What are the ranking factors for a small Business Operating in Calgary?

According to Google itself, there are around 200 different ranking factors.

If you want to improve your Google ranking, you should implement as many of these as possible on your website. Since that could take quite a while given the sheer number, I’ll introduce you to the seven most important ones today.

The technical foundation:

Before you can start optimizing your content, there are a few technical aspects you need to address. Many of these can be handled with just a few clicks within your SEO plugin.

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Use descriptive and concise URLs:

Your starting point for SEO is your domain. A few years ago, it was frequently claimed that your main keyword had to be included in the domain name—for instance, a hairdresser using the domain "friseur-hamburg" (hairdresser-hamburg) would have had a significant advantage over someone using "udo-waltz." That is no longer the case today. While having a keyword in your domain is a "nice-to-have," it is no longer a significant ranking factor. However, it can still be helpful for your users if the domain provides an immediate indication of what your business is about.

What follows the ".de" (or other top-level domain) is far more important, as this is where the paths to your subpages are defined. The way these URLs are constructed is known as the "URL structure"—and this is something you should keep well-organized. Keep these four points in mind:

Keep the URL short:

Include no more than two parent categories in the URL.
Use your main keyword within the URL.
Ensure your URL is descriptive; users should be able to tell immediately what the page is about.

Install an SSL certificate:

SSL stands for "Secure Sockets Layer"—or, to be precise, its updated successor, "Transport Layer Security" (TLS). So, technically, it should be called TLS, but let’s stick with the term SSL.

This technology allows us to secure internet connections, ensuring that sensitive data cannot be read by third parties—or, in the worst-case scenario, by criminals—while it is being transmitted. It achieves this by encrypting the data according to a specific system; in essence, it functions like a secret code.

Thanks to SSL encryption, you can book a hotel and pay for it online without having to worry too much about your data falling into the wrong hands. Consequently, SSL encryption serves as an important security signal for your users.

Google also places a high priority on security and, therefore, attaches great importance to encryption. In fact, Google’s browser, Chrome, will soon stop loading insecure websites altogether. Thus, SSL encryption is far more than "just" a ranking factor.

Ensure fast loading times:

Speaking of loading times: your users expect your website to be fast. Even with a less-than-optimal internet connection, they still want to be able to access your site. If they have to wait 6 seconds before anything happens at all, they will simply go elsewhere to find the information they need.

If they do manage to reach your website, but then have to wait what feels like an eternity every time they click on something, they will become quite frustrated. This is certainly not good for their user experience.

Google has also recognized this and considers loading times to be a ranking factor—though the exact extent of its importance remains unclear. Therefore, your primary focus should be on ensuring your pages are fast enough to provide a good experience for your users. You will have to decide for yourself whether the effort required to optimize for those final few milliseconds—specifically for Google—is truly worth it.

To get an idea of ​​how your site performs in terms of loading speed, take a look at Google’s PageSpeed ​​Insights.