What Are the Google Ranking Factors Showing Up?

Everyone is after the same thing: to rank highly in the Google organic search results so as to enjoy the so-called “free” traffic that would flow from that.

Now of course we all know that it's far from free, as it requires time and effort to pull this off. Still, getting a top spot on Page One can go a long way toward making your business more successful.

Still, we all want it, and wish to know how to best optimize our pages for it. Toward that end, here are 15 of the 200+ ranking factors you'll want to try and implement on your site.

15 Google Ranking Factors

Keyword in title tag – Still an important factor, this tells Google what your page is about.
Content length – It's been shown that content in the 1000-1500 word range ranks better.
Page loads – If your page loads like molasses, you won't rank well or be seen.
Keyword in URL – This helps rank your page better, especially with longer tail phrases.
Videos and visual content – Google loves visual content: they OWN YouTube, so make visual content a high priority.
Outgoing links to authority sites – Outbound links to leaders in your market bode well for you.
Domain Trust – Having Trustrank on your domain helps.
Terms of service and privacy policy – This is a must-do for any serious business, and Google will penalize sites that don't.
Contextual links – Links in the body of your content, especially to inner pages on your site help.
Natural link profiles – Spammy links are a sure sign to Google that you're attempting to game the system.
Social engagement – Having people engage with your content and share it over social media is a sure sign to Google that you've got a popular page worth ranking.
Relevant content – Showcasing content relevant to your site and keywords is a must.
Excessive advertisements – If your page is full of ads, you won't rank well.
Domain age – Google gives aged domains a better ranking than newer ones.
Recent content updates – Google is very fond of relevant, recently updated content!