushed off the page due to ads or bad positions. Search engines could penalize your website if the video doesn’t appear accessible via mobile.