Google’s Secret Ranking Factor: Awesomeness
I’m a creative problem-solver driven by the desire to see small businesses improve their image and succeed. I’ve got over 20 years experience and have worked with clients as large as Nike and as small as a local sole-proprietor. I’ve been an advocate for education, a member of prestigious design organizations, won awards, and been invited to judge design competitions. Over the years, I have also written blogs and articles for a number of online sites and print publications. I have a heavy background in art, photography, graphic design and thinking outside the box. When not working, you’ll find me getting outdoors, practicing Qi Gong, snowboarding, camping, collecting rocks, and driving around in a sweet 1970 Camaro.
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According to John Muller, Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, the main ranking factor for top search results for a particular phase is: AWESOMENESS. All cheekiness aside, he’s kinda right (and don’t let the age of this tweet fool you – it still applies). Google is after awesome user experiences and many of their 200+ ranking factors align with that.
Here’s my, “top 3 biggest tips” to ensure your site is awesome in the eyes of Google:
#1 – Technically sound: Clean, error-free code, mobile, secure (https), attention to user interface/ease of use, basic SEO (things like structured data, internal links, meta tags, xml sitemap, etc. – pro tip: hire a pro!), and excellent web hosting are some of the top factors here.
#2 – FAST loading: If you’ve handled #1 successfully, #2 should come naturally.
#3 – Humans over bots: Without getting into a long and complex explanation filled with even more search engine optimization jargon here’s the break down – at the end of the day, your website is for people and those people are your target audience. Go out of your way to ensure your content is high quality, well-written (pro tip: hire a pro!), and exactly what your audience needs and wants.
Okay, so I admit, I cheated a little here by creating 3 pretty broad “buckets” as tips (and technically #2 IS part of #1), but it’s often much easier to deal with an overwhelming quantity of information when it’s broken down into more manageable chunks. I’m all about finding ways to explain things that simplify more complex concepts.
Winning your website…
If you don’t get the reference of that particular “meme” above, it came from the 1986 video game The Legend of Zelda, and yes I did play it. It reinforced for me that you often need tools and help along your journey to reach a successful ending.
You could spend all your nights and weekends trying to crack the code of making your website more successful, or you could get some help.
So if you’re ready to “level up” your small business website …
Give me a call or shoot me an email and we’ll see if we make a good team. If not, I’ve hopefully pointed you in the right direction to make it happen.
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I’m a creative problem-solver driven by the desire to see small businesses improve their image and succeed. I’ve got over 20 years experience and have worked with clients as large as Nike and as small as a local sole-proprietor. I’ve been an advocate for education, a member of prestigious design organizations, won awards, and been invited to judge design competitions. Over the years, I have also written blogs and articles for a number of online sites and print publications. I have a heavy background in art, photography, graphic design and thinking outside the box. When not working, you’ll find me getting outdoors, practicing Qi Gong, snowboarding, camping, collecting rocks, and driving around in a sweet 1970 Camaro.
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