10 Google Ranking Factors Every Website Must Focus On In 2017

Q: What do Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, Backlinko.com and Jeffbullas.com have in common?

A: All four of these sites rank high on Google SERPs and enjoy untapped authority.

Now, here's the big question.

How do these sites consistently rank high on Google SERPs?

Well, these sites do two things very well.

Firstly, they focus on the Google ranking factors that have the biggest impact.

Secondly, they put all of their resources into scaling these ranking factors.

By now you're probably thinking: Google uses more than 200 ranking signals to rank websites. So how do I find out which factors I should focus on to get a higher Google ranking?

Well, you're in luck because I'm going to tell you the top 10 most significant Google ranking factors that websites should focus on in 2017.

1. Page authority

Page authority is one of the most critical Google ranking factors that every website owner who is hoping to rank highly on Google SERPs needs to be mindful of in 2017.

Page authority refers to the authority/credibility of your page in the eyes of the Google spiders/crawlers. The 'Big G' determines the credibility of your webpage by looking at your website's link profile.

Basically, the higher the quantity and quality of inbound links pointing to your webpage, the more authority it will enjoy on Google SERPs.

Image Source: Backlinko

In fact, if your page isn't authoritative, Google won't rank it at all.

I'm sure you're wondering how to increase your website's authority now?

The answer is simpler than you might think: practice white hat link-building strategies. Reach out to similar bloggers, website owners or businesses who enjoy untapped authority on the web, and pitch for guest posts, infographics, etc.

For each and every page of your website, try to embed as many high-quality inbound links as possible. But don't take the easy route of buying links! Trust me, this is not going to do you any good.

Instead, try a deep linking strategy to build better page authority.

Image Source: theoffbeatstory

2. Link relevancy

As discussed above, Google determines how authoritative your website is based on the quality and quantity of links connecting back to your website/web page.

But there's a catch: it's not just about getting many high-quality inbound links, it's also about getting relevant inbound links.

Yeah, you heard me right!

Google pays more and more attention to the relevancy of the inbound links that point back to your website.

In fact, as Andre Weyher, the former head of Google's web spam team, revealed in an interview, the relevance of links is the new PR as far as Google rankings are concerned.

Aim at getting as many high-quality inbound links as you can, but make sure all of these links are relevant. Focus on link building only from authoritative and relevant sites. This will help ensure that links pointing back to your site are from sites or blogs that are from the same industry and niche as yours.

For instance, if you're a digital marketing agency and publish content on technical SEO, social media marketing and content marketing, you should aim at getting inbound links from sites with a higher page authority that publish content on the same topics as yours.

3. Content length

It may surprise you to learn that content is one of the most important ranking factors. In fact, content is the second most important signal that Google uses to rank websites on its SERPs.

But it should be no surprise.

For over a decade, content has been the essential fuel that drives modern-day marketing machines. More and more businesses now rely on content marketing to increase traffic, generate leads and optimize lead conversion rates.

The only problem is that now 93% of B2B marketers use content marketing, there's a lot of white noise on Google. So how do you make sure your content is able to cut through all of the white noise, drive traffic to your website and rank higher on Google SERPs?

Here's how: don't keep on creating and publishing short-form (aka useless) content, day in and day out, as it is not going to help you rank higher.

Instead, create long-form content that is ideally more than 2000 words in length.

Longer doesn't necessarily have to mean boring. Carefully craft your content to cut through all the fluff and only include information that your target audience is looking for.

As this study by SERPIQ (one of Google's top 10 results) shows, long-form content consistently ranks better on Google SERPs.

Image Source: theoffbeatstory.com

4. Content 'thinness' 

Now that I've spilled the beans on the impact of content length on Google rankings, it's time to impart that sites with 'thin' content which offers little or no value to people are dropped like a stone by Google.

Let's talk about what 'thin' content is.

'Thin' content is any content that adds no or little value to a related search query. Remember Google's Panda and Penguin updates? They sought to identify content farms (sites with low-value content stuffed with keywords to rank higher) and scraper sites (sites that featured duplicate content) and penalize them. These days, Google's updates are focused primarily on sites with 'thin' or near-duplicate content.

Though Google doesn't formally penalize sites for having 'thin' content, it may potentially misguide Google spiders when they are trying to find unique page content amongst the 'thin' content. This may result in low SERP rankings.

So what should you do?

Google crawlers prefer assigning better rankings to sites that provide original, robust content. So remove or no-index pages with thin or duplicate content. Include archived and category pages in this list. Delete or 'no-index' such pages.

After all, these pages often add no value to Google searchers anyway. So, if you are holding on to these pages, you're actually pushing down your Google ranking.

5. Average time spent on page

Here's a shocker for you: most blogs have an average bounce rate of around 70 to 98%.

This means that when someone lands on your blog page, they don't spend more than a few seconds there before abandoning it.

So how does this impact your Google ranking?

Google pays close attention to how much time people spend on your web page when it comes to ranking your site on its SERPs. If people tend to spend more time there, Google assumes your page is informative and ranks you well.

Image Source: Backlinko.com 

If you're thinking your bounce rate doesn't really impact your ranking, please be advised that they are a very important ranking signal for Google.

Now it's time for the big question: how do I reduce my bounce rate?

Here's your answer: be clever when creating content. Add a lot of 'Bucket Brigades' and compelling headings into your posts. Structure your blog posts well, too, by including data points and quote boxes.

Here's what Bucket Brigades look like:

Image Source: theoffbeatstory.com

Make sure your web pages are visually compelling and clutter-free. Ensure that your links and calls to action are properly positioned, and leave a lot of cell padding around your CTA buttons and links.

Remember, the better, more informative and more interesting your website looks, the higher the average amount of time spent on your page and the better your Google SERP rankings will be.

6. Domain authority

You might not know that the domain authority of your website or web page plays a significant role as far as Google SERP ranking is concerned, but it does.

Domain authority is actually a metric that includes 40 different ranking signals and rates websites on a scale of 1 to 100, where 1 is rated as the worst and 100 is rated as the best.

Obviously, the better your domain authority; the higher your ranking.

Image Source: Backlinko.com

While a large number of experts believe that you can't really do much to increase your domain authority because it takes time, it doesn't solely depend on domain age.

Here are a few things you can do to quickly increase your domain authority: first, extend the expiry date of your domain name to send a signal to Google that your site is trustworthy. Try to get as many high-quality and relevant inbound links as possible pointing to your website, then smartly sprinkle your target keyword throughout your long-form content.

7. Keywords in title tags

Keywords are so important that you can't really think of ranking your blog or website without it having keywords in it.

But did you know that Google carefully considers keywords used in your title tags when ranking websites on its SERPs? It actually gives more weight to pages that use keywords in the beginning of their title tags.

Image Source: Backlinko.com

This is because Google spiders are able to instantly figure out what the page is all about if target keywords are placed in the beginning of title tags.

For example, let's say your target keyword is 'Google Adwords Tips' and you have two title tags.

Title Tag #1: Google Adwords Tips: 5 Tips to Get More With Google AdWords

Title Tag #2: How to Get More with These 5 Google AdWords Tips

Now, can you guess which title tag will rank better on Google SERPs?

No prizes for guessing which! It's Title Tag #1. That is because this title tag uses the keyword right at the start of it, making it easy for Google spiders to understand what the page is all about.

8. Keyword positioning and relevance

Now that we're talking about keywords, let me also reveal that Google pays close attention to how you position your target keyword on your webpage.

This means that Google crawlers carefully check for keywords in your page URL, in your posts, and in your H1, H2 and H3 tags. Placing keywords in these areas makes it clear to Google spiders that your page is focused on the target keyword.

But here's a shocker: if your page content doesn't really match with your keywords, your site may be penalized by Google. Yeah! That's true!

The days when Google only paid attention to the keyword density are long gone. Today, it looks for keyword relevance too.

So what should you do?

Smartly structure your page using relevant keywords. Place keywords in the first 100 words of your posts, in your page URL, and in your H1/H2/H3 tags. Don't forget to include keywords in the beginning of your meta descriptions. That's important, too.

9. Page load time

Slower page load time dramatically affects your pages' performance. In fact, a one-second delay in page loading time means 11% fewer page views.

It gets worse: 25% of visitors will abandon your site if your page doesn't load within 4 seconds.

Remember, Google is the world's largest search engine and it takes its' user experience seriously. So naturally, it penalizes sites with a slower load time by drastically dropping their rankings.

Image Source: Backlinko.com

Now, it's not rocket science to understand why page load time remains one of the most significant Google ranking factors that you should be mindful of in 2017 and beyond.

The question is how you can improve the load time of your slower web page.

First, analyze your pages' loading speed using Google's flagship product, PageSpeed Insights tool. Then, based on the analysis of your page speed, upgrade your server. Don't forget to minimize your HTML, CSS and JavaScript files as well as all redirects.

Optimizing images may also help you reduce your page's load time.

10. Responsive design

Mobile devices make for 51.3% of internet usage globally. Considering how many people now use mobile devices for Google searches, it's easy to understand why Google takes responsive design so seriously when it comes to ranking websites.

A study conducted by Google revealed that over 67% of users prefer buying from responsive sites and 61% of users abandon non-responsive sites.

Image Source: theoffbeatstory.com

Google penalizes sites that aren't responsive by dropping their rankings.

Image Source: theoffbeatstory.com

Remember, if you're looking to rank higher on Google SERPs in 2017, you'll need to adopt responsive design.

Bonus tip: Steer clear of website pop-ups!

As you may already know, if not used correctly, pop-ups can annoy your visitors to such an extent that they will abandon your site and never return. Statistics show that 70% of Americans get annoyed by irrelevant pop-up ads.

Since irrelevant pop-ups can ruin your user experience, Google recently announced that it will start penalizing mobile sites that feature irrelevant pop-ups. Google may soon implement this update for desktop sites, too.

So it makes good business sense not to use irrelevant pop-ups on your site. Better yet, avoid using pop-ups at all.

Wrapping up

So, there you have it – 10 of the most significant Google ranking factors to consider when looking to boost your website's ranking!

Go ahead and put this learning into practice, and get set to rank higher on Google SERPs in 2017 and beyond.

I'd love to hear what you think of these top 10 Google ranking factors – let me know by leaving a comment down below.

Guest Author: Saumya Raghav is the founder of The Offbeat Story, a blog that aspires to help small businesses and startups minimize the marketing costs of generating traffic and improving conversions. A blogger and conversion scientist by day, he is an avid Jeff Bullas and Brian Dean reader at night. He loves to write on topics related to digital marketing, technical and international SEO, web analytics, startup and small business strategies, growth hack strategies and conversion optimization strategies. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. 

Source: 10 Google Ranking Factors Every Website Must Focus On In 2017

To Create an #SEO Strategy, You'll Have to Be Patient

To Create an SEO Strategy, You'll Have to Be Patient We've all heard the saying patience is a virtue. If you are a business owner, entrepreneur or marketer, my guess is that patience may not be your strongest quality. In order to grow a business and keep things afloat, you need to be moving quickly at all ... read more4 ways to make your private medical practice more efficient If you're committed to always welcoming people with a smile, offering timely appointments and maintaining a relaxing atmosphere throughout your practice, you'll ... patients towards. Have you got any other top tips for private practices hoping to make ... read moreHow to Write an Eye-Catching Blog for the Readers Without proper blog formation, you'll probably have nothing to publicize ... However, you can counsel them on how to make amendments in their approach to switch it from a personal line of action to a more business-oriented strategy. read more

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Source: To Create an #SEO Strategy, You'll Have to Be Patient

Getwebsitetraffic.com Boasts in Providing the Best SEO Services in Australia

Sydney, Australia -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/30/2017 -- Get Website Traffic takes pride assisting clients attract quality traffic to their website. They utilize proven strategies that help sites rank high on the leading search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and Google, allowing potential buyers to spot them. But they don't stop there; the highly qualified and experienced team will also ensure that this traffic converts into real buyers. With their seasoned SEO campaigners, SEO packages for all, detailed report, and great client reviews online, one can be sure to get nothing but incredible services from this company.

Conversing with a recent client who was very pleased with the SEO services she had received from the company, their Communications Officer commented, "You deserve that and much more. As a company that's dedicated to making our client's businesses grows, we thrive on challenges and always strive to receive the best feedback from our previous customers. When you're happy, we're happy too. We appreciate you trusting us with your site, and we are glad that we didn't disappoint. If you meet any challenge along the way, please, don't shy off from contacting us. We want to help you all the way."

With nearly all businesses creating their own web presence, one has to look beyond information and design. For any site to thrive online, Search Engine Optimization is relevant. It's, therefore, crucial for one to find a knowledgeable company to help create captivating content and incorporate the right strategies. This not only increases a site's visibility and discoverability but also enhances ranks on the search engine results pages (SERP). Get Website Traffic is such a company. They have a comprehensive set of services that are customized according to individual requirements and goals. Being a leader in their field, they serve everyone from startups to full blown companies with strong reputations.

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Source: Getwebsitetraffic.com Boasts in Providing the Best SEO Services in Australia

#Google #Home Aims To Beat #Amazon Lex and #Apple's Siri

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Google aims to take on Apple's Siri Five months after introducing its digital assistant, Google ... Home speakers, another device that already runs the assistant service, making the current accessibility to Google Assistant slim compared with competitors like Apple's Siri and Amazon.com ... read moreVirtual Assistant Jeopardy! Siri, Cortana, Alexa and Google Now Take Trivia Challenge To test the smarts of Amazon's new virtual assistant, I played Alex Trebek, and pitted Alexa against three better-known contenders: Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Google Now. read moreApple's Siri to work with third-party apps and find a home in the Mac soon but ask her to book you a restaurant or call you a cab and Siri isn't going to give you what you want. This is where Amazon's Alexa, which powers the Echo, comes in as the go-to and Apple wants to change that. The Associated Press reported that the AI will ... read moreFirst comparison: Google Pixel XL vs. iPhone 7 Plus Google and Apple are going head to head in a big way. There can be no doubt that Google's new Pixel phones are all about competing directly with Apple and its iPhone. After years of letting hardware partners focus on specs and disparate features, Google ... read moreHow to Buy a Puppy Without Getting Scammed Let's talk about buying pets online. It's not a terrible idea, if you can avoid the flood of online scammers waiting to take your money without handing over a puppy. If you're really set on a specific breed or don't have a shelter near you, keep ... read moreApple's Siri chief moves to Samsung to build connected device platform The engineer who oversaw development of Apple's Siri technology is now at Samsung building an online ... Still in its early stages, SAMI aims to be a platform that can collect data from any connected device, including wearable computers like the Fitbit ... read moreGoogle Pixel review: The high-end Android you've been waiting for Where the Pixel's design falters is its large bezel, especially given its home ... question that Google Assistant doesn't have some sort of answer to and I've never been able to say the same about Siri, Microsoft's Cortana or Amazon's Alexa. read more

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Things that are Important for On Page Optimization

Meta Title is the main key:

Meta title actually shows the service offered by specific website on search engine results. If you search for something you can see the list of websites has similar title as your search query. For this purpose first you have to recognize the nature of your business and finds the relevant keyword using Google keyword tools and to use those keywords in on page of the website.

The Role of Meta Description:

Meta description is to define the nature of business or the type of services offered by a specific online business. To make the description seo optimized it is also necessary to optimize the description with keywords but always do not use keywords in excessive manner. Meta description also visible in search engine results.

Meta keywords:

Some seo specialist thinks that the Meta keywords do not affect the ranking of the website but in many cases the website that has Meta keywords are visible in search engine results as the keywords are used in Meta tags. According to my knowledge Meta keywords can be used for positive results.

Heading tags:

Heading tags refers as headings and titles used in the body of the webpage and it can be used as h1, h2 and h3. We can use h1 tag once while h2 tags can be used twice and trice times as so on with the h3 tags. It is necessary to use relevant keyword in the heading tags to make the webpage more seo optimized and for better positions in search results.

Loading time of website:

Loading time refers to the time required to open a web page in browsers. The website that has less loading time which is about 25 - 30 second can easily be ranked in SERP's as it is one of the main ranking factors. Many website has much loading time which may resulting into drop downs in visitors and bounce rate becomes high.

Source: Things that are Important for On Page Optimization

How Does #Google Look for Authoritative Search Results?

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How to Use Google Search Console to Drive 28% More Search Traffic

Do you know what question I get asked almost more than any other question?

It's this one: "How do I get more traffic?"

People ask me this every single day.

I've learned that most people think getting traffic is pretty much a pipe dream. They think it will take month after month of hustling.

So it often surprises people when I tell them that they already have what they need to get a lot more traffic.

You have the ability right now, and it's completely free.

It's Google Search Console, also called GSC for short.

It used to be called Google Webmaster Tools, so if you remember using that, you'll find GSC familiar.

This mega-powerful tool is one of Google's gems. It's not as popular as Google Analytics, but it packs a punch.

One of GSC's tools is called Search Analytics, and you can use it to drive more traffic to your site. One of my clients increased their traffic by 28% just by using this free tool.

I'm going to break it down step by step, so even if you've never used Google Search Console before, you can pick it up just by reading this article.

What is Google Search Console?

GSC is a hub for all things related to your site.

Here's how Google defines it:

It allows you to tweak everything from structured data to spam issues and everything in between.

It's a must-have tool for any site owner, but it's often overlooked.

That's a shame because GSC can deliver some amazing results when used correctly.

Here are just a few of the benefits of using GSC:

It's one of the most comprehensive free website resources out there.

In fact, it rivals many paid tools on the market. It's not a replacement for all of them, but it's an outstanding supplement to be used alongside other tools.

You're probably wondering how an analysis tool like GSC will help you get more traffic.

I'll explain this in detail as we go on, but basically, you're going to use info from GSC to modify your content and your website strategies (e.g., marketing, SEO, advertising).

GSC is actually a suite of tools, and they're all insanely helpful.

But for the purpose of driving traffic, we're going to focus on the Search Analytics tool.

Search Analytics shows you all the information about exactly how your site appears in the SERPs.

Here's what you can do with it:

Don't worry, we're going to unpack all of this. But already you can see why this is such a useful tool.

It allows you to laser focus on your traffic and analyzes how much you're getting and why you're getting it.

Getting data from Search Analytics

Let's take a look at the Search Analytics interface.

The top row gives you options to apply different filters to your reports.

Here's what each of them does:

The Clicks filter shows you how many clicks you've gotten from the SERPs.

The Impressions filter shows you how many SERP results people have seen. Google counts these impressions differently based on certain factors, but that's really all you need to know.

The CTR (click-through rate) is probably a metric you're familiar with. Google has a standardized formula for this: the click count divided by the impression count.

The Position filter gives you the average position of the topmost result of your site.

Altogether, these four filters give you a wide range of results.

The options in the next box allow you to refine your results further. These are grouping options that categorize the data for you.

I'll briefly go over each of them.

The Queries option returns a list of search terms that drove users to your site.

The Page option shows you which pages on your site appeared in search results.

The Country option shows you where all of these searches came from.

The Device option shows you which devices were used to search.

The Search Type option shows you if users used web search, video search, image search, or another type.

The Search Appearance option lets you use special filters. You might not always see this option since it requires you to have impressions for at least one of the other features.

Finally, the Date option lets you choose the timeframe.

Each option has a time and a place. I'll walk you through each of them.

Optimize results that don't get clicks

This is one of my favorite features in GSC.

The idea here is to look for keywords with lots of impressions but few clicks and a low CTR.

These are keywords that tons of people are seeing, but they're not actually visiting your site.

Since these keywords have high visibility, you can work on improving your SERP presence so more of those people click through to your site.

First, you have to run a simple report.

Start by clicking all four filters: Clicks, Impressions, CTR, and Position. (You don't technically need the Position filter, but it's nice to know.)

Next, select the Queries option.

Below the graph, you should see a list of keywords.

Those four filters you applied are available for each keyword:

This will give you a great idea of how each keyword is performing with a high amount of detail.

Remember, you're looking for keywords that have a high impression count, a low CTR, and a low number of clicks.

Try to find 5-10 keywords that meet these criteria. I suggest recording these in a spreadsheet.

At this point, I like running a search of my own.

You can just open Google in a new tab or window, or you can even use an incognito window in Google Chrome or change your IP address so Google gives more general results.

Search each keyword and take a look at the SERP result.

Try to step back and look at these results objectively. Ask yourself why these aren't getting that many clicks.

There could be several culprits here. The most common causes are a bad title tag or a bad meta description.

Let's look at title tags first.

Tweak your title tags

Your title tag will often convince people to click on your SERP result.

It's the biggest and most obvious part of your result.

Your title tags have to be SEO friendly, but they also have to be compelling.

Think about it. You're on a SERP with 8-9 other results. What's going to help make yours stand out? An awesome title tag, that's what.

A good title tag is well formatted and specific. You also don't want it to be too long or else Google will cut it off.

Here's a role model for title tags. I found this on page 1 of the SERPs for the query "best title tags."

Right away, you know if you want to check out the content or if you'd rather pass it up.

It's short and super descriptive. You already know what the content will be like just from reading the title tag.

That's what every title tag needs to do.

Now look at this title tag, also from page 1:

This is a little…confusing.

Sure, it's about title tags. But what about title tags? It's unclear.

And 50% of the title tag is the brand name. Honestly, it feels like bad SEO to me.

I know what you're thinking: "But Neil, it's on page 1! It has to be good, right?"

Not necessarily. That's why you need to consider both clicks and impressions.

Your page 1 result can get all the impressions in the world, but if your CTR is 0, that link is effectively worthless.

That's why improving your title tag can be a game changer. In fact, I recommend you look at all of your title tags and see if you can make them better.

So go back to all your SERP results. If the title tags don't seem awesome to you, work on them until they're irresistible.

Maximize your meta description

If your SERP links are performing poorly, it could also be your meta description.

The title tag is where users go to see what your content is all about. They check out the meta to learn all of the juicy details.

Unfortunately, some meta descriptions can disappoint. And that almost always causes people to decide to not click on a link.

I've written about writing meta descriptions before, so I won't go through every detail. I'll just cover the important points.

First, make sure your meta description is clear.

Your meta description should summarize your content for people who are scanning the SERPs.

If your title tag reels someone in, your meta description needs to convince them to check out the content.

This description from VerticalResponse is exactly what I'm talking about:

It leaves you with zero questions.

If a friend asked you what VerticalResponse is, you'd be able to answer.

But you don't know everything about VerticalResponse. That's critical for this next step.

Second, make readers curious.

Don't make your meta description vague to create "curiosity."

Instead, hype up your product and make your user wonder, "Hmm, what's this all about?"

That VerticalResponse meta description does an excellent job of this:

It makes you think, "Is it really that good? Why not check it out?"

Third, keep it short.

Google will cut off long meta descriptions. The right length is around 160 characters. When in doubt, make it shorter.

Find your mobile keywords

Mobile keyword research is a field of its own.

If you're serious about enhancing your SEO, I recommend putting some time into it.

That being said, Search Analytics is great for a quick fix to your mobile SEO strategy.

Search Analytics can show you which keywords are being used for mobile.

To see this in action, look at the Devices option. You should see small text that says "No filter" below it.

Click on that. You'll see a few options. Click on "Filter devices."

You should see options for Desktop or Mobile. Select Mobile.

Now you'll see all of the keywords that mobile users are searching to find your site in the SERPs.

Once you know these keywords, you can implement them into your mobile SEO.

Find performance drops

Here's something about Search Analytics that's not obvious.

By default, a Search Analytics report will only cover the last four weeks.

That means all the data you're seeing is pretty fresh. But it also only represents one timeframe.

This can hide some issues.

For example, if one of your keywords is at position 11, you'd probably think it's doing well.

But that keyword could have been at position 8 a couple of months ago.

To get the most out of Search Analytics, you need to get comfortable with adjusting dates.

It's all in the Dates option. Right now, you'll probably see that it says "Last 28 Days."

You can take a look at older dates, but what I really like to do is compare date ranges. This is one of SA's handiest tools.

Click on the "Last 28 Days" text. You'll see a box pop up:

Click on "Compare date ranges." Then you'll see this:

You can go with one of the preset options if you want. However, if you click the "Custom…" option, you get the ability to specify exact date ranges.

I like this option because it's super flexible.

Once you've set your date range, you should see something like this:

In the first section, you can see how all of your metrics have changed:

And the graph provides an interactive, visual analysis of your performance.

Here's the really cool thing about the Dates feature.

When you change a date, you can change anything else you want, and the dates will stay the same.

I love this about Search Analytics. It's really flexible and does everything you tell it to.

And if you want to return to the default view, just go to Dates > Last 28 days > Reset (Last 28 days).

One thing I should mention: The furthest back in time Search Analytics can go is 90 days.

That means it is inherently a short-term analytics tool. But that doesn't mean it's not useful. Quite the opposite!

So let's talk about how you can use all of this information.

Let's say you're comparing the last week to the last 90 days and you see a recent drop in impressions.

That means fewer people are seeing your search results.

So you could run a Google search yourself and see if you've been pushed down a few positions.

If you have, you know you need to recover your ranking.

That's just one way to use these results.

You can use the Dates function to find any sort of drop in performance. That way, you'll know where to start fixing it.

What do you do if nothing's working?

Let's say you've reworked all your title tags and meta descriptions. You've optimized for mobile keywords too. But you're still seeing poor performance.

Or maybe you're getting more clicks, but you're seeing high bounce rates.

What do you do next?

It's simple: Improve your content.

I've always said that content is the most important part of any strategy. At the end of the day, if your content is bad, no amount of SEO will make people love it.

Source: Squaretreemarketing.co.uk

If nothing else is working, try identifying problems within your content.

Is it not comprehensive enough? Is it lacking data? Find what's making users bounce and fix it.

It'll take some critical thinking, but it'll help make your content better.

Even if your Search Analytics results are good, I still recommend constantly improving your content. It can make a world of difference, and your metrics will reflect that.

Conclusion

You might be tempted to think of Search Analytics as a "beginner's" tool.

While it's great for beginners, it's also great for everyone.

It's all in how you use it. If you're just selecting all the filters and briefly reviewing the report, it's not going to help you.

The point? Don't be afraid to dive deep into the data.

Explore each filter and grouping option. See exactly where your performance is poor and ask yourself why that might be.

You also need to use Search Analytics consistently. You can't use it once a month and use that information to drive thousands of people to your site.

Make Search Analytics a regular part of your SEO strategy. It'll take some time to get results, but if you make improvements based on your reports, you'll get more traffic within a few weeks or so.

It doesn't matter if you're refreshing a decade-old site or if you've just started. Taking an in-depth look at your Search Analytics metrics will help you create a better experience for your users.

How do you use Search Analytics?

Source: How to Use Google Search Console to Drive 28% More Search Traffic