The Ultimate Guide to Driving SEO Rankings in 2022

 

What You Need To Know Now About SEO

We’ve put together this Essential Guide to SEO for 2022 and beyond especially for marketers, web managers, and executives who know they need better results from their Google rankings but aren’t quite sure how to do it. This guide was created to get you headed in the right direction.

Top SEO Ranking Factors

So, if keyword stuffing doesn’t work, what does? Google and other search engines don't divulge all the factors that affect their search results. However, they do offer enough guidance. For instance, you can learn about the key Google ranking factors in detail.

There are, in fact, over 200 known Google ranking factors. There have also been thousands of algorithm changes. Figuring out which still works and which doesn’t seem like a lot of work. And it is.

What you should keep in mind is that all those factors or signals don't have equal weight. Some have a greater impact than others. The tricky part is knowing what they are. There are some differences in opinion, but SEO experts, in general, agree that these are the top SEO ranking factors in 2022.

The 3 Key Components of SEO 

There are three primary components of search engine optimization:

1. Technical SEO
2. On-page SEO
3. Off-page SEO

Technical SEO relates to your site’s load speed, mobile-friendliness, and how easily it can be crawled by Google. A slow-loading site will rank low regardless of any other solid SEO tactics.

On-page SEO is what we mostly think of when we hear about SEO. It involves researching the right keywords, creating high-quality content, and optimizing page elements like title tag, alt tags, and keyword density.

Off-page SEO can help strengthen your site’s reputation and authority. Guest blogging on sites that are more popular than yours and having other sites link back to your content are key components of off-page search engine optimization.

These three components are what make up any and all SEO endeavors. On-page, of course, gets the most attention generally, but if you’re wondering why your pages don’t rank the way you’d like, take a deeper dive into off-page and technical SEO. It usually takes some combination of all three to reach the top of the Google results page.

On-Page Optimization

Make it easy for search engines to understand your website and identify which content is relevant to users. This is done through content optimization. These are some of the elements you should optimize:

• Title tag. The title for each page or post itself does have an impact on organic rankings. However, it plays a more important role in click-through rates (CTR), which in turn impacts SEO. It must be clear to users what the content is about and should be catchy enough to get them to click.
• Meta description. This is the description that appears under the title in search results. If you don’t write and optimize it, Google will automatically show the first paragraph of your page, which may not be descriptive. Similar to title tags, meta descriptions don’t help with rankings but increase CTRs.
• Header tags. Your headings and subheadings should be formatted into H1 to H6 header tags. They make it easier for readers to quickly go over the structure of your page. And they provide keyword-rich context for search engines.
• Images. Adding visual elements like photos, charts, and illustrations creates a better user experience. Make sure you give descriptive titles to your images and include alt text. This helps boost your SEO, especially on Google Image Search.

Backlinks

Backlinks remain one of the most critical SEO ranking factors. PageRank, which is based largely on backlinks, is Google’s original ranking algorithm. The more websites that link to yours help establish your authority. This is a signal to Google that it should rank you higher in search queries. Here are some best practices for building backlinks:

• Don’t buy backlinks. Google will penalize your website. If you buy from backlinking services, your website could get banned.
• Focus on quality, not quantity. It’s better to have a few backlinks from trusted and authoritative websites rather than from numerous low-quality and low-traffic sites. Make sure you get backlinks from related sites.
• Check the links. As much as possible, the link’s anchor text should include your target keyword, and that it is a "do follow" link. Otherwise, if the link has the "no follow" tag attached, search engines will ignore it.

While it's helpful to reach out to authoritative websites and ask them to link to yours, remember, you should have content that's worthy to link to in the first place. This goes back to creating valuable and shareable content.

Google Ranking Tools

Now that you know which factors impact search rankings, you may be asking. "How can I check my SEO ranking?" Using just a search engine to find out where you rank is not accurate. Search engine results are tailored per user, based on your location and browsing history.