Staying on top of search engine rankings is an ongoing challenge, with Google’s algorithm constantly evolving. What worked last year might not cut it anymore, and staying competitive means adapting to new trends while sticking to proven strategies. The good news? Some core factors have remained consistent, and a few new ones are reshaping the SEO landscape in 2024.
In this article, we’ll break down the top SEO ranking factors you should focus on this year so you can stay ahead of the competition and boost your visibility. Let’s get right into it.
Quick sidenote: this article is primarily focused on general/national SEO – if you only serve customers in your local area, these website factors all still matter but there’s also a number of other factors related to your Google Business Profile to consider – we’ll be publishing a Local SEO article focusing on these in the near future.
1. Content is Still King (But It Needs a Crown)
There may have been a time where you could just stuff a page with keywords and call it a day… Those days are long gone. These days, content needs to be:
- Comprehensive and in-depth (answer the question your searcher is answering for – seems obvious, but…)
- Perfectly matched to user search intent (give the people what they want!)
- Original and valuable (no one likes a copycat)
Let’s break this down further:
Comprehensive and in-depth content:
This doesn’t just mean long-form content (although that often helps). It means covering a topic thoroughly. For example, if you’re writing about “how to start a small business”, you shouldn’t just cover the basics. Dive into the legal requirements, funding options, business plan creation, market research, and so on.
So how do you know when you’ve adequately covered a topic/query? You can either “gut feel it”, or (preferably) use one of many, many SEO content optimisation tools out there; since the advent of AI and machine learning in the industry every man and his dog seems to have created one. At Ape-X we use KeywordInsights, SurferSEO and Frase, but we’ve also heard good things about Clearscope or MarketMuse – these tools all work in a similar way, where they’ll analyse the pages which already rank for your topic’s keyword and then suggest related subheadings, ensuring you’re covering all the relevant subtopics.
Shown here is Frase’s outline builder – browse what subheadings your competitors’ pages are using and add them to your own content brief to ensure you’re not overlooking any relevant subtopics.
Did you know: According to a Semrush study, long-form content of 3000+ words gets 3.5 times more backlinks than articles of average length (901-1200 words).
Matching user search intent:
This is crucial. If someone searches for “how to change a tyre”, they’re looking for a step-by-step guide, not a history of tyre manufacturing. The most reliable method to determine search intent – examine the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) themselves: if a bunch of articles are ranking in the top 10, you should probably write an article too; if the SERP is full of service pages, probably you’ve got yourself a commercial search intent query and need to target this keyword with a service page. If there are videos, images or other search features in the SERP, you should try and capitalise and rank there too:
SERP analysis for Search Intent.
Original and valuable:
This doesn’t mean you need to reinvent the wheel with every piece of content. But you should aim to add unique insights, personal experiences, or original data whenever possible. For instance, if you’re in the fitness industry, you could conduct a survey among your clients about their biggest workout challenges and incorporate those findings into your content. Budget Direct does a great job of this by leveraging their incredible amount of first-party data to create original surveys and studies with information no one else has access to, which earns them a TON of organic backlinks:
2. On-Page Optimisation: The Devil’s in the Details
On-page SEO might seem like old news (it’s also pretty boring to most people), but trust me, it’s still crucial. Here’s what you need to nail:
- Title tags and meta descriptions (your first impression in the SERPs)
- Headers (H1, H2, H3 – structure is key)
- Internal linking (help those Google bots navigate your site)
Let’s dive deeper:
Title tags:
These should be unique for each page, include your target keyword, and be under 60 characters to avoid truncation in search results. For example, if you’re targeting “best coffee machines”, a good title tag might be “Top 10 Best Coffee Machines for Home Baristas in 2024”. Title tags are these little suckers you see in your tab:
They’re also the “big text” that you see in search results:
How to perfect your Title tags – Pro Tips:
- Use ChatGPT or your favourite AI writing assistant to produce multiple Page Title variations, then choose the one that resonates best with your audience.
- Use a character counter to ensure it’s under 60 characters, including spaces, so it doesn’t get cut off in search results (if it’s too long, Google may even just rewrite it for you which isn’t ideal)
- Feature your target query/keyword prominently ideally towards the front of the Title for maximum impact (after all, we read from left to right)
- Write compelling, action-oriented titles that spark curiosity or promise a benefit (e.g., “10 Easy Ways to Boost SEO Rankings in 2024”).
- Include power words or numbers when relevant (e.g., “Top 5”, “Ultimate Guide”, “Best Practices”) to grab attention and entice clicks.
- Avoid keyword stuffing focus on creating a natural, reader-friendly title that still includes your primary keyword.
- Don’t bother including your brand name unless it’s critical. Google often drops it from SERPs for non-branded searches, so save those valuable characters for keywords or CTAs.
- Ensure each page’s Title is unique to prevent keyword cannibalisation and improve SEO performance across your site.
Did you know: Pages with a keyword in their title or URL have a 45% higher click-through rate than those without. Reference: Backlinko Google CTR Stats
Meta descriptions:
Meta descriptions are the “preview text” that you see in the SERPs:
While not a direct ranking factor, a well-written meta description can improve click-through rates, which does influence rankings. Aim for 150-160 characters, include your keyword (or a near variant) and include a call-to-action. Notice how the target keyword (in the example above, “best espresso machine” gets automatically bolded? This is a great reason to include it your meta descriptions as it signals to the user that the content is relevant for their search).
Master Your Meta Descriptions – Pro Tips:
- Keep it concise: Aim for 150-160 characters to avoid truncation. Make every word count.
- Include your keyword: Google bolds the keywords that match the search query, making your listing stand out. Use your primary keyword or a close variant naturally within the description.
- Create a compelling call-to-action: Encourage clicks with action-oriented phrases like “Learn more,” “Discover,” “Get started,” or “Try now.” Make the user feel they’ll gain something valuable from clicking.
- Highlight a unique value proposition: Show what makes your content special. Mention discounts, free trials, exclusive tips, or whatever makes your offer stand out.
- Avoid duplication: Each page should have a unique meta description tailored to its specific content, as duplicate descriptions across multiple pages can confuse search engines and users alike.
- Think like your user: Consider what searchers want to find and how your content will meet that need. This improves relevance and entices users to click.
- Don’t over-promise: Make sure your meta description accurately reflects the page’s content. Misleading descriptions can increase your bounce rate, which could hurt your SEO in the long run.
Headers:
Headers, also known as HTML Headings, play a critical role in organising your content both for readers and search engines. They create a clear hierarchy that helps guide users through your content while signalling to search engines the importance of each section. The most commonly used headings range from H1 (the most important) to H6 (the least important).
- H1: Your main page title. Every page should have only one H1, as it represents the overall topic of the page. This is often the first thing search engines and users see, so it’s important to include your primary keyword in a natural way.
- H2: Major subheadings. These should break your content into key sections, and they can include secondary keywords to give your content more depth and relevance.
- H3: Sub-sections under H2s. These help further organise the information, making it easier for readers to follow and search engines to crawl. H3s can support related keywords but should remain focused on delivering value.
Here’s an example of a simple heading hierarchy for a blog post about coffee machines:
- H1: Best Coffee Machines for Home Use in 2024
- H2: Types of Coffee Machines
- H3: Espresso Machines
- H3: Drip Coffee Makers
- H3: French Press Machines
- H2: Key Features to Look For
- H3: Brew Strength Control
- H3: Water Reservoir Size
- H3: Built-in Grinder
- H2: Our Top Picks for Coffee Machines
- H3: Best Budget Coffee Machine
- H3: Best High-End Coffee Machine
- H2: Types of Coffee Machines
🥱Too long, didn’t read: Use your H1 for your main title, and structure your content with H2s and H3s. This helps both users and search engines understand your content structure. Include relevant keywords in your headers where it makes sense naturally.
Pro tip: Download the Detailed SEO Chrome Extension to instantly view the headings on any page (yours or your competitors’):
The Detailed SEO Chrome Extension is one of my favourite SEO tools – you can quickly scan all of the HTML headings on a page and see how the content is being structured.
Internal linking:
This helps distribute page authority throughout your site and keeps users engaged. For example, if you’re writing about coffee machines, you might link to related articles about coffee beans, brewing techniques, or coffee shop reviews. As a rule of thumb, your articles should link to each other and to related service/product/category pages, ensuring a logical flow of information for both users and search engines.
Internal links guide visitors to deeper content, increasing time on site and reducing bounce rates. Also, make sure you’re using descriptive anchor text that naturally fits the content and gives context to what users can expect when they click. Regularly audit your site for broken links or outdated internal linking structures to keep everything smooth and SEO-friendly.
Once you link all your pages together, your site structure should look something like this:
An example of “Topic Clusters,” wherein your most important pages (pillar pages) are supported by closely related subtopics (supporting pages). This type of internal linking structure not only improves SEO by establishing authority for key topics but also enhances the user experience by guiding visitors through related content.
Pro tips:
- Focus on relevance: Ensure each supporting page is highly relevant to your pillar page, covering various subtopics or related questions. This strengthens the SEO value of your entire content cluster.
- Use descriptive anchor text: Avoid generic phrases like “click here.” Instead, use meaningful anchor text that describes what users will find when they click, which also helps with SEO.
- Balance links across your site: Don’t over-link a single page. Spread internal links across your pillar and supporting pages to ensure even distribution of link authority.
- Regularly audit for broken links: Over time, some links may break as URLs change. Conduct regular audits using tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console to keep your internal links up-to-date. https://www.brokenlinkcheck.com/ is another of my favourites.
- Leverage topic clusters for long-tail keywords: Supporting pages should focus on more specific, long-tail keywords that feed back into the broader topic covered by the pillar page. This helps your site rank for both high-traffic keywords and niche queries.
- Build authority gradually: As your supporting pages gain traffic and backlinks, they naturally boost the ranking power of your pillar pages, helping to drive more traffic to your site over time.
3. Page Experience: Make Your Site a Place People Want to Be
Google’s been emphasising page experience for a while now, and for good reason. It includes:
- Core Web Vitals (loading speed, interactivity, visual stability)
- Mobile-friendliness (because most people browse on their phones these days)
- Safe browsing (no suspicious content, please)
- HTTPS security (keep it secure)
Let’s explore these in more detail:
Core Web Vitals:
This includes three specific page speed and user interaction measurements:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): This measures loading performance. Aim for LCP to occur within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.
- First Input Delay (FID): This measures interactivity. Pages should have an FID of less than 100 milliseconds.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): This measures visual stability. Pages should maintain a CLS of less than 0.1.
You can use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to measure these metrics and get suggestions for improvement:
An example of a well-performing website on PageSpeed Insights.
Mobile-friendliness:
With mobile-first indexing, Google primarily uses the mobile version of your site for ranking and indexing. Ensure your site is responsive and provides a good user experience on all devices. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can help you identify any issues.
Safe browsing:
This means your site is free from malware, phishing attempts, and other security issues. You can check your site’s status in Google Search Console under the Security & Manual Actions section.
HTTPS security:
If you haven’t already, make sure your site is using HTTPS. It’s a ranking factor and builds trust with your users. Many hosting providers offer free SSL certificates through Let’s Encrypt.
Think of your website as your digital shopfront. You wouldn’t want customers feeling uncomfortable or unsafe in your physical store, would you?
Did you know: An A/B Split test run by Vodafone found that improving their LCP by 31% increased their website sales by 8%. Reference: Google Web.dev Case Study
4. Backlinks: Quality Over Quantity, Always
Ah, backlinks. The backbone of SEO since… well, forever. But here’s the thing:
- It’s not about how many you have, it’s about how good they are
- Diversity matters – links from different domains carry more weight
- Natural growth over time is key (no buying links in bulk)
Let’s delve deeper:
Quality of backlinks:
A link from a high-authority, relevant site in your niche is worth much more than multiple links from low-quality or irrelevant sites. For example, if you’re in the finance industry, a link from the Financial Times would be incredibly valuable.
Diversity of linking domains:
It’s better to have links from 10 different quality websites than 100 links from the same website. This shows Google that your content is valued across the web, not just by one or two sites.
Natural growth:
Sudden spikes in backlinks can look suspicious to Google. Instead, aim for steady growth over time. This often happens naturally as you create great content and people link to it organically.
Some strategies to earn quality backlinks include:
- Creating original research or studies that others will want to reference
- Guest posting on reputable sites in your industry
- Creating shareable infographics or other visual content
- Reaching out to industry influencers or thought leaders to share your best content
Building a strong backlink profile is like networking at a business event. You want to connect with the right people, not just hand out your card to everyone in the room.
Did you know: The number one result in Google’s organic search results has an average of 3.8 times more backlinks than positions 2-10. Reference: Backlinko Search Engine Ranking
5. User Engagement: Keep Them Coming Back for More
Google’s getting smarter about how users interact with your site. They’re looking at:
- Click-through rate from search results (Is your SERP listing enticing?)
- Time on site and bounce rate (Are people sticking around or leaving quickly?)
- Social signals (shares, likes, comments – the whole package)
Let’s break this down:
Click-through rate (CTR):
This is the percentage of people who click on your result after seeing it in the search results. You can improve your CTR by:
- Writing compelling title tags and meta descriptions
- Using schema markup to get rich snippets in the SERPs
- Targeting featured snippets for relevant queries
Time on site and bounce rate:
These metrics indicate whether users find your content valuable. To improve these:
- Ensure your content matches search intent
- Use engaging multimedia like images, videos, or infographics
- Make your content easy to read with short paragraphs, bullet points, and subheadings
- Include internal links to keep users on your site
Social signals:
While not a direct ranking factor, social engagement can indirectly impact SEO by increasing brand awareness and driving traffic. To boost social signals:
- Create share-worthy content (think infographics, original research, or controversial opinions)
- Make sharing easy with prominently placed social share buttons
- Engage with your audience on social media platforms
It’s not enough to get people to your site – you need to keep them there and get them talking.
6. Technical SEO: The Unsexy but Necessary Bits
Look, I know technical SEO isn’t the most exciting topic, but it’s crucial. You need to nail:
- Crawlability and indexability (make it easy for Google to understand your site)
- Site structure and XML sitemaps (again, help those bots out)
- Structured data / Schema markup (give your content some context)
Let’s dig into these:
Crawlability and indexability:
Ensure Google can access and understand all important pages on your site. This involves:
- Using a robots.txt file correctly to guide search engines
- Fixing broken links and redirects
- Optimising your site’s load speed
- Using canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues
Site structure and XML sitemaps:
A logical site structure helps both users and search engines navigate your site. Create an XML sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console. This helps Google discover and index your pages more efficiently.
Structured data / Schema markup:
This provides additional context about your content to search engines. For example, if you have a recipe site, you can use recipe schema to display cooking time, ingredients, and ratings directly in the search results. Use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to ensure your markup is implemented correctly.
Some other technical SEO aspects to consider:
- Implementing AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) for faster mobile loading
- Using hreflang tags for international sites
- Optimising your site for voice search (think longer, conversational keywords)
Think of technical SEO as the foundation of your website. It’s not glamorous, but without it, everything else falls apart pretty quickly.
7. Domain Authority and Age: The Wine of the Internet
Like a good wine, domains tend to get better with age. Google looks at:
- Overall site authority and trustworthiness
- How long you’ve been around
Domain authority is not an official Google metric, but it’s a good predictor of how well a site might rank. You can use tools like Ahrefs’ Domain Authority Checker to give you an idea of your site’s overall Domain Rating/Authority.
Note: Higher Domain Rating = better. BUT you shouldn’t be comparing your Rating to massive sites like Amazon or Google, but rather with your competitors.
To improve your domain authority:
- Focus on getting high-quality backlinks
- Create linkable assets (comprehensive guides, original research, tools)
- Ensure your site has a good technical foundation
- Regularly publish high-quality content
Remember, domain age alone isn’t enough. A newer domain with great content and a solid backlink profile can outrank older, less optimised sites.
But don’t worry if you’re new to the game. Focus on the other factors, and authority will come with time.
8. Content Freshness: Keep It Crisp
Google loves fresh content. It shows you’re active and up-to-date. This means:
- Regularly updating existing content
- Publishing new, timely pieces
Here’s how to keep your content fresh:
Updating existing content:
- Regularly review and update your most important pages
- Add new information, remove outdated content, and adjust for any algorithm changes
- Update the publish date when you make significant changes
Publishing new content:
- Create an editorial calendar to ensure regular publishing
- Stay on top of industry news and trends for timely content ideas
- Use tools like Google Trends or BuzzSumo to identify popular topics in your niche
For example, if you have a tech blog, you might:
- Update your “Best Smartphones” article every few months as new models are released
- Publish news articles about major tech events or product launches
- Create evergreen content like “How to Protect Your Online Privacy” that can be regularly updated
Think of your website like a news stand – you want to keep bringing in fresh content to keep visitors coming back.
Did you know: A study by Neil Patel & team found that updating and republishing old blog posts with new content and images can increase organic traffic by as much as 96%.
Pro Tip: Using Google Search Console to Monitor Content Freshness
- Inspect individual URLs: In Google Search Console, use the “URL Inspection” tool to check if Google has indexed your most recent updates. This will help you see if Google recognises your content changes.
- Look for pages with declining impressions: In the Performance section, sort your content by impressions. If you notice a drop in impressions for certain pages, it may indicate that the content is becoming outdated. This is a good sign that you should refresh it.
Here’s a page in GSC whose Search Impressions have been slowly declining over the past 6 months; it may be worth doing a content freshness update to reinvigorate the page’s performance. Make sure you measure this over a time horizon of several months to avoid skewing your decisions; data can be volatile in the short-term.
- Monitor for changes in click-through rates (CTR): A decrease in CTR can signal that your meta descriptions or titles are no longer relevant. This could be tied to your content being stale, so it’s worth reviewing these pages for updates.
- Identify high-performing but dated content: In the Performance section, look for pages that still get decent traffic but haven’t been updated in a while. Updating these pages with new information can give them a boost in rankings.
- Submit the URL for re-indexing: After making substantial updates, ensure your sitemap is updated in Google Search Console to help Google recrawl your refreshed content.
Conclusion
So there you have it – the top SEO ranking factors that really matter in 2024. It might seem like a lot, but remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Focus on creating great content, providing a stellar user experience, and building your authority over time. Do that, and you’ll be on your way to the top of the SERPs before you know it.
If you’re ready to take your SEO strategy to the next level, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Brisbane SEO experts. Whether you’re looking for help with on-page SEO, technical SEO, or building authority through quality backlinks, we can help. (Not sure what you need? Request a free website & marketing review)
