Try performing a search in your browser and then performing the exact same search in a private or incognito browser. You may be surprised by how different the search results are. Why is this the case? The fact is that search rankings are now completely personalized for each individual. This should affect the way that you view the importance of search engine rankings.
The question then becomes: What influences an individual’s search engine ranking?
By answering this question, we can see what goes into being at the top of the search results for as many people as possible. Here are 4 factors to keep in mind.
- The physical location of the person performing the search – This is referred to as geo-location.
- The individual’s search engine history
- Behavioral search factors – The search engine will determine if a person is currently shopping, researching, or looking for information based on how the query is worded.
- Personal factors – When an individual is logged into a Google account, the search engine takes all of the individual’s preferences and interests into consideration to produce the most relevant results.
The New Focus Is No Longer Generic Ranking
Here are the 4 things you need to be focused on rather than thinking you can reach the number one ranking on every search in general for a certain keyword.
- Site visits and behavior – How many unique visits has your site received? How do people act once they are on your site? Do they spend several minutes on each page revealing an engaging site? Do they leave frustrated after clicking through a few pages revealing that the site may be difficult to navigate?
- Conversion – How many people take the action that you want them to on the page, whether that be signing up for a newsletter, contacting your business, scheduling an appointment, buying something, etc.?
- Entry and exit pages – Which pages are people finding through searches? Which page do they leave your site after viewing?
- Keyword analytics – Which keywords are helping you acquire the most site visitors?
This isn’t to say that rankings are completely unimportant. However, they should not be the entire focus as they seem to be for many businesses. Instead, you have probably noticed the focus above on factors that improve the user experience on your site as well as increasing the ROI on visitors to your site. These are the most important efforts to consider moving forward.
