Google Search leak sheds light on how websites are ranked

More Google news: A recent leak of over 2,500 internal Google documents reveals previously unknown information on how search results are actually ranked. 

Why it matters: The leak suggests Google considers factors that company representatives have previously denied using.

• “Over the years, Google spokespeople have repeatedly denied that user clicks factor into ranking websites, for example — but the leaked documents make note of several types of clicks users make and indicate they feed into ranking pages in search,” says The Verge. 

Of note: The documents reveal factors Google considers when ranking websites, not which ones are currently used or the extent to which it weighs them.

Takeaways: Authorship matters. Google tracks who publishes content on a site and considers their consistency, and therefore authority, in rankings. 

• Image quality is measured, and high-quality, original images can boost rankings. An image’s relevance to the underlying content matters, too.

• Click types are tracked. Google notices that a user stays on a page after clicking a link to it, for example, and considers that a “long click” — a positive ranking signal. 

• Page titles are scored. How well a page title matches what a user types in the search box can affect a site’s relevance. 

• Fresh links are better. Regularly updating content helps a site score higher on “effort.” 

• Dive deeper

What about local search? There were no news-breaking findings, but the leak did confirm some widely known best practices.

The bottom line: “Google is typically highly secretive about how its search algorithm works, but these documents have provided more clarity around what signals Google is thinking about,” The Verge notes.