Google SEO ranking is the organic position your webpage holds in search results. It is determined primarily by high-quality content, backlinks, and search intent. Google uses complex algorithms to rank results automatically, and rankings fluctuate as Google constantly strives to display the best results.
Appearing as a link in Google’s AI Overviews or Bing’s generative search isn’t typically considered a traditional SEO ranking. However, these AI features are prominent and directly affect the traffic you receive from standard organic positions.
Why Do SEO Rankings Matter?
SEO rankings matter because appearing high in search results contributes to increased brand visibility and potential more website traffic. When generative search features aren’t present in search results or don’t fully answer a query high organic rankings put you in position to capture user attention and clicks.
However, your ranking positions aren’t all that matter. You also need to rank for the right queries, often called target keywords. This is because some terms will deliver better results for your business than others.
For instance, it’s more beneficial to rank for a query like marketing services for small businesses than what is marketing if you own a marketing agency. The first keyword represents people who are actively looking to hire a company like yours, whereas the second represents top-of-funnel informational intent.
How Do Search Engines Rank Results?
The criteria that search engines use to evaluate your website and determine where to show your pages are called SEO ranking factors. Search engines weight ranking factors differently depending on the meaning and context of the user’s query. For example, content freshness is more important when the query relates to a trending topic or breaking news.
Search engines are somewhat secretive about factors that influence SEO because:
- They don’t want other search engines to copy their algorithms.
- They don’t want marketers to be able to manipulate search rankings unfairly.
- That said, Google has confirmed some of its ranking factors, and marketers have made informed guesses about others.
The AI Shift: Traditional Rankings vs. AI Systems
Factors That Influence Organic Search Results
Factors that influence organic search results generally fall under three primary pillars: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO.
1. On-Page SEO
On-page SEO deals with improving pages’ content and structure to signal what your pages are about, allowing search engines to determine whether to show them for certain queries. Practically speaking, on-page SEO is largely about incorporating keywords and semantically related terms throughout your content.
Key on-page SEO elements include:
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- Internal links: Links to other pages on your site that distribute ranking authority and help search engines understand website structure.
- Title tags: HTML titles that show in search results to directly influence query relevance.
- Meta descriptions: Short HTML snippets that describe your page. While not a direct ranking factor, they influence user click-through rates.
- Header tags: HTML elements (H1, H2, H3) that structure content logically for bots and readers.
- Image alt text: HTML descriptions of images that aid visually impaired users and allow you to appear in image search results.
2. Off-Page SEO
Understanding Google SEO Rankings Off-page SEO aims to improve search visibility via techniques outside of your website by signaling that your content is trustworthy and worthy of ranking highly. The core off-page strategy involves getting backlinks. When prominent websites link to your content, search engines treat it as a vote of confidence. However, link volume alone isn’t the goal. Google’s Gary Illyes has noted that links aren’t always as critically important as many SEOs believe.
Instead, focus on accumulating high-quality links from relevant domains. This is also helpful for AI visibility, as research shows getting high-quality links matters more for appearing in AI-generated answers than simply accumulating a large volume of low-quality links.
Other off-page SEO techniques include:
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- Building brand mentions: Mentions on other websites boost overall footprint and digital authority.
- Influencer marketing: Working with creators extends your reach and builds commercial credibility.
- Gaining reviews: Reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, and G2 make you seem more trustworthy to both users and algorithmic bots.
3. Technical SEO
Technical SEO involves improving the technical aspects of your website and the user experience, both of which matter for ranking highly in search engines. You can think of technical health as a prerequisite for SEO rankings; it ensures search engines can effectively crawl and index your website.
Common technical SEO factors include:
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- Core Web Vitals: Metrics that measure page speed, visual stability, and interactivity.
- Mobile-friendliness: How well your website performs and scales on mobile device screens.
- HTTPS: Secure web protocols that protect user data privacy.
- Intrusive interstitials: Managing or eliminating pop-ups that obscure the main content for a reader.
Google notes that while not all page experience metrics are directly used to inform rankings, these aspects strongly align with success in search ranking and are worth attention.
How to Improve Your Website’s SEO Rankings To improve your rankings, start by targeting low-competition keywords. Targeting low-competition terms that do not attract heavy enterprise competition maximizes your chances of earning high rankings quickly You can use free keyword tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to find search terms, and then analyze those terms’ live search results pages to gauge relevancy and competition levels. Using premium keyword tools can speed up this process by providing direct difficulty metrics.
