The Hidden Gems of SEO: The 10 Rare but Powerful Ranking Factors
From typography to brand mentions, these 10 unusual ranking factors might surprise you, but they are critical for unlocking your website’s full SEO potential.
If you’re looking to boost your website’s search engine rankings, you might be focusing on the usual suspects: keyword optimization, high-quality content, and backlinks.
While these are all important ranking signals, there are also a number of lesser-known ranking signals that can have a significant impact on your website’s search engine performance.
1. Typography
The font style and size of your content can impact your search rankings, with larger more legible fonts potentially being favored.
Use large, easy-to-read fonts for your main content, and consider using font-size optimization techniques like modular scale to ensure consistent font sizes throughout your website.
2. Host reliability
The reliability of your web hosting provider can impact your search rankings, as search engines want to ensure their users are directed to reliable websites.
Choose a reputable web hosting provider with a strong track record of uptime and fast loading speeds, and consider using a content delivery network (CDN) to further improve your website’s reliability.
3. User reviews
User reviews and ratings on review sites can impact your search rankings, as search engines consider them a sign of trust.
Encourage your customers to leave positive reviews on review sites, and respond to any negative reviews to show that you care about your customers’ experiences.
4. Social signals
Social media activity such as likes, shares, and tweets can affect your search rankings.
Encourage your followers to engage with your content on social media, and make it easy for them to share your content with others.
5. User experience
How users interact with your website can impact your search engine rankings, including things like time on site and bounce rate.
To optimize for user experience, make sure your website is easy to navigate, loads quickly, and provides a positive experience for users.
6. Video content
Videos can provide a rich and engaging experience for users, making them more likely to stay on your website for longer periods of time. This increased engagement can help boost your search engine rankings, as search engines consider user engagement as a signal of the quality and relevance of your website’s content.
To get the most out of video content, make sure your videos are well-produced and optimized for search engines by including relevant keywords in the video’s title, description, and tags.
7. Loading speed
The time it takes for your website to load can impact your search rankings, with faster websites typically ranking higher.
Use tools like GTmetrix and Google PageSpeed Insights to analyze your website’s loading speed, and make any necessary optimizations to improve performance.
8. Diversity of search queries
The diversity of search queries used to find your website can impact your search rankings, with a wide variety of related keywords potentially boosting your rankings.
Use keyword research tools to identify related keywords, and make sure to include these keywords in your content to take advantage of this ranking signal.
9. Mobile optimization
Whether your website is optimized for mobile devices can impact your search rankings, with mobile-friendly websites favored.
Use responsive design techniques to ensure your website looks great on all devices, and consider using a mobile-specific version of your website for users on mobile devices.
10. Brand mentions
Mentioning a brand name on other websites, even if there is no link, can impact search rankings.
Monitor your brand mentions on other websites and engage with the people mentioning your brand to encourage them to link back to your website.
Some final thoughts…
By paying attention to both traditional and unconventional ranking factors, you can improve your website’s overall search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your website.
Whether you’re just getting started with SEO or you’re an experienced marketer looking to optimize your website, be sure to keep these 10 rare but vital ranking signals in mind as you work to boost your website’s search engine performance.
We hope you found this information helpful. If you have any questions or insights to share, please leave a comment below or give this post a clap! And don’t forget to follow us on Medium for more tips and tricks.
