SEO ranking factors in 2024: What Google truly values

Search engine ranking is an essential aspect for any website seeking visibility and growth in the digital environment. In 2024, Google continues to adjust its algorithms to prioritize user experience, the quality of content, and technical optimization. Understanding which SEO ranking factors carry the most weight allows for the development of effective strategies to improve search results rankings.

Below are the SEO ranking factors that Google considers fundamental in 2024 and the best practices to implement them.

1. The importance of SEO in 2024

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the set of techniques used to improve a website’s visibility in search results. In a highly competitive digital environment, being well positioned on Google represents a significant advantage.

Some of the main reasons why SEO remains essential in 2024 include:

• Increased organic traffic, allowing websites to attract visitors without the need to invest in advertising.
• Improved user experience, ensuring efficient and satisfying navigation.
• Greater credibility and authority, since users tend to trust sites that appear in the top search results.

To achieve these benefits, it is essential to know and apply the most relevant SEO ranking factors today.

2. SEO ranking factors in 2024

2.1 Quality content and semantic optimization

Google prioritizes relevant and well-structured content. A website with valuable information has a higher chance of ranking in the top positions.

Some key aspects to optimize content include:

• Proper use of keywords and related terms, avoiding excess or over-optimization.
• Development of comprehensive, well-organized texts with detailed and useful information.
• Inclusion of hierarchical subtitles (H2, H3, H4) to improve readability and content structure.
• Implementation of structured data to help Google interpret the content.

Semantic optimization also plays an important role. Google no longer relies solely on exact keywords but understands the context and intent of the content.

2.2 User experience and Core Web Vitals

A website’s performance and its impact on user experience are key determinants of ranking. Google has established Core Web Vitals as key metrics to evaluate page quality.

The main Core Web Vitals elements include:

• Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): measures the load time of the main content and should be under 2.5 seconds.
• First Input Delay (FID): evaluates how quickly a site responds to user interaction.
• Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): measures visual stability, avoiding unexpected shifts in the layout of elements.

In addition to these technical aspects, it is essential that the website be intuitive, accessible, and designed to ensure efficient navigation across different devices.

2.3 Mobile optimization

Mobile traffic represents a significant percentage of website visits, which makes mobile optimization a key ranking factor in SEO.

To ensure proper mobile adaptation, it is recommended to:

• Implement a responsive design that automatically adjusts content to different screen sizes.
• Optimize images and other resources to reduce load times.
• Avoid intrusive pop-ups that hinder navigation.
• Ensure content is readable without the need for zooming or horizontal scrolling.

Google prioritizes mobile-optimized sites by applying Mobile-First Indexing, meaning the mobile version of a site is the primary reference for indexing and ranking.

2.4 Domain authority and backlink strategy

A website’s authority remains a relevant factor for SEO. The number and quality of inbound links play a key role in evaluating a site’s relevance and reliability.

Some strategies to improve domain authority include:

• Acquiring links from reputable, relevant websites within the industry.
• Avoiding low-quality or unreliable inbound links.
• Implementing an internal linking strategy to facilitate navigation and strengthen site structure.
• Creating high-value content that naturally motivates other sites to link back.

A solid backlink profile significantly contributes to improving search engine rankings.

2.5 Technical optimization and site structure

Technical SEO is essential to ensure Google can crawl, index, and correctly understand a website’s content.

Best practices for technical optimization include:

• Use of friendly, descriptive URLs without unnecessary characters.
• Implementation of HTTPS to ensure user security and increase site trust.
• Creation of a sitemap.xml file to facilitate the indexing of important pages.
• Proper configuration of the robots.txt file to avoid unnecessary crawl blocking.
• Elimination of 404 errors and incorrect redirects that affect user experience.

These factors ensure better technical performance and contribute to higher rankings in search results.