With the first page of search engine results being the prime real estate on search engines, it is important for companies to understand what really matters to rank on those pages. Sure, there are over 270 ranking factors, and a company can try to optimize for each and every factor, but it takes you six months to even get it all under wraps. 

There are plenty of factors that should be taken into consideration due to the specialization of SEO based on the industry and clients alike, but the thing is, there are basics that all websites need to have in place. 

These are four of the top ranking factors that all websites need in 2021 to continue to rank in search engines from our leading Dallas SEO consultant. 

1. Mobile-friendly website

A mobile-friendly website will be one of the most important factors when it comes to ranking in search engines, such as Google, moving forward in 2021 and even longer. This is because around 2016, Google released its mobile-first indexing update that would eventually affect websites that were not mobile-friendly. 

Fast-forward to now, a website that is mobile-friendly will outrank a website that isn’t mobile-friendly, no matter the amount of SEO strategies that are in place. 

Furthermore, with one of the biggest Google updates happening in 2021, this is one of the biggest ranking factors that companies and small businesses need to work on as soon as possible. 

The Google Page Experience update is one of the largest one of our Dallas SEO consultant have noticed to date. 

2. Backlinks 

Backlinks are part of the off-page SEO strategies that are oftentimes provided by Dallas SEO consultant and agencies alike. Backlinks have been part of the top three ranking factors on websites in Google’s SERP since 1998. Backlinks are building and are the natural linking of websites to one another. 

If a website uses your blog content for its source, that is a backlink. That is an example of a natural backlink, also known as referral traffic. Link building happens on directories and other spaces on the Internet to build links referring back to your company’s website! 

The thing is, whether the link is natural or manual, it needs to be a quality source using the said link. If a bunch of low quality, spammy websites utilize your link, it really isn’t worth it. 

It is better to have 1,000 quality links than to have 10,000 iffy links. 

3. Quality content

Whether the content is older or newer  it is important to constantly improve the quality of said content. Another major ranking factor for websites in search engines, especially Google, is quality content that search engines and searchers want to consume. 

Only 35 percent of marketers have a documented content marketing strategy. Only 35 percent have a strategy in place to continue to update their content or publish new content. This is because SEO and content go hand in hand. Without content, there would be no SEO, and without SEO, the content would never reach the first page of Google! 

While it might seem like you can skim here and there with content, Google is very smart, and this means that you have to write quality content with backlinks and keywords! 

4. URLs 

This is because URLs are the building blocks of a website’s hierarchy. It tells searchers and search engines alike what the page is, but the structure of the URL for SEO purposes is no small task. 

A URL should be clear, concise and even optimized with SEO strategies in place. A website URL with the following numbers and letters does not tell a search engine what the page is about, and it doesn’t help searchers. 

“/5408gnohf.” To be honest, this is ugly! What is the page about? If it is about services or a specific product, make sure to add that into the URL, “/products/home-security-dallas.com” The second URL tells searchers and search engines what the page is about, shows a clear and concise description and is optimized for SEO purposes! 

Hire us! 

As we stated above, SEO is a bit different for every industry and business within the said industries, but these are four of the most important elements that all websites need.