You may have published the first 10, 20, or 30 blogs on your website but see no improvements in rankings, impressions, traffic, leads, and surely no sales. This is mainly because you might lack some of the ranking factors that Google considers important.
According to Backlinko, there are over 200 ranking factors that influence the rankings on the Search Engine Results Page. But it does not mean you need to cover all the ranking factors in your SEO Campaign but must take into account the vital factors that make a difference.
There are 9 types of factors formulated by Google and experts in the Indian SEO industry.
Some are basic, accepted, and controversial. But remember there are a few factors that are just speculation and need not be necessarily acted upon.
Domain Factors
Page Level Factors
Site Level Factors
Backlink Factors
User Interaction
Special Google Algorithm Rules
Brand Signals
On-Site Webspam Factors
Off-Site Webspam Factors
Let’s start with ‘Domain Factors’
Domain Factors are the basic factors that relate to the domain of a website. Here you will need to take care of 9 possible factors under Domain Factors that make or break a website.
- Domain Age
Domain Age simply means for how many years a domain has been registered. John Mueller says it does not help SEO. But we often see that older domains get higher visibility and traffic compared to new. As SEOs, we see a sandbox period that lasts for at least 6 months for a new domain.
- Keyword Appearance in Top Level Domain
Many SEOs are behind the partial match domains for SEO rankings if not exact match ones. It’s a clear myth that the keyword needs to be in the domain name because that’s really not the case we see in day-to-day campaigns. For example, ‘Forbes’ is known as a Digital Magazine but does the keyword ‘magazine’ include in the TLD? No!
- Domain Registration Duration
Domain Registration Duration means the duration/years for which the domain is registered. Google classifies the domains that are paid for many years, as legitimate. And the domains that are not registered for a long duration are considered doorway domains. This can be a factor but is not practically correct.
- Keyword Appearance in Sub Domain
According to Moz, the keyword appearing in the subdomain name can help seo rankings. It basically tells the Google Algorithm what the subdomain is about. Also, users can easily identify what they are looking for such as blog, tribe, tools, etc.
Example: blog.Example.com
tribe.Example.com
- Domain History
Domain History plays an important role in SEO rankings. This essentially means that if a domain has been registered before and there are multiple drops then it can affect the rankings of a website.
I.e. if the website has a negative history with Google such as a penalty then it can be harmful and if nothing much has happened and the domain is clean with just one or two drops then it’s fine. Go to Wayback Machine and check the domain history.
- Exact Match Domain
Exact Match Domains do not have an edge over other domains in the same niche. They do not help in rankings and authority. Generally, exact match domains are used for Local SEO purposes. It’s better not to use exact match domains and a site with exact match terms can get penalized.
- Private vs Public WhoIs
It’s always better to hide your WhoIs information for security purposes. WhoIs is definitely not a ranking factor but something worth considering. Check your WhoIs by going to Whois.com and checking if your privacy is turned on.
- Penalized WhoIs Owner
This is a ranking and authority factor that every webmaster must consider before buying any domain. Make sure that the previous owner has not got penalized before for another website, this can affect all the domains he has. Sounds strange but this is true. Visit MxToolBox.Com
- Country TLD Extension
Country TLD Extension has its own benefits and disadvantages too. If a website is dedicated to a specific country then it tends to rank only in that country than globally. So, make sure that the domain name you are buying is not limited to a country if you want to target a global audience. Go for .com, .net, .org domains for international reach.
