Top SEO factors: the ranking signals Google names itself, and the order to work on them

The top SEO factors, in Google's own words, are the meaning of the search, the relevance of your page to it, the quality of your content, the usability of your page, and the searcher's context, such as location and settings. Google's How Search Works site names these five groups as its key search signals, and says the weight of each one changes with the query. Inside them, the factors Google confirms in its documentation are: words that match the search in the title, headings and body; links and mentions from other prominent sites; content that shows experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust; Core Web Vitals; and freshness where the query calls for it. Work on them in that order, after making sure Google can crawl and index your pages at all.

The five signal groups Google names

Google's How Search Works site, read on 22 October 2026, says its algorithms "look at many factors and signals, including the words of your query, relevance and usability of pages, expertise of sources, and your location and settings." It lists the key signals as meaning, relevance, quality, usability and context.

Signal group	What Google says it looks at	What you control
Meaning	The intent behind the words, including spelling fixes and synonyms	Writing for what people mean, not only the exact words
Relevance	Whether the content contains the search words, in headings or body, and other related content	Titles, headings, body text, images and examples on the page
Quality	Signals of expertise, authoritativeness and trust, such as prominent sites linking to or referring to the content	Who writes, what evidence is shown, who mentions you
Usability	Page experience, such as mobile friendly pages that load quickly	Speed, layout, mobile display, ads and pop ups
Context	Location, past searches and search settings	Local listings and pages for the places you serve

Google adds that the weight of each factor depends on the query. Its example: for current news topics, freshness counts for more than it does for a dictionary definition.

The factors Google confirms, one by one

1. Words that match the search, in the right places

Google's Search Essentials list this as a key best practice: use the words people would use to look for your content, and place them in prominent locations such as the title, the main heading, alt text and link text. How Search Works calls matching keywords "the most basic signal" of relevance. It also says a page about dogs is judged on more than the word "dogs": pictures, videos or a list of breeds count too. Repeating a word does not make a page more relevant.

2. Links and mentions from other sites

Google says one factor in judging quality is "if other prominent websites link or refer to the content". Its ranking systems guide says PageRank, one of its original core systems, "continues to be part of our core ranking systems". The same guide lists link spam among the things its spam systems act on, and Google's spam policies name buying or selling links for ranking purposes as link spam. So links count, and bought links work against you.

3. Helpful content that shows E-E-A-T

Google's guide to helpful content describes E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. It says trust is the most important of the four. It also says "E-E-A-T itself isn't a specific ranking factor". Google uses a mix of factors that identify content with good E-E-A-T, and gives that more weight on topics that affect health, money, safety or wellbeing. Practical signs: a clear author, first hand experience, sources you can check, and a page made for readers rather than for search traffic. Our page on E-E-A-T as a rater framework covers what changes on a page.

4. Page experience and Core Web Vitals

Google's page experience documentation says "Core Web Vitals are used by our ranking systems." The three metrics and Google's good thresholds are: Largest Contentful Paint within 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint under 200 milliseconds, and Cumulative Layout Shift under 0.1. The same page says other page experience aspects, such as secure HTTPS pages and no intrusive pop ups, "don't directly help your website rank higher", though they make the site more satisfying to use. How Search Works frames usability as a tie breaker: when other signals are about equal, the more accessible page may do better.

5. Freshness, when the query needs it

Google's ranking systems guide describes "query deserves freshness" systems. A search about a film released this week should return recent reviews. A search for a recipe does not need this month's page. Update pages where your topic changes, and leave evergreen pages alone unless something in them is out of date.

6. Original content

Google says it has systems to show original content, including original reporting, ahead of pages that only cite it. Its reviews system rewards reviews with insightful analysis and original research by people who know the topic well.

Factors people repeat that Google says are not factors

• Word count. Google's helpful content guidance asks whether you are writing to a word count because you heard Google prefers one, and answers: "No, we don't."
• Buying ads. How Search Works says nobody can pay Google for better organic rankings, and that results are not influenced by whether a business buys ads.
• Exact match domains. Google says words in a domain name are one of many relevance factors, but its exact match domain system stops a domain built to match a query from getting too much credit.
• Quality raters. Google says raters "have no control over how pages rank" and their data is not used directly in ranking.
• One page experience score. Google says there is no single page experience signal.

Page level and site wide signals

Google says its ranking systems work mainly at the page level, but site wide signals also contribute. Good site wide signals do not mean every page ranks well, and weak ones do not mean every page ranks poorly. Two other points from the same guide matter in practice. Its site diversity system generally shows no more than two listings from one site in the top results, so ten pages chasing one query compete with each other. And its passage ranking system can judge one section of a long page, so a clear, well labelled section can be found even inside a broad guide.

The order to work in

1. Be crawlable and indexed. Check the Page indexing report in Google Search Console. A page that is not indexed cannot rank for anything.
2. One page per intent. Pick the query, and make sure only one of your pages is built for it.
3. Relevance. Put the words people use in the title, main heading and opening paragraph, and answer the question fully.
4. Quality. Name the author, show first hand evidence, cite sources, and remove thin or copied pages.
5. Links and mentions. Earn them through work other sites want to cite. Link to your own important pages from related pages.
6. Core Web Vitals. Fix pages that fail the thresholds, starting with your most visited templates.
7. Freshness. Review pages on changing topics on a schedule.

When rankings move suddenly, compare the dates with Google's published update history before changing anything. Our guide to Google algorithm updates shows how to line those dates up with your own traffic.

The same factors, read by an assistant

The factors on this list were written for a page of ten links. When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity which accountant, software or agency to choose, the answer is a short paragraph naming a few businesses, built from pages the assistant read. Relevance, trust and mentions on other sites still matter there, but the result is a name in a sentence rather than a position, and many sites that rank well are never named. AI Knows Us checks whether those assistants name a business for the questions its buyers ask, and which sources they leaned on, so you can see whether the work on this list is reaching that answer too.

Questions about top SEO factors

What is the most important SEO ranking factor?

Google does not rank its factors in a fixed order, and says the weight changes with each query. Relevance to the search and the quality of the content come first in its own description, and nothing ranks without being crawled and indexed.

Are backlinks still a ranking factor?

Yes. Google says PageRank is still part of its core ranking systems, and that links or references from other prominent sites help it judge quality. Bought links count as link spam under its policies.

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?

Not as a single factor. Google says E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor, but its systems use a mix of signals that identify content with good E-E-A-T, especially on health, money and safety topics.

Does page speed affect SEO?

Core Web Vitals, which include loading speed, are used by Google's ranking systems. Google treats usability as most useful when other signals are close, so speed helps most when your content is already competitive.

Does word count matter for ranking?

No. Google says it has no preferred word count. Write as long as the question needs and no longer.