What is a ranking factor?
In the context of search engine optimization (SEO), certain variables are referred to as ranking factors. When evaluating or positioning the search results, these variables have either a direct or indirect influence on the search engine algorithm. The search engine thus checks during the position calculation whether the respective variables can be found on the corresponding websites and how pronounced they are.
How do ranking factors work?
In general, a website has a better chance of ranking high in search results if it addresses many of the ranking factors and is keyword-optimized.
In addition to the meta title and the actual content of the website, backlinks are also classic ranking factors. In practice, however, ranking factors are many times more complex. For example, Google takes around 200 different factors into account when positioning the search results, each of which can show up to 50 variations.
For example, when evaluating the content of a website, not only the quantity but also the quality, the information content, the formatting and the presentation are taken into account. In the meantime, even the grammar, the language level and the specified sources play a relevant role in the evaluation of the search results. The Google algorithm also prefers websites that regularly update and optimize their content.
The Google bot (also known as a crawler) is so sophisticated that it can distinguish between cursorily adapted texts, major text changes and completely new text passages. It is therefore assumed that the number of calculation factors of the Google search algorithm is currently somewhere in the five-digit range. If you only run a small website, you should initially only focus on the classic factors already mentioned when it comes to search engine optimization.
