Is canonicalization a Google search ranking factor? Do you want to optimize the canonicalization strategy for Google search ranking? Can canonicalization influence rankings?

Search engines want you to use canonical tags or canonicalization. But does it impact organic search ranking?

Rel=Canonical tag you will direct Google to the preferred version of your website URL. Still, there is no guarantee that Google will follow your path.

Is Canonicalization a Google Search Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

To answer this question, first understand the canonicalization and then dig deep to find facts.

There are very few people who are asking this question, yet it is worth answering.

But does Canonicalization impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about canonicalization (rel="canonical") and its impact on search.

Canonicalization:

Canonicalization is the process of telling a search engine which URL is the best representative of your website. It also helps Google to choose the best page and avoid duplicate pages or versions of the same page.

The easiest way to use canonicalization is to add a rel=canonical tag to declare the representative URL.

Google wants to use to use rel="canonical".

But is canonicalization (rel="canonical")  a Google organic ranking factor? Let's find out.

Claim: Canonicalization is a Google Ranking Factor

Canonicalization or rel="canonical" is an HTML tag that tells Google the best representative of your URL.

In most common cases, Google uses the canonical URL to avoid duplicate versions.

For example, if you set the www version as canonical, then Google will use the URL with www to crawl and index.

This helps Google save resources and time by avoiding duplicate versions of the URL.

In 2023, Google itself recommended the use of canonical tags.

But if you want to avoid duplication in syndicated content, then you should now use canonical links.
Ask syndicated sites or webmasters to use the noindex tag instead of canonical.

The sole purpose of a canonical URL is to share a preferred version of your domain URL with search engines.

As rel=canonical helps Google to find a preferred version of URL, webmasters started believing that it also impacts search engine ranking.

Evidence: Canonicalization is Not a Google Search Ranking Factor

Google has nowhere mentioned that canonicalization or rel=canonical is necessary for ranking.

Google's John Muller said that the best strategy is to use the rel="canonical" tag to avoid duplicate content issues in search results.

Difference between rel=canonical and Noindex:

Rel=canonical tells Google that the source or link is essential and should be indexed. But no index tells the search engines that that page should not be indexed.

In other words, rel=canonical pass link juice, but noindex doesn't do it.

Conclusion: Canonicalization is not a Google Search Ranking Factor

Canonicalization helps Google to identify the preferred version and avoid duplicate versions of the URL. It is necessary to index only preferred URLs. It works as a suggestion.

You should rel=canonical to help Google. However, it is not a Google ranking factor.

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What does Google think about Broken backlinks? When should I fix Broken Backlink errors? When should I least care about them?

Google's Gary Illyes has explained the broken links, what to do with them, and when to leave them.

Gary Illyes explained during the Google SEO Office Hours podcast in June 2024 when to fix broken links and the time webmasters or SEO should spend on these issues. During this 16:45-minute podcast, he explained a lot about SEO issues.

Broken Backlinks: Google's Gary Illyes Explains When to Fix and When Not?: eAskme

Google SEO Office Hours podcast June 2024 and Broken Links:

Gary Illyes explained that you should only fix broken links when they are helpful for your audience. It is only possible to fix some broken links if you have a massive website.

For example, if you are running a news website with 10,000 articles, then it won't be easy to fix every link. The best strategy is to restore links that are valuable for your website and users.

Gary Illyes's about Broken Backlinks:

Gary Illyes's broken backlink advice busted many myths that SEO had over the years. The most common myth is to fix every broken backlink. Yet, some webmasters have asked if they should fix every broken backlink or not. News sites or sites with thousands of pages spend a lot of time and resources on fixing links. New advice explains that a 100% broken backlink fix is not necessary.

The best SEO practice is only to fix backlinks that matter to your business.

For example, fix backlinks coming from top-ranking or high-quality websites. Save time on fixing backlinks from low-quality sites.

Find the usefulness of a broken backlink before fixing it.

This strategy is like fixing 404 links. John Muller advised that not every 404 links should be fixed.

Why You Should Fix Broken Backlinks?

Finding broken backlinks is easier than obtaining new backlinks. There is no exact metric to measure the impact of broken backlinks, but wrongly fixing them can surely hurt the website's ranking and user experience.

When to Track Broken Backlinks?

Keep track of new backlinks monthly, if not weekly. Make sure that your link-building campaign does not gain broken backlinks. If there is a wrong backlink or dead backlink, then fix it as soon as possible.

Backlinks that are important:

Fix broken links that are displayed in your GSC broken links report.

What type of broken links you should fix:

• Backlinks from high-quality sites.
• Misspelled URLs
• URL's that moved to a new page or post.

Backlinks that are less important:

• Links from low-quality sites
• Links to outdated pages.
• Random links.
• AI-generated links.
• Links from Spammy websites.

How to Find Broken Backlinks?

Finding broken backlinks is quite easy.

• Go to your Google Search Console and log in.
• Check the "Broken Links" or "404 Page" report.
• If you are not sure where the link is placed, then type the broken URL in Google Search Console's "URL Inspection tool." It will display the referring pages, and you will find the page where the broken link is published.

Use 301 redirects, the Wordfence plugin, or the Redirection WordPress plugin to fix broken backlinks.

How to Fix Broken Backlinks?

The easiest way to fix a broken backlink is to create a redirection to the working URL.

You can also contact the website owner through email outreach and ask him to fix the broken URL.

But email outreach to fix broken backlinks can cause the following situations:

• Web admin may remove backlinks.Web admin may add a no-follow attribute.
• Even if the web admin fixes the link, it will only fix on one page. Every website that links to the same wrong URL will need more outreach emails.

The best strategy here is to use 301 redirects.

Conclusion:

Gary Illyes suggests fixing broken backlinks only when they add value to your website. It is easy to fix broken backlinks with redirections rather than sending emails for link reclamation.

Only send emails to fix backlinks when you have established a strong relationship with the webmasters.

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What is a Semantic search? Why is Semantic Search important for SEO?

Semantic search is an essential part of SEO. The world of SEO has evolved since 2010. Now the focus is more on satisfying user intent rather than building too many links.

Semantic Search for SEO: What, Why and How [Explained Everything]

The year 2024 is known for making user behavior and essential intent parts of SEO.

Search engines understand the users in a better way. With the help of algorithms, updates, and technologies, search engines have developed the programs that help them understand what user wants.

This has made SEO experts work on optimizing content for users.

You cannot just fill keywords in your content and dream of ranking it better. It is important to provide relevant, authentic, rich information with the help of keywords, words, and visual content.

Semantic searches give importance to understanding user behaviour. The latest machine learning programs are helping search engines to understand users better.

• What Semantic search is?
• Why is semantic search important?
• How to Optimize your content for Semantic search?

What is Semantic Search?

Semantic search explains the search engines' focus on displaying the best possible results. Search engines do it by understanding queries, the internet, and relationship.

• How are people using queries or words in different languages?
• Understanding search queries without clear intent.
• Understanding the relationship between words.

Google has invested a lot of money on patents for this purpose. It helps in best-displaying results for the search queries like "Top 10 tv-series of 2024." As a result, Google will display a list of sites.

In other words, semantic search understands the human language in a much better way.

Earlier, search engines algorithms were not so efficient in understanding user behavior based on queries.

But the semantic search has changed everything.

Semantic search helps search engine giants to differentiate people, places, and things.

Google quickly identify user intent based on the following factors:

• Search History
• Spellings
• Location
• Global search history

Semantic search helps Google to improve user experience by displaying relevant results.

Semantic Search History:

The Knowledge Graph:

In 2012, Google introduced The Knowledge graph to understand content more than just the number of keywords.

The Knowledge graph was the first attempt to create a path of important algorithms. It collects information and their relations.

Hummingbird:

In 2013, the Google Hummingbird update went live. It was the beginning of the semantic search.

Hummingbird uses a natural language processing approach to rank pages with meaningful content.

RankBrain:

Google has launched Rankbrain in 2015.

Rankbrain is an online machine learning system that helps in query analysis and ranking factors.
Similar to Hummingbird, Rankbrain also focuses on user intent.

As a machine learning program, RankBrain keeps learning and analyzing the search results.

BERT:

Google had introduced BERT in 2019.

The focus of BERT is to understand the conversation and user intent.

With the help of BERT, Google displays accurate results.

How Semantic Search Impact SEO World?

Rise of Voice Search:

Semantic search is needed to understand voice commands.

To optimize for the voice search, content creators must work in the to-the-point direction.

What Should You Do?

Create content that quickly answers the user queries in the beginning.

Use structured data to make search engines understand your content.

Focus more on Topics than Keywords:

Search engines focus more on topics rather than just keywords.

Content around broad topics is becoming necessary.

What you can do:

Create guides or pillar articles. Cover everything important about the topic.

The intent is the priority:

The focus of search engines is on intent targeting.

What you should do:

Grab the list of keywords and sort them by user intent.

Understand user intent first and after create content around the topic.

Technical SEO is Important:

Google algorithms cannot do everything automatically.

You must make your website according to Google guidelines to help it understand your content.

Optimization is necessary, and to optimize your content, you must focus on the following:

Keywords:

Keywords are Important.

Use SEO tools to find long-tail keywords.

Understand the difference between keywords and queries.

Use keywords in URL, title, body, heading tags, description, etc.

Link Building:

Earn natural links. Focus on links that add positive value to your website. Also, improve internal linking.

Structured data:

Add Schema Markup to your website.

Errors:

Fix all the errors on your website.

Site Speed:

Optimize your website to improve site speed. Follow what Google says.

Site Structure:

Optimize site structure to make it easy for search engines to index your content.

User Experience:

User satisfaction is the goal of search results.

Google has improved its algorithms overtime to satisfy users.

What you can do:

Optimize website for mobile devices. Get rid of unnecessary images, JavaScript and CSS.

Conclusion:

Focus on semantic search when creating content.

Understand how Google understands different content types.

Stop following outdated SEO practices.

Keep your content relevant for the audience. Update it time-to-time. Optimize site for better indexing.

If you can do these, then you will be on the right path to success.

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Is Code-To-Text Ratio a Google search ranking factor? Do you want to use the Code-To-Text Ratio for Google search ranking? Can the Code-To-Text Ratio influence rankings?

Code is a must for any website. Without code, there cannot be a site or app. While coding can make or break a website, it is also believed that coding can influence search ranking or ranking signals.

The code-to-text ratio impacts responsiveness, speed, indexing, and user experience. To create the best user experience, SEOs work, SEOs work hard to find the best Code-to-text ratio for clients' websites.

Is Code-To-Text Ratio a Google Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

It is not easy to determine the code-to-text ratio, yet SEOs try everything.

But does the Code-To-Text Ratio impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about the Code-To-Text Ratio and its impact on search.

Code-To-Text Ratio:

Code-to-text ratio is the percentage of text compared to code on the webpage or website. Code-text ratio checkers are available to calculate the exact ratio.

It is a must to have optimized code on your website or page. Anything more than that is unnecessary. Yet, it is good to find out if your code is impacting search ranking.

Claim: Code-to-text ratio is a Google Ranking Factor

The code-to-text ratio can directly influence user experience. Code-heavy sites load slowly, which negatively affects user experience.

Sites with low code or poor coding create design, crawling, and indexing issues. The code helps search engine engines understand why the page is there and its relevance to the website.

Evidence: Code-to-text ratio is a Google Search Ranking Factor

Google’s John Muller once said that HTML code does not affect website search engine rankings.

Although Google does not outrank sites based on their code, too much code is not beneficial for users. Complex or hidden codes can damage your page's SEO and rankings.

It is better to optimize code to create a fast-loading website with a clean user experience. Better user experience and Core Web Vitals score are important for better rankings.

How to Optimize Code-to-text Ratio?

The code-to-text ratio directly impacts Core Web Vitals score and user experience.

• Check code errors using the W3C validator tool.
• Check the HTML code errors and fix them.
• Improve code and get rid of any useless code to improve page load time.
• Compress images, use cache codes, and get rid of flash codes to improve website speed.

Conclusion: Code-to-text ratio is not a Google Search Ranking Factor

Your website code is not a ranking factor. Yet, it is important to optimize website code to optimize load time and responsiveness and fix coding errors. It is best to optimize the Code-To-Text Ratio within 20-75%.

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Is contact information a Google search ranking factor? Do you want to use contact information for Google search ranking? Can contact information influence rankings?

The reason why contact information is necessary is to give your audience a way to contact you. It can be through email, chatbot, or phone. Contact forms are the most common way to let people contact you.

Yet, only some websites publish contact information or contact pages.

Is Contact Information A Google Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

But does contact information impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about contact information and its impact on search.

Contact Information:

Contact information is the information that the webmaster publishes on his website to let others contact him. Contact forms, email IDs, phone numbers, and social media pages are part of the contact information.

Claim: Contact Information is a Google Ranking Factor

SEOs have two beliefs about contact information. Many believe that it is necessary to rank in search results, while others believe that it is not necessary.

Contact information is used on two most popular places:

• Contact information on Google My Business.
• Contact Information on website.

Evidence: Contact Information is a Google Search Ranking Factor

Contact information such as website name, physical address, email ID, phone numbers, and social media links are usually published on citation sites. Citations influencer search engine position as they are helpful for users to find ways to contact the website or business.

In 2009, Google launched Places to display contact information.

Since then, it is believed that contact information play a crucial role in ranking for local search terms.

According to the Google Quality Raters Guidelines document, the role of contact information changes according to the type of website. Contact information is crucial for businesses operating in the local area, such as banks, offices, etc.

While it is essential to have contact information on important pages and citations, it is not a ranking signal that can influence rank position.

The presence of contact information is necessary for a good user experience.

Contact information also helps in building a high level of trust. It is necessary to display contact information on important pages where users are most likely to contact your business.

Evidence: Contact Information is Not a Google Search Ranking Factor

John Muller answered the question by saying that Google does not look for search information as a ranking signal. It does not impact search ranking.

Yet, it is good to display contact information from the user's point of view.

Sites with contact information are gaining points on user experience.

Conclusion: Contact Information is a Google Search Ranking Factor (Not Always)

Contact information is an integral part of the local listing. It influences local search ranking in Google organic results.

In recent years, Google has improved its algorithm to analyze the importance of contact information for the user. Contact information is necessary when a user needs to contact a business. In most cases, this happens to businesses in the local area.

Contact information on your website is more important for your clients and users than search engines.

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Google I/O 2024 is all about the launch of AI Overviews. Google searches will now display AI-generated results on top of organic results and paid ads. Search engines will also use ads in AI Overviews to generate revenue.

Since the launch of Gemini AI, Google has been using it on various platforms, such as ads. Gemini is Google's most powerful AI.

Now, Google is using the power of generative AI in search results. And to do so, they have launched AI overviews.

Google AI Overviews: eAskme

What are AI Overviews? How it works? How to access it? How it works? How AI Overviews Source Data? How to Turn on and Off AI overviews? How to Optimize Your Blog or Website to AI Overviews?

Here is everything for you to know.

AI Overviews:

AI Overviews is the quick-answer solution in search results. All you need to do is type the question in Google search, and generative AI Overviews will generate the most suitable answer.

It says that Google will do Googling for you.

For example, if you ask Google, "Why Does My Candle Burn Unevenly?" It will generate an AI overview with a detailed answer in a paragraph.

Google has tested AI overviews more than a billion times in Search Labs.

You will also get steps or a day plan for Google.

For example, if you ask Google to give you a seven-day meal plan, AI Overview will generate a result with a meal plan for each day.

For some queries, Google AI Overviews will give you answers in 3 different formats such as:

• Original
• Simpler
• Break it down.

Who can Access AI Overviews?

AI Overviews have been rolled out in the USA only. Google plans to launch AI Overviews for a billion users by the end of 2024.

To access AI Overviews, you need:

• You must be 18 years or older to access AI Overviews.
• A Laptop, Desktop, Android, or iOS device with internet connection.
• Open the latest Chrome or Firefox browser app.

How to Get AI Overviews?

Go to Google.com or Open the Google search app.

How Google AI Overviews Works?

• AI Overviews for Some Searches: AI Overviews is available for limited searches or queries.
• AI Overviews for other searches: AI Overviews not available for every search.
• Listen to the Overview: You can list AI Overviews results.
• Read AI Overviews: For most results, you can read in English and Hindi.

AI Overviews will display three types of results:

• AI Overviews on the top without organic results.
• Below AI Overview of generative content, the user will use shopping ads.
• AI Overviews will display targeted ads.

Google AI Overviews are triggered when a user types a question and query in a Google search. If the Google system believes that there is no better organic result to answer the user's query, then AI overviews will generate the best solution. In doing so, AI overviews also link to other sources or articles.

Sites that Google AI Overview Link To:

Google AI Overviews is expected to display links to eCommerce sites, business websites, or question-answer sites like Quora and Reddit.

Google already made a deal with Reddit, which may give Reddit a boost in AI Overviews. Users will see links to sources and other informational content.

How AI Overviews Source Data?

Google is using Gemini and large language models to create generative results. It automatically sources data. A webmaster or SEO needs help including its site in AI Overviews.

According to the Google document, it is sourcing information like the Knowledge panel.

What will the Impact of AI Overviews on Your Business?

If your business solely depends upon organic traffic, then you may see a drop in organic traffic only if AI Overviews generates results for the same queries.

Industry experts and SEOs are already raising concerns over the drop in organic traffic due to AI-generated content on Google searches. Washington Post published an article explaining how Google AI Results bring carnage to publishers.

ZipTie's report states that AI Overview will cover 80% of queries, which is a serious concern if your website needs to be included in AI Overviews.

How to Optimize Your Blog or Website to AI Overviews?

Content creators, publishers, SEO experts, and marketers are already looking for ways to make the content and links discoverable in AI Overviews.

Here are a few things that you can do:

Structured Data:

The structure of your content is one of the significant things that impact user experience. It will also affect your presence in AI overviews. Google wants to make results more engaging, and structured content is the way to make your content engaging in the eyes of Google and its users.

Expert the Topic:

Create content that covers multiple queries without making the user the user go through multiple pages. Make the customer's journey easy.

Build Authority:

Building authority is the only way to move forward. Reddit and Quora's presence in AI Overviews is the best example of that. Create collaborative content with subject-matter experts or industry experts.

Improve SEO:

Fix technical SEO issues. Make it easy for Google crawlers to crawl your website. Optimize on-page, on-site, and content SEO.

Search Queries:

Keep an eye on search queries that trigger AI Overviews. Track those queries. Use them in your content with relevant information and the best answers.

What is coming next?

Here is what you will see in the future of AI Overviews:

• Google will launch adjustable features in AI Overviews.
• AI-generated reasoning in results.
• Planning for scheduling your day or work.
• Generate ideas.
• Get answers for visual queries like images and videos.

How to Turn on or Off AI Overviews?

You can Turn on or Turn Off AI overviews in Search Labs.

• Open your browser.
• Sign in using Gmail ID.
• Go to the "Manage" settings of your browser.
• Click on the Toggle button to turn on or off the "AI Overviews."

Important Note: There is no option to turn off AI Overviews completely. They are not part of Google search and will be there like the Knowledge Panel.

Conclusion:

Google's AI Overviews will expand to more queries in the coming days. Google is expecting to bring 1 billion users to AI overviews. Soon, it will become a habit for users to rely on AI Overviews. It is best to understand what is coming and be ready with content optimization and user-engagement strategies.
Be open and adapt new technologies to stay effective in Google search.

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Are browser bookmarks a Google search ranking factor? Do you want to optimize the browser bookmarks for Google search ranking? Can browser bookmarks influence rankings?

Browser bookmarks are the most common way to save the page from visiting again.

There is not much going on about Browser Bookmarks in SEO discussions. You also cannot find data about the number of times the users bookmark your site.

Are Browser Bookmarks Google Search Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

There are very few people who are asking this question, yet it is worth answering.

But do browser bookmarks impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about browser bookmarks and their impact on search.

Browser Bookmarks:

When a user saves a webpage in his Chrome or Mozilla browser that becomes a browser bookmark. User can save a webpage in Google Chrome or Mozilla FireFox browser using browser bookmarks.

Claim: Browser Bookmarks is a Google Ranking Factor

There are sites and web admins who believe that Google tracks browser bookmarks and uses this data to rank web pages or websites in Google's organic search results.

People started making assumptions when Google applied for the patent in 2006. Google patent data shows how others can use search customization based on data.

This is not true, as its nature has nothing to do with the user's experience and the answering of organic queries.

Bookmarking is the easiest thing to do. But it has nothing to do with the organic ranking.

And here is the evidence.

Evidence: Browser Bookmarks are a Google Search Ranking Factor

Browser bookmarks do not solve the search engine's core purpose. Thus, it never impacts search engine ranking.

Also, if Google is going for a patent, it doesn't mean that everything is related to search results. There are major flaws in this theory.

Bookmarks are easy to manipulate:

Bookmarks are under the control of the user, and they are easy to manipulate. Web admins can hire a freelancer to create thousands of bookmarks in no time. This is the poorest strategy that anyone wants to follow.

Search ranking is a challenging task. It takes quality, authority, and expertise.

Bookmarks play out of Context:

Users tend to save Browser Bookmarks without adding any context. A lot of times, these bookmarks are saved using non-related words such as my favorite site, etc.

Such data do not help organic users.

Google has Better Ways to Collect Data:

Google has better algorithms and ways to collect and filter data to optimize organic search results.

Google algorithms, machine learning, and AI technologies work way better than browser bookmarks.

Conclusion: Browser Bookmarks are not a Google Search Ranking Factor

Browser Bookmarks has nothing to do with the Google search ranking. It is not a ranking factor. Google never uses any browser bookmark data to rank a website. Organic ranking is more about content, user experience, and engagement.

Still have any question, do share via comments.

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Is co-citation a Google search ranking factor? Do you want to optimize the co-citation strategy for Google search ranking? Can co-citation influence rankings?

SEOs believe that co-citation is a ranking factor. It is known as a long-time link-building strategy in which a webmaster cites two different sites from one page. It is often confused with co-occurrence.

SEO experts have been building links for two or more clients from one website using this strategy.

Is Co-Citation A Google Search Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

But does co-citation impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about co-citation and its impact on search.

Co-Citation:

Co-citation is the way to publish or source two different documents or articles from the existing content or newly published content.

For example, when a webmaster publishes an article about real estate in New York and cites different real estate companies in that article, it is called co-citation.

There can be a delay in getting your website cited in an existing article.

Claim: Co-Citation is a Google Ranking Factor

The earliest existence of co-citation was found in 2006 when Jim Boykin published his co-citation understanding document. He defined co-citation, where A and B documents are cited by C. He also explained how to make the citation strong and impactful.

Co-citation is helpful in adding relevance, trust, and reputation to search queries.

But is it a ranking signal? Let's find out.

Evidence: Co-Citations a Google Search Ranking Factor

In 2014, Bill Slawski and Rand Fishkin discussed on Twitter the connection and differences between co-citation and co-occurrence.

The most common citations come from academics, Wikipedia, and research papers, where most of the resources are cited. Case studies, books, and publisher resources get the maximum number of citations.

Marketers have been working hard to get content cited. SEOs use co-citations to build links, and Google has also empowered its algorithms with BERT, HummingBird, and RabkBrain.

Now, search engines understand the connection and differences between co-citation and co-occurrence. Google knows when and why webmasters cite a resource, and it is easy to identify link schemes.
 
Citation has been part of the news world since the 1900s.

Evidence: Co-Citations a Google Search Ranking Factor

Co-citation is an excellent way to gain authority when links come naturally. Google quickly identifies link manipulation practices.

In 2021, John Muller stated that buying links or link schemes is against Google's policies. Google not only acts against sites selling links but also hurts sites buying links.

Google has always been against link-building practices, yet SEOs work to do them in one way or another.

Conclusion: Co-Citation is Somehow a Google Search Ranking Factor

Co-citation is complicated when it comes to ranking better in search results. If citations are natural, they bring benefits.

However, citations from low-quality sites or link submission sites can hurt rankings.

Link citations empower academic documents and Wikipedia. Those links also have some weight-age over low-quality links.

Understand Google's indexing and ranking algorithms. It is best to avoid link manipulation.

Create link-worthy content to earn citations.

Still have any question, do share via comments.

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Is click depth a Google search ranking factor? Do you want to optimize the click depth strategy for Google search ranking? Can click depth influence rankings?

Click depth tells how far a page is from the user’s reach or how many clicks a user needs to hit before visiting another page.

For a website, every page is important, but for a user, the page he is interested in is more important than others.

Is Click Depth a Google Search Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

Click depth helps users to find the desired page.

But does click depth impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about click depth and its impact on search.

Click Depth:

Click depth is the depth of the page that the user wants to visit. For example, if your page is listed on page 2, then it has a low value compared to the page listed on the homepage.

The pages listed on the homepage hold the best value for the users as they are accessible easily.

But is click depth an organic ranking factor in Google? Let’s find out.

Claim: Click Depth is a Google Ranking Factor

Some SEO experts believe that click depth influences search ranking, while others believe that it is not a ranking signal.

The reason they give is that homepage links are more easily accessible than pages listed far from the homepage.

Evidence: Click Depth is a Google Search Ranking Factor

Google’s John Muller said that Google gives little to no attention to how users can find a page on a website. If a user needs to make multiple clicks to visit the page, then holds less value than pages that are just one click away.

Brendan Bennett also said that Google rarely crawls pages more than 3 clicks away from the homepage.

It is best to hold your top pages under the 5-click depth.

SEOs also use this strategy to earn more backlinks for their home pages.

Pages that display on the homepage get maximum exposure, views, clicks, and social shares.
More user engagement results in better ranking.

How to Improve Click Depth?

Optimize Navigation Menu:

It not only displays top categories in the navigation menu but also optimizes it with low-level but top-ranking categories in navigation. This way, you make it easy for users to access your content. It will improve the click depth for those pages.

Optimize Internal Links:

Optimize click depth by adding internal links to important pages. Link blog posts, articles, and guides to make internal navigation easy for the users.

Optimize Breadcrumbs:

Breadcrumbs work as secondary navigation. Optimize it to build links between the deep pages and the homepage.

Conclusion: Click Depth Maybe a Google Search Ranking Factor

Click depth is somehow a ranking factor yet it is not impacting search engine ranking. It is more related to user experience than ranking signals.

Making important pages accessible to the users is a great way to ensure better ranking and user experience.

John Muller also indicated in that way.

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Is Click-Through Rate (CTR) a Google search ranking factor? Do you want to optimize the Click-Through Rate strategy for Google search ranking? Can CTR influence rankings?

There are many beliefs and disbelief in this context. While many people believe that CTR directly influences search ranking, many others believe that Click-through rate is not a ranking signal.

Is Click-Through Rate a Google Search Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

But does Click-Through Rate (CTR) impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about ClickThrough Rate and its impact on search.

Click-Through Rate (CTR):

Click-Through Rate is the way to measure the performance of your content and marketing campaigns. It is easy to calculate CTR.

CTR = clicks/impressions.

As far as good CTR is concerned, it can be anything between 1.8% to 5%.

In the organic search results, your rank position influences the CTR. Your page title, keywords, and descriptions also influence the Click-Through Rate.

Good CTR is necessary for traffic, leads, sales, and influence.

But is CTR a Google organic ranking factor? Let’s find out.

Claim: Click-Through Rate (CTR) is a Google Ranking Factor

From the beginning of SEO, marketers believed that CTR directly influenced search ranking.

The oldest document we found is from 2002, which says that CTR should be used in search ranking.

In 2014, Rand Fishkin did an experiment where he asked people to search a query and click his page from Google search. His blog post ranked number 1 and received hundreds of page views.

In 2016, Larry Kim from MOZ did another experiment where he compared thousands of keywords and query rankings in Google search to understand the influence of click-through rate. He said that Rankbrain is giving preference to pages that have higher CTR.

How to Improve Organic CTR?

• Optimize page title and description.
• Make the page user-friendly, responsive, and fast-loading.
• Avoid Keyword stuffing and cannibalization.
• Use LSI, related, and long tail keywords.

SEOs are using heading and title optimizer tools to write better meta titles and descriptions.

Evidence: Click-through rate (CTR) is not a Google Search Ranking Factor

WordStream and Perficient published articles against CTR as a ranking signal.

Experts found flaws in CTR as a ranking signal approach.

It was easy to influence CTR using paid opportunities.

These are the old experiments, and Google search has changed a lot in past years.

Google’s Gary Illyes also said that CTR is not a ranking factor.

Conclusion: Click-Through Rate (CTR) is not a Google Search Ranking Factor

The Click-Through Rate is not a ranking factor. However, it also does not mean that you should ignore content optimization. You must use SEO tools to write headlines, titles, and descriptions.

Optimized titles and headings result in more clicks and traffic.

But, if your sole purpose is to rank higher in search results, then focus on other important ranking factors.

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Have you ever used Google Adsense? Is your website monetized with Adsense? Do you use Adsense to influence organic ranking? Can Google Adsense influence rankings?

These are the questions that I am answering today.

Webmasters and marketers are using Google Adsense. Let’s understand everything about Google Adsense.

Is Google Adsense a Google Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

Google Adsense:

Google Adsense is one of Google's many products. It is a platform that helps bloggers and webmasters monetize their sites with contextual ads. While publishers monetize their content with Adsense, some believe that Adsense approval also helps increase Google ranking.

If you are also one of those, then this post is a myth buster for you.

Who do you believe that Adsense can influence Google Ranking? Can Adsense impact your rankings?

The most common belief is that Google sends traffic to sites monetized with Adsense. There is a belief that Google favors its products and services in search results.

The more traffic Google sends to Adsense monetized sites, the more revenue Google generates from ad views and clicks.

But can a company like Google follow such practices?

Another group of people believe that Adsense ads can negatively impact search rankings.
Let’s find out everything.

Claim: Google Adsense is a Google Ranking Factor

Let’s go through every claim.

Adsense Improve Search Ranking:

According to this theory, Adsense monetization improves search ranking. It enhances the revenue and organic ranking. Google sends more traffic to Adsense-optimized sites to generate more revenue.

Adsense is a Google product, and Google favors its products in organic traffic.

People believe in this theory because they do not trust Google’s ranking signals. Google’s reputation is always at stake due to antitrust lawsuits filed in Europe. There are also open investigations into Google's alleged business practices.

Google is said to Be ranking its products and services over other businesses in search. The Department of Justice is also tracking Google’s behavior.

Google always said it does not follow any malicious practices.

Adsense is Bad for Ranking:

Another claim is that Google ads can decrease organic ranking.

Too many ads are never suitable for user-experience. Bad user experience led to the loss of organic ranking.

Google's focus is on improving user experience. Ads from Adsense and any other network can create issues with this.

Evidence: Google Adsense Is a Google Search Ranking Factor

Google confirmed that Google Adsense does not impact search engine ranking.

Nd, it is true. My sites have been ranking well even when I am not using Adsense on many of them. Google is not against content monetization, yet it should not bother visitors.

You should not pursue Adsense, believing that it can improve your search engine ranking. Other factors, such as content quality, user experience, and branding, can help you improve your rankings.

Too many ads on your platform can negatively impact your ranking.

Conclusion: Google Adsense is a Google Search Ranking Factor

Google Adsense is not a ranking factor. It is just a way to monetize your website or make money with blogging.

Adsense ads work as any other ads. Too many ads can damage user experience and lower your ranking.

Always follow the best practices when monetizing your website or optimizing your blog for Google search.

Still have any question, do share via comments.

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Are Breadcrumbs a Google search ranking factor? Do you want to optimize the Breadcrumbs for Google search ranking? Can Breadcrumbs influence rankings?

Breadcrumbs are part of every blog or website to make navigation easy for visitors. Breadcrumbs markup also helps search engines navigate through pages. According to Google, Breadcrumbs indicate page position in the hierarchy.

Is Bounce Rate a Google Search Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

In SEO, breadcrumbs are not the pieces of bread that you leave behind to avoid getting lost; rather, they are the navigation to old pages or posts that your user can find.

But do website breadcrumbs impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about breadcrumbs and their impact on search results.

Breadcrumbs:

Breadcrumbs help users navigate to old pages. Google also considers finding page positions in the site hierarchy.

Breadcrumbs on a website work as the trail to old posts or pages. With these, a user can quickly find relevant pages that are not linked to pages.

As breadcrumbs are important for navigation, they also impact user experience, which is necessary to rank in Google search results.

But are breadcrumbs a Google organic ranking factor? Let's find out.

Claim: Breadcrumbs is a Google Ranking Factor

Google started displaying site hierarchy in 2009. With this update, Google search results started displaying the page positions on websites.

It displays the root, folders, and subfolders.

As breadcrumbs started displaying in search results, SEO experts stated claiming it as a ranking factor.

Googleblog published a post explaining that breadcrumbs can improve search snippet position for a very small number of search results.

This is where SEOs started believing that breadcrumbs impact Google's organic search ranking.

Evidence: Breadcrumbs are a Google Search Ranking Factor

Google is scanning website pages based on their position, topics and subtopics. Breadcrumbs become essential to create a hierarchical structure where you place pages on their positions.

Google developer document structured data explains that breadcrumbs markup helps Google categorize pages.

At the same time, a user can visit a page from different sources and keywords. This is because a page can rank for multiple queries.

For example, one of my top-ranking pages ranked for more than 1000 queries. It means that the user not only visited the page using the exact match keyword but also used synonyms or related queries.

You can specify multiple breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs markup makes it easy for Google to categorize the page regardless of queries.

Google's 2009 U.S. patent application also explains that the search engine giant can use breadcrumbs even when the web admin is not using them.

Breadcrumbs is there to help Google understand the website structure. This information helps to rank pages in search results.

But the Patent never saw daylight and was left abandoned.

Breadcrumbs Influence Google PageRank:

Google's PageRank technology is a link analysis system that ranks web pages or blog posts. Even though Google has retired the PageRank Toolbar, it is using PageRank technology to rank pages.

Google treat breadcrumbs as normal links, and it can pass link juice to other links.

Google is still using PageRank as a ranking signal.

Google Search Console Warning about Breadcrumbs:

Google Search Console featured a guide about breadcrumbs and published a warning that misuse of structured data can lead to manual action.

Google will only consider something like that when Breadcrumbs are part of ranking signals. Google search console also displays breadcrumbs structured data reports.

Google also sends breadcrumbs error-related emails to the web admins to help them fix the issues.

The purpose of the whole exercise is to fix breadcrumb errors and improve search results.

Conclusion: Breadcrumbs are a Google Search Ranking Factor

Breadcrumbs are impacting the search results. Google is serious about breadcrumbs and has talked about them in multiple documents, tweets, and posts.

Breadcrumbs work as normal links for Google, but they are important for displaying a clear website structure. They are also part of GSC. It is necessary to fix any breadcrumbs-related errors to avoid ranking-related issues.

Still have any question, do share via comments.

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Is Bounce Rate a Google search ranking factor? Do you want to decrease the Bounce Rate for Google search ranking? Can Bounce Rate influence rankings?

Even though Google never claimed that the bounce rate could impact ranking, SEO experts believe otherwise. It could be because Google needed to share everything about the ranking factors clearly.

Web admins and SEO experts are eagerly optimizing their websites to decrease bounce rates. Some experts believe that bounce date directly impacts ranking, whereas others think it is an indirect Google ranking factor.

Is Bounce Rate a Google Search Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

But does website bounce rate impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about Bounce Rate and its impact on search.

Bounce Rate:

Bounce rate is the number or percentage of website visitors that move away from the webpage without any engagement. Users can interact with the page by purchasing, sharing, commenting, and filling in the form.

In the Google Analytics report, the bounce rate is the result of single-page sessions divided by the total number of sessions.

To fix bounce rates, web admins use strategies like exit popups, social sharing widgets, etc.

Claim: Bounce Rate is a Google Ranking Factor

SEO experts and professional SEO tools have published reports that claim that bounce rate is one of the many factors that impact search engine ranking.

Rand Fishkin, Brain Dean, SEMRush, HubSpot, etc., have published articles and social media posts where they claimed bounce rate as an impactful factor.

Bounce rate impacts site-level user interaction. The believers in bounce rate came up with the solution of using skyscrapers and pillar articles. They have published lengthy articles with every piece of content that user wants to read about the topic.

The reason behind this is to give maximum information and make the user stay on the website for a long time. This strategy helped SEOs earn backlinks and traffic, but does it impact search ranking?

Let's find out.

Evidence: Bounce Rate Is a Google Search Ranking Factor

In the Google Analytics report, you see the bounce rate metric that tells the percentage of sessions that end without a secondary session.

While some users believe that it displays the user's interest in the information, Google has clearly stated that the Bounce rate has nothing to do with the search engine ranking.

Bounce rate also cannot be the ranking factor because it does not measure user satisfaction.

For example, if a user spends 2 minutes on your website and then leaves without making a secondary hit, then Analytics will still display his visit as a bounce rate.

The bounce rate is not an indicator of user satisfaction.

Google claimed that Bounce Rate is not a Ranking Factor:

In 2022, John Muller said that there are a lot of things that need to be clarified among SEOs about bounce rate. It is not a ranking factor.

In 2010, Matt Cutts also said that bounce rate is not part of ranking signals.

Why does Google not count the bounce rate as a Google search ranking factor?

Here are the reasons:

• The bounce rate only measures single sessions.
• It never provides user satisfaction data.
• It is easy to manipulate the bounce rate.
• Google Analytics is not available on every website.

Conclusion: Bounce Rate is not a Google Search Ranking Factor

Bounce rate is not a Google search ranking factor. The reason is that it does not measure user satisfaction, which is Google's top priority.

Brian Dean and Rand Fishkin already explained and tested that bounce is a ranking factor, and it is easy for any SEO expert to confuse it with user satisfaction.

No evidence proves that that once is a Google ranking signal.

It is best to focus more on user satisfaction than bounce rate. In a world where short videos are taking over, the focus time is decreasing. It is best to provide an answer before telling the story.

Invest your time and money on confirmed Google ranking factors.

Still have any question, do share via comments.

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Is Author Authority a Google search ranking factor? Do you have author authority content? Can Author Authority influence rankings?

Author Authority and its impact on organic search ranking has always been a debatable topic. While many consider author authority to be a ranking signal, some believe that it has nothing to do with the author but with the website authority.

Is Author Authority a Google Ranking Factor or Not?: eAskme

Author Authority is about adding credibility to the information.

For example, a dentist can write better articles about tooth problems than a dermatologist.

But does it impact your Google search position? Let's find out.

Let's understand everything about Author Authority and its impact on search.

Author Authority:

Author Authority is all about credibility. Journalists want credible sources, and Google wants credible information. Credibility becomes an issue when every other person starts writing about a topic about which he has zero experience.

Even if you are trying to help others, there is a massive number of posts that have nothing to do with helpful information. Most of the time, wrong content gets published due to misinformation, ignorance, lack of experience, AI writing tools, etc.

This is the reason why even a reader wants to read the article from the author with authority.

But does the Author's authority impact Google rankings? Let's find out.

Claim: Author Authority is a Google Ranking Factor

Google wants to rank pages with E-A-T or E-E-A-T. It wants information that displays expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

LinkedIn collaborative articles are the best example of content written by subject matter experts.
Even though the experts publish content and rank higher, a lot is going on about author authority. And here is everything.

Evidence: Author Authority Is a Google Search Ranking Factor

Google has never admitted that author authority is a ranking signal. Yet, after reviewing 1000+ websites in 6 months, I am clear about one thing: article authority impacts impact search ranking, even if not directly then indirectly.

Google has been supporting the rel= "author" tag till 2014. Even, if Google is not using the rel=" author" tag to determine the author, then there are other ways for Google to identify who has written the article.

Google Knowledge Graph explains that Google recognizes authors using their content.

An author's reputation is a different parameter than being an expert and authority.

Google is using the Search Quality Raters Guidelines document to determine the reputation of an author. 

Google's patent for "Author Vector" also explains that it can identify the Author based on content quality, style, and expertise.

Author schema also indicates that Google considers authorship.

Conclusion: Author Authority is May or May is not a Google Search Ranking Factor

Google has never officially announced the Author Authority as a ranking signal. Author authority does not impact search ranking directly, but it signals the search engine who has written the article and can indirectly affect the search position.

Note: I also love to read expert tips. Even if you are not an expert, start collaborating with industry experts when publishing new posts.

Still have any question, do share via comments.

Share it with your friends and family.

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It is not accurate to predict search engine traffic. But you can still use some strategies to create an effective Search marketing plan that can help you forecast search traffic. Digital marketing is helping you achieve your organic traffic requirement or goals by blending science and art, merging actionable and trackable steps with creative ideas.

What is Search Forecasting? Why It is Important?: eAskme

Before restructuring your website or planning page content, you should understand what is working for you and where you should work to improve your search traffic.

This is when you need to search forecasting.

What is Search Forecasting?

Search forecasting is an organic traffic forecasting that predicts your organic traffic's future.

You cannot forecast such traffic on assumptions or best guesses. You always need some hard data.

When you have data, you can optimize your strategies to predict organic traffic and where your business will be in the coming days or years.

To create organic traffic predictions, you must focus on a few things.

Right Metrics:

You need the right metrics from the beginning of the essential part of SEO strategy, "keyword research. "

Keyword research data brings a massive amount of data. Indeed, not every keyword is worthy of your work and attention.

When filtering keyword research data, you should focus on the following:

• Keyword Difficulty
• Search Volume
• Search intent
• Current rankings and positions.
• CTR.
• Queries

You cannot make search forecasting without collecting valuable keyword data.

Search volume is essential to decide whether the keyword matches your traffic goal.

Other keyword research metrics will make it easy for you to make your prediction beyond organic search volume.

Right Tools:

Keyword data cannot do everything on its own.

It is always best to track user behavior on your website or blog.

Login to Google Search Console and check historical data to understand which pages rank better, which pages have lost visibility, etc.

You should know that GMC will also display the bot traffic. It is necessary to determine if a user or a bot searches.

You can use multiple SEO tools such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz, etc., and they all can show results with some differences.

Get data into a spreadsheet to make valuable search predictions.

You can also use Google Keyword Planner to get some insight.

Focus on Competitors:

Competition analysis is quite helpful in making organic search predictions.

Use SEO tools to understand your competitors' page ranking in Google searches.

Compare the performance of those pages with your pages.

Use this data to find keywords based on Keyword Difficulty.

If your competitors are ranking for keywords with low difficulty, then you have better chances to outrank them with creative content and engagement strategies.

Competitors' data will bring a natural impact on your search forecasting.

You can also find out what your content lacks and if you need to update the content.

Trends:

Some SEO strategies are not effective in every condition.

You should know that seasonal traffic doesn't always mean that you are getting the highest volume of traffic.

For example: If you are selling a product on Black Friday, chances are that you are getting tons of traffic, but not every customer will purchase the product right away. But it is the time when you can generate leads for future business.

You can get the estimated traffic value using Google trends. It will also show you when the search queries will have maximum traffic during the year.

100% Prediction not Possible:

User behavior, search algorithms, and unexpected world events can positively or negatively impact search traffic.

Your blog, product, service, or product can go viral on social media. But you will not see any search traffic impact in SEO tools.

You cannot be 100% sure that search forecasting will always be perfect.

Things can change, and you need to be adaptive.

Importance of Search Forecasting:

Forecasting search traffic based on valuable data will show that future results are expected if conditions match your prediction.

This will help you plan in a better way and allocate resources at the right time for the right task.

In enterprise SEO, search forecasting plays an important role. Your result should match what you have expected from your SEO efforts. And, to make your goals achievable, you should understand search forecasting.

You can predict search traffic changes with the data you have. But you cannot plan for sudden changes such as algorithm updates or changes in user behavior.

Search Forecasting helps you plan for the coming months or years.

Conclusion:

Search Forecasting is there to help you plan the future of your SEO strategies and business.

All you need is to learn the use of data and have some analytical skills to make search predictions.

Even though your prediction cannot be 100% perfect, you will have better control over future decisions when you plan early.

Still have any question, feel free to ask me via comments.

Share it with your friends and family.

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