Google search results come from its index, which is a database of hundreds of billions of webpages. Your pages need to be in this index to stand any chance at ranking. Indexing issues can get quite complicated, but you can check for basic issues fairly easily. First, check the Indexability report in Site Audit for “Noindex page” warnings. Noindex pages in Ahrefs’ Site Audit Google can’t index pages with this warning, so it’s worth checking they’re not pages you want indexed. If they are, remove or edit the meta robots tag.
Ensure your site is mobile-friendly
Mobile-friendliness has been a Google ranking factor since 2019, so it makes sense to check if your website is mobile-friendly. To do this, go to the Mobile Usability report in Google Search Console. It will tell you whether any URLs have errors that affect mobile usability. Mobile Usability report in Google Search industry email list Console If you don’t have access to Google Search Console, plug any page from your website into Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool. Google’s Mobile Friendly Test tool Here are a few more tips when it comes to mobile-friendliness: Use a mobile-friendly layout or theme Prioritize your content and make sure it is readable on mobile devices
Benchmark your Core Web Vitals scores
Core Web Vitals are metrics that Google uses to measure user experience. They measure a Email Data page’s load time, interactivity, and the stability of the content as it loads. In 2022, John Mueller confirmed that Google only uses Core Web Vitals rather than “old page speed signals.” He also stated on Reddit that Core Web Vitals are a Google ranking factor. John Mueller confirms Core Web Vitals is a ranking factor, via Reddit These are the core metrics that you should benchmark against: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) First Input Delay (will be replaced by Interaction to Next Paint in March 2024) Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) When it comes to monitoring these metrics, you should start by using Google Search Console’s Core Web Vitals report. If you need more data, check out the Performance report in Ahrefs’ Site Audit.
