How Google Determines Your Ranking on Search Results Pages

Updated April 18, 2022 

For most people, it should not be surprising that the first 3 results on Google results pages get 75% of all clicks. 

Unlike PPC (pay-per-click) ads, which are paid-for positions that are purchased by companies on Google Ads, organic results are considered the most relevant and valuable results to a user’s search query. 

As a result, organic results are considered more trustworthy and get more clicks than PPC ads. Companies can earn a higher return on their digital marketing efforts by investing in SEO. 

In fact, moving up just one position can increase a webpage’s click-through rate by 30%. Understanding how Google ranks content can help companies improve their SEO strategies and their rankings. Here’s what you need to know to rank on the first page of Google: 

• How does Google rank search results?
• How to get to the top of Google search results?
• How to remove a website from Google search results?

Looking for an SEO partner? Check out our shortlist of top SEO agencies around the world. 

How Does Google Rank Search Results? 

Indexing pages

In order to determine the purpose of a website, Google sends out bots (a.k.a spiders). These follow hyperlinks to journey through the web and ‘crawl’ (read) each page they come across. The information that these spiders look to obtain consists of page titles, headings, text content, images, load speed, structured data, and more.

Google then takes this information and categorizes each page in a process called indexing. When you enter a query into Google, you’re not actively searching through the entire world wide web. You’re searching Google’s Index.

Google’s index database has an entry for every word seen on every webpage that they index. It’s essentially an enormous super-library full of billions of pages worth of information, that information needs to be organized so that results can be found as quickly as possible. 

Using Search Algorithms for Ranking

There are millions of web pages available for any given search query, so Google has to prioritize these sites in order of relevance and value, specific to each individual query. This is called ranking, and Google has a whole arsenal of algorithms dedicated to working out which web pages should rank for which search terms.

These algorithms consider a multitude of factors – the search term used, the content & functionality of the site, and the web page’s authority. A site’s authority is determined by a number of factors, including the perceived value of the site’s content and the number of sites that link back to the site as a reputable source of information.

In the eyes of Google, reputable sites tend to link back to other relevant, reputable sites. So, if for example, a BBC article linked back to your site as a source of further information on a topic, it would be a good signal to Google that your site was also authoritative on the subject matter. 

Additional Reading, ‘How Search algorithms work.’

How To Get to the Top of Google Search Results

1. Optimize content for target keywords
2. Create valuable and relevant content 
3. Consider various formats 
4. Track rankings and make adjustments  

Optimize Content for Target Keywords

Once companies have identified the keywords they would like to rank for, they can optimize the content on their website to target their keywords. 

This means including keywords in the: 

• Page title
• Title tag
• Meta description 
• H1s and H2s 
• Alt Text 

This makes it easy for Google’s crawlers to identify what each page is about and index it. 

For some companies, it makes sense to develop an on-site content strategy that targets these keywords. For example, creating and maintaining a blog can be very helpful for your SEO. 

Every page that is published provides new content for Google to index, making it more likely to be promoted and drive traffic to a site. 

Consequently, companies should post on their website consistently while targeting keywords in order to improve their rankings.  

Additional reading, ‘4 Steps to Identify Target Keywords for Small Businesses.’

Create Valuable and Relevant Content 

Key factors in this determination are value and relevance. Google needs to take into account the underlying intent of the searcher and then be able to return the correct result for their query.

Now, Google knows that not all sites fit the same purpose. For example, “freshness” will be a bigger factor to consider when a user searches for Lotto results or the latest stock updates, and less of a factor when looking at “how to” articles and thesaurus entries.

Websites with more “value” or “relevance” for a given search term will be ranked higher on the search engine results pages (SERPs) so that Google’s users are always getting the most appropriate information. 

With the information retrieved by the bots, Google’s algorithms then assess the data from the site to determine whether the information provided is an appropriate answer for the query submitted to the search engine. 

Content is one of the most fundamental factors used to calculate the relevance of a page to a query. Take the result below for a “world’s heaviest apple” search:
 

Like in the image above, a webpage’s content is determined to be relevant to apple-related searches if, on a basic level, it likely includes the keyword “apple.” Of course, Google has spent years developing algorithms and systems to hone in on the relevance of a page. Results for “how to make an apple crumble” would be different for “world’s heaviest apple” (which weighs 1.849 kg by the way).

Consider various formats

Google’s search results have come a long way in the last decade or so. The SERPs no longer consists solely of 10 blue links with three paid ads at the top of the page. Google has developed new features in the SERPs to make it easier and quicker than ever to find the information you’re looking for.

Google’s synonym search means that it can match users to articles that might be targeting a similar keyword or key term, even if they’re using slightly different phrasing. For example, “how to change a fuse” will also display results for “how to replace a fuse”, like in the images below.

Though the searches are worded differently for the searches above, the intent is similar, so the top results will likely overlap.

Additionally, Google will assess the best results format to offer depending upon the search term and the intent behind it. “How to replace a fuse” draws results for an explainer video, followed by suggestions for other “how to” videos that may also be appropriate for the query. Google’s Hummingbird and Rankbrain updates were significant advances in their ability to understand the intent behind searches rather than just matching up specific keywords.

Soon after the video is the “people also ask” answer accordion. Google often also shows results for searches that other users made following the original search, all in the quest to make finding the correct information as easy as possible.

6 Google SERP Features

Google’s search result formats are split into five different categories outside of the traditional list of blue links: 

1. The Knowledge Graph
2. Directions and Traffic
3. Direct Results
4. Featured Snippets
5. Rich Lists

Know these five results formats to truly understand Google searches.

1. The Knowledge Graph

The knowledge graph is a format that was released by Google in 2012 as a feature that answers relatively binary questions with other useful snippets of information about that query. When it was introduced, it contained more than 500 million people and objects, encompassing billions of facts.

For example, if you were to Google Marie Curie, the knowledge graph would display the information below:

Along with Marie Curie’s date of birth, death, and notable discoveries, users can read a quick summary of relevant information Google compiled, without having to click a link.

2. Local Map Pack

The “Directions and Traffic” feature was a simple but effective addition to the search engine. The feature takes your location and intent into account to provide the most useful result possible.

When Googling “Bermondsey, London” Google assumes you’re not looking for information on pot-holes in Bermondsey, otherwise you would have searched something like “pot-hole updates Bermondsey”. Instead, the search engine assumes that you’re looking to get there, or find its geographical location and so provides users with a handy, clickable and movable map, as below:

Along with the detailed map in the image, it might also display directions and timings for various modes of transport, whether that be by train, car, bike or by foot to further help you.

3. Direct Results

Direct results are those provided directly in the search results, but do not link through to an alternate resource. Google has access to information (e.g weather information) to provide direct answers to users. For example in the image below, by searching “weather forecast” I was provided with the weather forecast for London.

Clearly, this snippet above also takes into account the user’s location data as well, as it showed me the information relevant right down to the post code. 

4. Featured Snippets      

Ah, the humble featured snippet— another update of convenience from Google. Featured snippets are portions of information drawn from highly ranked websites that Google perceives to be the most direct answer to your query. They include a few sentences of information, a link to the source site for further information and the page title.

Unlike direct results, which are generated directly from Google (or licensed information), featured snippets are scraped and directly attributable to other websites. Here’s an example of a featured snippet outlining how to go about embracing a zero-waste lifestyle.

The snippet above features the relevant information from the article (a list) and the source is directly attributed in the link at the bottom, making it easy for users to read the content entirely.

5. Rich Lists

No, these aren’t lists of the world’s richest people. Rich lists are an at-a-glance answer to queries that have more than one answer using information from the same data set as the Knowledge Graph.

To clarify, if you were to Google “female scientists” like we did below, the search engine will provide you with a list of famous female scientists. The same goes for searches along the lines of “Famous 80’s bands” and… “the world’s richest people."

The list features the top results for the given search, but is compiled in an easy to read (and scroll) way. The same goes for searches along the lines of “Famous 80’s bands” and “the world’s richest people”. 

6. Organic Results 

Organic results are probably what you’re most familiar with and engage with the most as a user. They’re found underneath paid results and usually under other SERP features such as people also ask questions. 

Even though they’re located below other SERP features, recent data has shown that organic search results ranking on the first results page have higher click through rates than paid ads. 

Source: Smartinsights

However, the click through rate decreases the lower a page ranks, impacting traffic. 

To rank highly, companies need to understand how google works and invest in search engine optimizations strategies. 

To learn more about SEO, read, ‘The Complete Guide to Content Marketing for SEO.’

Track Google rankings and make adjustments

How Google ranks pages changes periodically. One day, your blog post may be ranking on the first results page, but a week later it could fall to the second page. 

This could happen for a variety of reasons. Maybe a competitor targeted the same keyword or released new data, helping them earn the top spot. Google’s algorithm also changes fairly regularly, which can have 

Small shifts in how a page ranks can impact traffic, so it’s imperative that companies keep track of their content so they can adjust as needed. 

There are several tools that can help companies monitor the keywords they rank for and what position they’re in, including Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and Moz Pro. 

To learn more about how to use these tools to track keywords rankings, read ‘7 Best Rank Tracking Software to Check Google Keyword Rankings.’

How to Remove a Website from Google Search Results

While ranking on the top page of Google is a great way to attract traffic, some pages aren’t meant to be seen by the public. 

If you have a large website, you can improve your site’s performance by directing Google’s crawlers to only the most important pages on your site. This prevents Google from indexing duplicate content and less important pages that can have a negative impact in your rankings on Google Search. 

Whether you have a page that holds sensitive data or the page simply doesn’t need to be indexed, here’s how to control what you share with Google: 

• Remove content using Google’s Removals Tool. This can help you temporarily block URLs on your site until it can be permanently removed. 
• Add a No Index tag to the page to prevent it from showing up in search results. 
• Password protect your files to protect confidential or private content. 
• Use robots.txt to remove images

If you’re looking to remove personal data from Google search results, check out Google’s resources here. 

Understand How Google Ranks Content to Optimize Your SEO

So, after reading this article you should have a better understanding of how the results on the first page of Google got placed there. You can be rest assured it’s not all sleight of hand and sorcery. It’s simply a matter of Google displaying what it perceives to be the most relevant and useful results for each search term.

As discussed, Google takes into account a wide variety of data sets to determine the best results. On the searcher side, this might be location or the underlying intent behind a query, whereas on the webpage side it might be relevance of content, mobile usability or authority.

Don’t expect it to stop here. Search engines are continually growing in complexity and, with the growing use of voice search, the evolution of search will continue.  

Additional Reading

• 7 SEO Tools for Businesses
• Getting Out of the Red: How to Implement Improvements from Your SEO Audit
• Should You Hire an SEO Company?