Striving to reach the top of the search, but effortlessly?

We know the reason. Search engines have become one of the primary ways to gain online visibility. A website’s top ranking within the first SERP determines the core factors of success, like traffic, user engagement, and conversions. 

But getting to the top of search requires more than deep SEO—you need understanding, precision, and exact measurements of the website’s performance. 

SEO analysis tools like Percofect help diagnose website gaps and search engines’ technical and content standards compliance. If a website does not comply, the risk of falling behind the competition becomes inevitable.

Main Factors Of Website Optimization

Technical optimisation

A technically correct and well-optimized website is a starting point for SEO. Lags like low loading speeds, broken links, and limited mobile responsiveness undermine user engagement and rankings. Even being featured on the first SERP will result in drastic bounce rates and a drop in position. Search engines do not favor websites that users abandon quickly. 

Percofect analysis of websites ranking on top of Google and Bing reveals that:

• 92% of top-ranking pages load in under 2.5 seconds.
• Websites with mobile-friendly designs are 4 times more likely to rank on the first page.
• The average top-ranking site has less than 0.5% crawl errors.

Conduct regular technical audits to identify potential technical issues and keep up with algorithm updates for consistency and user satisfaction.

Content quality and optimisation

Content is the primary tool for attracting new users, ranking on search, and communicating value and message. However, it can only cope with these tasks when they are relevant, well-structured, and match user intent.

The data of Percofect’s research shows that websites with the following factors consistently rank higher:

• Average word count of 1,800-2,000 words for informational pages. 
• The pages utilize semantic keywords and answer common user queries directly. They cover as many questions as possible to highlight the topic from all angles. 
• Apply structured data to provide search engines with clear context, increasing their chances of appearing in featured snippets.

Properly optimized content gets organic traffic and boosts time on-site and credibility. Remember that the content requires regular updates to maintain relevance and value.

User Experience

Search engines favor websites with logical navigation, intuitive interface, and accessibility. Websites that rank on top of Google typically feature the following factors:

• The bounce rate is below 40%, as Percofect’s analysis shows.
• Clear call-to-action buttons and logically built and placed menus.
• Content accessibility due to the standards compliance.

UX optimization is a standard requirement of search engine algorithms. Additionally, it boosts the trust and loyalty of target users.

How Search Engines Rank Websites

Google and Bing apply complex algorithms to determine the order of websites on a search results page. These algorithms consider and estimate from 200 to 1000 ranking factors; some of them are more significant, while others can not affect rankings on their own. Let us review how search positions are determined and what a website needs to secure a position on the first page:

Core ranking cactors

• Relevance: It is a top factor you need to consider. If the content is irrelevant, you can do anything and everything, but a website will not hit the top. Content must match the search intent of the user query. The relevance is not about targeted keywords and answering user questions. It is about the solution a user seeks. If the content solves the problem raised in the query, it will rank despite technical lags. 
• Quality: High-quality content quoting sources, good formatting, and in-depth data research ranks higher. Google’s E-E-A-T framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) provides estimation criteria. If the content meets them, then it will be considered high-quality. You can check the requirements in the official  HYPERLINK “https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/hsw-sqrg.pdf”Google Quality Rater Guidelines.
• Technical Optimization: Speed, mobile-friendliness, security (HTTPS), and structured data are crucial for visibility.

How To Get Top Three Positions

Here is a list of factors your website needs to get one of the top three positions on Google:

• Backlinks: Each page you want to rank on top needs backlinks from authoritative media. Percofect’s research shows that the top three results typically have 3.8 times more backlinks than lower-ranked pages. With Percofect, you can estimate the exact number of links a page needs by checking the competing websites. 
• Click-through rate: If users choose your website among others on the search engine results page, then the algorithms estimate it as worth attention and of high value for the target audience. To boost CTR, your website needs engaging meta titles and descriptions that are relevant to user query and intent.
• User behavior: Factors like time on site (how long a user stays on your page), how many pages a user visits during a single session, and how the user interacts with the page signal are the criteria for estimating the website’s value, quality, and trustworthiness.

Local and niche considerations

• Factors like proximity to the user’s location and Google My Business optimization are important for local queries. Pay attention to the GMB profile and complete as much data as you can. Check whether the data are accurate.
• In niche markets, content updates and specific long-tail keywords help ranking.

Percofect‘s analysis of top-ranking pages across various industries shows that:

• Pages in the top three positions load in under 1.8 seconds on average.
• Over 80% of these pages use schema markup to enhance search engine understanding.
• Titles optimized for high CTRs typically include numbers, questions, or power words.

Optimizing these factors will improve rankings and ensure visibility in search results. Keep in mind that it takes time to crawl and index pages with changes. Sometimes, it can take up to 6 months to see results. 

Data speaks: Real-world results

Percofect’s analysis of websites that optimized the strategies with precision data performs better in search:

• A 38% increase in organic traffic within three months.
• A decrease of bounce rates by 27% after fixing UX issues.
• High-priority keyword rankings improved by an average of 5 positions after a comprehensive content update.

Conclusion

Current media networks provide gigabytes of data on SEO optimization, varying from general instructions to practical recommendations. Following them blindly without precise data is still guesswork. You need quantitative reflection of quality, authority, and other factors to estimate performance and improvement. Percofect is the tool that converts all website features and performance into precise quantitative data to optimize the strategy and get better results.