Google used to search just the title, description, keywords and url, back in 2010.
But google has come a long way since then and now..
Fast forward to today and now, Google uses over 200 factors to judge what is a quality webpage.
Google evaluates your website various methodologies which we’ll be explaining part by part.
Google uses an algorithm called pagerank to index and rank your websites. It does this by using automated page crawlers and manual SERP content quality checks.
These page crawlers essentially go through the plethora of sites on the internet everyday and collect data on what is showing up on your web pages. Then google does a thematic analysis on the data based on multiple factors which influences your webpage ranking.
With varying weightages given to each thematic cluster, as illustrated in the below graphic.
Out of these 200+ factors today we are going to talk about the,
Domain Level factors that influence your SERP rank.
• Domain Age
Although not crucial, the age of a domain is considered an indication of a legitimate website to Google.
• Keywords in the domain
Keywords appearing in your domain name helps your search results, not as much as it used to but still it is a relevancy signal according to goolge. Provided your website delivers the right content.
• Registration length
Quality domain names and serious website owners tend to purchase their domain names for years in advance or might have been renwing it annually this is also considered a good sign.
• Keyword in subdomains
Keyword in subdomains work as same as it does in the domain name. Keeping such slugs short also helps you in ranking your site.
• Ownership history
Single owner domain names without many fall offs or transfers are deemed more relevance than the ones that do.
• Exact match domains
The go to SEO tactic for many search marketers. Eventhough this is still working, that alone will not get you anywhere near the first page of search thanks to the EMD update from google.
• Public vs Private WhoIs
A public domain WhoIs information is considered better than a private WhoIs information and is considered an important factor when it comes to search ranking.
• Penalized WhoIs owner
If you have prior history of any SERP manipulations. Google will automatically penalize your other domains and it could actually hurt your page ranks.
• Country TLD extension
Domains with extensions like .in, .us, .uk are called country code top level domain extensions. Such domains are good when it comes to ranking nationally but may hurt you when it comes to ranking your webpage globally.
Now that you know the major domain level factors which influence Google’s SERP results. Go, checkout if you have done all these with your own domain and let me know if you think I have missed any domain level factors that influence google search results.
Soon we’ll release a part two of this article that talks about page level factors that influence search results. Stay tuned for that and don’t forget to follow our blog and social handles for more helpful tips like these.