200 Search Ranking Factors

Google has confirmed for google search results page they use 200 ranking factors. Some believe its not true and some believe its over 200 ranking algorithm. How ever google never publish those 200 ranking factors anywhere. So as SEO Agency or SEO Expert we create some standard to do best practice for better ranking in search result.

Before I start to writing this post I did some research on Backlinko & Moz website and find very important information that we need to consider as ranking factor. Below is complete list of 200 search ranking factors to consider as SEO services provider:

The Complete List of Google’s 200 Ranking Factors

To make it easy for newbie webmaster I am explaining 200 ranking factors in 10 different main category. So it will be easy for you to prepare checklist for improve, implement and continue ranking improvement journey.

Domain name ranking factor

• Selecting right domain name for branding and keyword need research and expertise. There is lots of website you can search available domain name for right keyword or Branding. Domain age and keyword in domain name play important factor in search ranking. Also length of domain registration, domain history can impact search ranking.




Domain age

Domain age is hardly an important factor for google ranking from hundreds of factors but exists. Google considers domain age by how long the domain has been around but the time period refers to the time when google first index your domain not from when you registered it. That’s why many companies buy aged domain for their site. That’s not mean that aged domain always comes first in the rank, but it helps to rank a bit better.



Keyword appears in top level domain

Domains are the readable Internet addresses of websites. If your main keyword appears in the top level domain google can consider you for top rank. You can see in Chrome browser if domain name match with your keyword its still shown as bold.



Keyword as first word in Domain

When one go to search engines and search for a product they type the specific name of the product and search for it. When you keep your keyword as 1st word of your domain when people search for your related product they can get your site first. When you become popular towards the audiences google will consider you to be on top rank. But this is not a main factor to rank first. Because there are several company that use keyword as first in domain. It only works when you have quality and relevant contents in your site.



Domain registration length

When you purchase a domain, you get an option of how long you want to register for like 1 years, 3 years, 5 years or 10 years. When you choose your registration length it indicates that for how much time you want to be there. When you register your domain for long time google and search engines thinks that your site plans to be in business for a long time. If you register for short time that is possible that it makes negative sense towards search engines. So it’s a little but important factor for rank higher.



Keyword in sub domains

When you want to focus on a different topic instead of focusing on main domain you can use the sub domains. This can help you to rank high because if some audiences search for the keyword of main domains and some for sub domains they all will get your site.



Domain history

Google is very smart. It continuous review contents, check inbound links, traffic and other factors to find out whether you are good or bad for audiences as google get overall impression of your performance. So to get top ranked domain history is very important. Domain history reflects who are you, what you want to do and what is your true identity.



Exact match domain

Exact match domain is very popular and works very fast for achieving good ranking but it’s very difficult to do as there are thousands of domains. You have to make your content relevant only then exact match domain will work. But if you don’t maintain quality content exact match domain won’t work.



Public vs. Private WHOIS

If you keep your domain WHOIS information private its not bad signal for ranking, but when you consider few other domain privacy and place into together it can effect your ranking in Google search results page. Public WHOIS information always have positive signal for better ranking.



Penalized domain owner

If you have multiple domain and one of your domain in spam and penalized list, or if google marked you as spammer and if you own any domain, its give signal to google your other website might be Spam too. Having clean record is important for search ranking.



Country tld extension

If you want to grow your online business only for specific country than you can use country TLD extensions. Having said that local business owner in United Kingdom can use .co.uk domain for better ranking in UK. While .co.uk have better ranking signal for UK, But please note it’s not give you any good ranking signal globally. If you are using .com or .net etc domain extensions you can still specify your domain for any country form google search console.





Page level search ranking factor

• This is apply to every single page of your website. Don’t focus on multiple keywords in one page. Keyword in title, meta tag and meta descriptions most important factors in search ranking. To improve your on-page seo ranking you check website seo auditing.



Keyword in title tag

It’s a most important point for SEO which you really need to focus on because when search engines search for your sites information it highly focus on title tag what you use. When you use keyword as title tag you should make sure that you choose the best tag for your site.





Site-level search ranking factors:

• Google rank individually each domain and pages from trillions of google indexed database. Website trust factors, Page authority, server location, website speed, site architecture and lots other factor include in site level search ranking factors.



External site links to your website

• When other website add links to your website its give single to google as vote for your website. This links known as backlink. Quality & relevant backlinks have significant role in search ranking. Same way if you have links from low quality website, It can hurt your ranking.



User interaction factors

• This is another important factor google use as ranking signal. Google track how they came to your website. From search result page or direct traffic or referral website? What user do after come in your website. Do they scroll down to read more information or they just leave after landing your website.



Social signals ranking factors

• All social media, for example number of tweets in Twitter, share in Facebook, Pin in Pinterest, subscriber in Youtube channel send social signal in google search ranking factors. If you have more engagement with your audience via social media, its can help you to improve your ranking.



Brand signal ranking factors

• Proper use of branding can help you to improve your ranking. Creating business page in Google my business, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media and local listing website like Yelp, Yellow page can send branding signal to Google to improve ranking in search result page.



Website spam factors:

• If your website is over optimized or bad practice of keyword optimization, miss used of above the fold content, bad site in your IP can effect your ranking in real time.



External site spam factors

• It is common practice of creating backlinks from forum profile or blog comments. Bad quality irrelevant forum profile or blog comments link can hurt your ranking in search result page. Same way of quality and spammy backlinks, common text for all 3rd party profile site can increase your spam score.



Online reputation ranking factors

• Google shows other website review in search result. Google take those review is signal of website popularity. Having ratings and review from quality website can improve your SEO ranking & same way if you have bad reputation it can reduce your Click-through Rates (CTR) and visitor will leave your website.