General SEO

Ranking Factor

Quick Definition

A ranking factor is any signal Google uses to determine where a page appears in search results — content relevance, backlinks, page speed, user experience, and hundreds of others.

In context

Google has confirmed roughly 200 ranking factors but doesn't disclose their exact weights. Major confirmed factors include high-quality content, backlinks from authoritative sites, mobile usability, HTTPS, Core Web Vitals, and topical relevance. Most ranking factors operate as 'thresholds to clear' rather than independent levers — the strongest pages clear all of them.

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