search engines

How Does Google Rank Web Pages?

Google ranking systems

Google uses automated systems to match useful, relevant and accessible pages to each search

There is no single score or secret checklist that guarantees a position. Google says its systems consider factors including the words and intent of the query, relevance and usability of pages, source expertise, location, settings and freshness where it matters.

Open the SEO Improvement GuideSee the steps
STARTConfirm the serviceUse the account-specific route
PROTECTRecord current settingsAvoid accidental disruption
CHECKTest the resultKeep the exact error if it fails

How should a small business improve a page?

Follow the sequence and stop before any step that does not match the service shown in your UKC account.

  1. 1
    Choose one clear search intent

    Decide the customer question or task the page should satisfy. Align the title, opening answer and headings with that purpose.

  2. 2
    Publish the best useful answer you can

    Use accurate first-hand information, examples, evidence and clear next steps. Remove filler and correct obsolete claims.

  3. 3
    Remove technical barriers

    Keep the page crawlable, mobile friendly, secure, reasonably fast and connected through relevant internal links.

  4. 4
    Measure and improve

    Use Search Console queries, clicks, impressions, CTR and position alongside enquiries or completed customer tasks.

What kinds of signals can affect visibility?

The weight of different signals varies by query. A current news search and a stable technical definition do not need the same freshness.

Meaning and relevance

The page should actually answer the words, intent and context of the search.

Quality and trust

Clear sourcing, genuine expertise, accurate claims and a useful reputation can help people and search systems assess the result.

Usability and access

Mobile rendering, HTTPS, page experience and the ability to crawl and index the content all matter.

Context

Location, language, device, freshness and personal settings can change the results seen by different searchers.

MeasureWhat it tells you
ImpressionsHow often a result was shown in the selected Google report
ClicksHow often users followed it to the site
CTRClicks divided by impressions
Average positionA directional average, not one fixed rank for every user

Common questions

Does repeating a keyword improve ranking?

Not by itself. Use clear natural language and answer the search intent instead of forcing repeated phrases.

Does Google accept payment for organic ranking?

Google states that it does not accept payment to be included or ranked higher in organic search results.

How quickly will a change work?

Crawling, indexing, competition and demand vary. Use several weeks of comparable data before judging most editorial changes.

Is average position my exact rank?

No. It is averaged across queries, locations, devices and result appearances in the selected report.

Improve the page, not only the keyword

Answer the customer better and measure the outcome

Use Search Console to identify opportunities, then make changes that also help real visitors.

Open the SEO Improvement GuideAsk UKC Support
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I don’t want Google to crawl part or all of my site

There is a standard method involving a “robots.txt” file for excluding robot crawlers. This will prevent Googlebot or other crawlers from visiting your site. Googlebot has a user-agent of “Googlebot”. In addition, Googlebot understands some extensions to the robots.txt standard: Disallow patterns may include * to match any sequence of characters, and patterns may end in $ to indicate that the $ must match the end of a name. For example, to prevent Googlebot from crawling files that end in gif, you may use the following robots.txt entry:

User-agent: Googlebot
Disallow: /*.gif$

There is another standard for telling robots not to index a particular web page or follow links on it, which may be more helpful, since it can be used on a page-by-page basis. This method involves placing a “META” element into a page of HTML.

Remember, changing your server’s robots.txt file or changing the “META” elements on its pages will not cause an immediate change in what results Google returns. It is likely that it will take a while for any changes you make to propagate to Google’s next index of the web.

Excerpt taken from Google Webmaster Info

Google shows out of date site content

When you update information on your site it does not automatically update instantly in Google’s index. Rather, Google’s index is updated approximately once a month after the Google robots have crawled more than 8 billion web pages.

This process is totally automated, so updated or outdated link submissions are not necessary. Changes to your site’s content will be noted by the next crawl. Due to the volume of sites in the index, it is not possible to manually update pages on an individual basis.

Excerpt taken from Google Webmaster Info