The 4 Things You Actually Need to Rank in Google
If you're trying to improve your rankings, you've probably been told to publish more content. Or maybe your agency pitched a link-building package. Or someone installed an SEO plugin and said "you're good now."
Here’s the truth: There are only four things that really matter when it comes to ranking in search.
Everything else is noise.
1. Content That Matches Search Intent
This isn’t about “good” content. It’s about relevant content that actually answers the query.
Google ranks pages that:
- Match the intent behind the search (informational, navigational, transactional)
- Use language and structure that aligns with what people expect to see
- Are competitive in quality for that specific term
✅ You don’t need Hemingway. You need to be useful.
2. Authority (Backlinks & Reputation)
Your site can have great content and still not rank — because no one trusts it.
Authority is how Google decides who gets to speak. You build it by:
- Earning links from trusted, relevant sites
- Being mentioned by others in your space
- Showing up across the web consistently
✅ No links? No trust. No rankings.
3. Technical Health
If Google can’t crawl, index, or understand your site — you're invisible.
Basic technical health includes:
- Fast loading times
- Proper indexing (no broken or orphaned pages)
- Clean, crawlable site structure
- No major duplicate content issues
✅ Think of this as plumbing. No one sees it, but everything breaks if it’s bad.
4. Behavior Signals (Engagement, Clicks, Bounce Rate)
Once you do get visibility, how people interact with your site matters.
- Do they click through?
- Do they stay and engage?
- Or do they bounce and go back to search results?
✅ Search success doesn’t stop at ranking. You have to earn attention.
Why This Matters
Most SEO agencies focus on just one or two of these — usually content or technical fixes.
Very few think about all four as part of a system.
If you're working with someone who:
- Sends a content calendar but can’t explain how they’ll build authority
- Talks about meta descriptions but not about search intent
- Says “we’ll build five backlinks” but won’t tell you why five, and not seven or 1700…
You’re not getting a strategy. You’re getting a template.
What You Should Ask Your SEO Partner
- “How does this content map to real search intent?”
- ”What research, precisely, about my competitors has led you to this approach?”
- “What’s your plan for building authority for my site?”
- “What technical issues might be holding me back?”
- “How do we know if our rankings actually lead to conversions?”
If you get vague answers, it’s time to move on.
How I Work at Signal & Structure
Every project I take on starts with this framework:
1. Diagnose – What’s missing among these four elements?
2. Prioritize – Which lever will give you the biggest lift?
3. Execute – Custom, site-specific strategy based on your needs, location, and competition
4. Evaluate – Real outcomes, not vanity metrics
No fluff. No one-size-fits-all plans. Just what works.
If you’d like to chat about your current situation, I’m always happy to connect.