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The goal of Page Quality Rating is to evaluate how well the page achieves its purpose. You have read my SEO guide for WordPress sites.
However, your situation is similar to the following: you already have a site, maybe even a blog attached to it. You have texts on almost every page. But lately, you’ve been seeing a drop in traffic from Google.
It could be the last few months, maybe even the last few weeks. But one thing is for sure: now you feel the need to invest more in PPC campaigns to get the same number of conversions you used to have on a smaller budget.
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We have news for you: you are not the only one in this situation! Many brands, even large ones, have been affected.
Page Quality Rating: What Google does when it comes to indexing a web page?
#1 The purpose of the page quality rating
Whether it is a portfolio, a case study page, a blog article, a contact, or about us, the purpose of the page in its structure and content must be clear.
There are many purposes that web pages can have. It does not mean that you have to write clearly on each page: THIS IS THE PURPOSE OF THE PAGE, but you have to structure it and create content to support that purpose.
E.g:
- To provide information on a specific topic (blog article);
- Provide information about a brand/person/author (page about us);
- Present images, videos, or other forms of visual content (portfolio page, case study, photo gallery of events, video testimonials, etc.);
- Have fun (can be a personal blog article, story, vlog page, etc);
- To sell products or services;
- Provide access to users in an account (login page, account creation).
- And so on
#2 Experience, authority, trust
Google’s rating of a webpage is based primarily on these three factors that go hand in hand. Also, keep in mind that Google knows your language and understands the information you transmit through your pages.
So, consider these three factors when writing texts and structuring each page of the site. Create your content on each page so that it looks like:
- Professional experience in the field of the content creator;
- Authority in its field of activity of the content creator and, including the website;
- The trustor reasons why your readers trust the content you create.
These factors apply to any website, from cancan news sites to fashion, humor, forums, online stores of any kind, personal blogs, product sales landing pages, one-on-one sites page etc.
As you may have noticed, on most news pages you have the opportunity to write a few words about the author at the end. This is one of the sections that support the three factors above.
If you sell, for example, medical equipment, but your specialization is not in the medical field, then you must invite specialized people, with studies and accreditations in the field, to write on your website.
You know the word “Google knows everything about you,” don’t you?
Well, if you want to launch a website or a business in a new field and for you, you have to ally with someone with experience, authority, and accreditation in that field. Otherwise, you risk not growing in organic searches on Google because the search engine knows that you have no experience in that field.
#3 Quality and quantity of content
As before, it’s no secret: write quality content, include various phrases and keywords in the content, benefit for readers, so you can keep them on the page. As for quantity, it’s clear that most of the time you can’t do these things in just one paragraph.
It is said that the volume of content per page is recommended to be 300 words. At least one H1 type title and one H2 type are required, at least one image, respectively meta title, and meta description. However, Google knows when a wedding photographer’s portfolio page, for example, predominantly needs pictures and maybe less text.
So, it is not mandatory to write 300 words on each page, because sometimes you risk coming up with stuffing content.
Think of it this way: every page on your site needs to answer a specific question. E.g:
- What business does George have?
- What services does George’s company offer?
- Who is George?
- What experience does George have in the field?
- Who else has George worked with so far?
- What do people say about George?
- What does George think about topic X?
Stop thinking about the classic structure of a site, based on pages such as Home, About us, Services, Portfolio, Contact.
People search Google for questions, not specific general words (short tail), so you have to come up with answers and solutions. Base your content on topics, not words.
#4 Website/author information
Although not all pages have the role of the “About Us” page, you must provide at least one reference to the reader about the site creator, person, or brand behind it. Whether you’re referring to a key benefit, a service offered, or details about the experience, write the text on each page as if the visitor has never seen another page on your site and has no idea who they’re talking to.
Write the content so that readers know you, know who they are dealing with. Write as if you are always addressing someone who is on your site for the first time. Include information about you as an author/about your brand everywhere, don’t rely on people searching for the “About” page.
As in any conversation, it’s natural for you to introduce yourself, either at the beginning or at the end, isn’t it?
Well, treat each page as if you were having a conversation with someone who doesn’t know you. That is if you are not Coca-Cola or a guru in your field, with a high reputation.
#5 Website/author reputation
When we talk about reputation, we are not just talking about what we say about ourselves.
You know the saying, “Self-praise doesn’t smell good,” do you?
Well, when you talk about yourself, your own website, and your brand, treat this action as if you were providing information, not praise. And this is what your site should contain – information.
When it comes to reputation, Google measures what others say about you. It can be blogs, news sites, niche sites, portals, communities, social networks, any other platforms where you are talked about by third parties.
Of course, Google does not know whether or not you pay for those mentions, but we recommend that you get them, by any means, and then refer to them on your site.
A positive reputation is calculated on the basis of the following:
- Awards, certifications, positive mentions about you;
- Certificates, diplomas, documents that value your experience;
- Credibility figures: such as number of customers, number of products sold, turnover, number of employees, etc .;
- Testimonials, in any form: photo, video, text;
- Successful portfolio work, with external links to them;
- Positive comments or reviews (yes, Google also understands the words in a comment, not just the number of stars);
- Articles, interviews, positive mentions about you on other sites.
Of course, this list is not meant to discourage you. Keep in mind that if you provide medical services, for example, it is clear that you should not add a portfolio of works with external links on the site, but more relevant are diplomas, certifications. If you are a graphic design agency, for example, it is clear that you need to focus on your clients, successful projects, visual content.
Depending on your field of activity and the purpose of the site, Google will choose which factors to choose to rank you at the top of searches. Or not : )
Specifically, what do you have to do?
Now that we’ve bombarded you with information about Page Quality Rating factors, all you have to do is check to see if your site meets the above criteria.
From what I found, sites generally have big problems with factors #2, #3, and #5.
Therefore, here are some things you can do next:
- Check with your Google Search Console account that your site has no indexing errors or warnings; if it has, talks to the programmer to fix it;
- Select the most important pages from your site. It can be about services, products, landing pages, etc. Go through those pages through the above factors and see to what extent they meet all the requirements imposed by these factors;
- Optimize those pages based on the above factors (example: fill them in with information, create blog links to them, check their meta title, meta description, keywords, and key phrases found in the content);
- Think of measures that can increase your reputation and implement them immediately; these are, in fact, SEO Off Page actions meant to increase your site in organic searches.
Conclusion
I hope you found all these tips on on-site optimization and Page Quality Rating useful!
