Behavioral factors – what are they?

Behavioral factors are elements that make your website more visible in SERPs. Specific aspects depend on the specifics of the industry in which we operate and the specific key phrase. According to Paraphrase-Online specialists, the position is influenced by, among others:
– time spent on the site,
– repeatability of inputs,
– number of subpages per session,
– bounce rate,
– CTR of the selected keyword and the entire domain.

It is also worth mentioning that behavioral factors make it possible to distinguish a valuable website for both users and Google robots from a website that is only properly optimized. That’s not all, because behavioral factors are distinguished by resistance to all BHS (Black Hat SEO) practices, which means that the website is more protected against the imposition of special filters by search engines.

The bounce rate shows the exact percentage of visits to the website that resulted in a maximum of one page view. According to Google’s standards, the more time the user spends on the website, the better it is for the internet user.

It cannot be clearly determined whether search engines treat the bounce rate as a priority element, but based on many years of experience and SEO analysis of websites, we can say that it is a very important factor. It will allow us to make sure that the domain meets the expectations of users in terms of attractiveness.

Controversy related to behavioral factors – what does it look like in practice?

There is a lot of controversy around behavioral factors. Google does not take them into account in the first place, because they can be easily manipulated, as the direct competitor of the Mont Blanc giant – Yandex – was painfully convinced. Well, for some time its owners were strongly influenced by CTR from SERPs, which resulted in companies creating or buying thousands of bots entering specific key phrases into the search engine and clicking the appropriate link to generate traffic.

We should also remember that behavioral factors are not always the correct determinant. This is due to the fact that often shorter time spent on the website means a friendly shopping path (e.g. in the e-commerce industry), but when reading a blog, the opposite is true, which would make it difficult for algorithms to recognize the value of a website based solely on behavioral factors.

On-site and off-site behavioral factors – the official factors influencing the ranking of your website on Google

The official factors influencing the ranking of your website on Google are primarily on-site and off-site aspects. The first of them (on-site) are responsible for the interpretation of a specific site by indexing robots. The second (off-site) is not directly related to the site, but thanks to activities within it, they affect the position in SERPs.

On-site factors
– navigation;
– content quality;
– site structure.

On-site factors are primarily aspects influencing the user experience, which is achieved through the use of a given website. In this case, it is worth paying attention to internal linking to facilitate navigation through the site and content, which should bring substantive value to Internet users.

Off-site factors
– external link-bulding,
– mentions of the site or brand on other pages,
– creating sponsored articles with a dofollow link (external link-building element).

Off-site factors are based on external linking with a dofollow link. All sponsored articles and viral content are welcome if they have a specific value and arouse user interest.

Behavioral factors and SEO – summary

Behavioral factors are indirect aspects used to verify the position of a selected domain in SERPs. Google takes note of them, but they are not prioritized in terms of SEO. If we were to define one behavioral coefficient analyzed by Google – it would be the CTR. Its size is analyzed on a case-by-case basis and very often compared with other sites with a similar position in SERPs.

Google Discovery Ads – emission places

Discovery Ads has a reach of 3 billion Internet users. At the same time, however, this format allows for a very precise selection of the target group – we can target audiences with specific behaviors and demographic characteristics, interests, but also the lists of recipients we have created. Users can see our ads during their daily activities on the Internet, thanks to which information about the product or service reaches them at every stage of the shopping path. Google Discovery Ads appears in places such as:

– Discover cards – these are cards in the browser in which Google displays personalized news to the user, tailored to his interests, based on previous activity on the Internet,
– in Gmail – Discovery Ads replaced traditional advertising in Gmail. Currently, it is only possible to use them to display the promoted content to the recipients in the “Offers” and “Communities” tabs,
– on YouTube – on the platform’s home page or in the “Worth Watching” section.

In Google Discovery Ads, the system automatically selects the best display places for a specific advertisement. It also adjusts the rates for it and adjusts its size to the place of broadcast and the size of the device on which it appears.

What does Google Discovery Ads include?

Discovery Ads, as we have already mentioned, is a type of creative in which the system itself assembles an advertisement from the available elements. Therefore, before launching this type of campaign, appropriate resources must be provided to the system. These are:
– headings – up to 5 titles, each for no more than 40 characters,
– descriptions – a brief introduction of the product or service and the benefits of its purchase. You can add 5 descriptions, each for a maximum of 90 characters,
– company name,
– company logo,
– images in horizontal rectangle and square format. There can be a maximum of 15 of them,
– final URL – address of the subpage to which the user will be directed after clicking the ad,
– CTA – Call to Action. Select them from the list offered by the system.

It is not necessary to use all the available images, headlines or ad text, but it is worth remembering that the more resources you share, the greater the chance that the system will find effective connections for a given audience.

Images in these types of ads can be displayed in different ways, so it’s best not to include logos or subtitles in them. These elements will be borrowed from other resources that we will upload to the campaign builder. It’s also a good idea to make sure that all your headlines, descriptions, and images match each other. We do not know in which configurations they will be displayed, so make sure that they create a coherent message together wherever possible.

Automatic Discovery campaigns – what do they give and what they take away?

Google Discovery Ads, as a campaign type optimized almost exclusively by self-learning algorithms, does not allow the use of some functions known from other Google Ads formats. Such campaigns may not, among other things, target placements or devices, limit the number of impressions for a given audience, or exclude inappropriate contexts. However, do these limitations make us a waste of the budget? On the contrary, the system is already so efficient that it does not display advertisements in inappropriate contexts that threaten the brand or bombard the recipient with the same advertisement dozens of times a day. What’s more, he has so much information about the behavior and preferences of recipients that he can almost always choose display parameters much better than a human.

In addition, Discovery Ads provide the option of automatic ad targeting – after enabling this option, the system itself extends the group of recipients with new ones who will most likely be willing to take advantage of the offer. Enabling this type of targeting isn’t mandatory, but it can often benefit you, especially if your ad has been online long enough to exhaust the potential of remarketing lists.

Discovery Ads – why is it worth it?

– wide range of advertising – Discovery campaigns can potentially reach billions of people around the world, in various places on the web,
– precise targeting – this format offers many options for selecting target groups, including the possibility of targeting non-standard recipient lists and automatic targeting, thanks to which you can reach new, promising recipients,
– modern multimedia format – Discovery Ads are advertisements tailored to the needs of today’s recipient. They do not have strictly defined content, adapt to the size of the device and the place of display, and display a given product or service just when the user is looking for it,
– maximum use of the budget – thanks to intelligent bidding, the system can manage the budget precisely. This, in combination with a well-selected group of recipients, prevents the budget from being burned out,
– saving time – the system automatically optimizes the campaign, so we do not have to waste time manually changing the settings. Of course, this does not exempt us from overseeing the campaign and monitoring its results.

Google Discovery Ads is an ad type that is definitely worth exploring. It is an excellent complement to other formats, such as responsive advertising on the search network, advertising on Google Display Network or YouTube Ads. If you want to use this type of campaign to promote your brand, see our offer subpage.

Hosting is a service that is responsible for the round-the-clock maintenance of websites on the web. Such a service is possible thanks to servers that are constantly working, and thus are constantly available in the network. Of course, there is no problem to set up a website on your own computer, but there are many barriers to it. Therefore, it is a rather temporary solution, good for local project work. Servers must meet stringent requirements related to round-the-clock work. There are many types of hosting on the market, or rather ways to keep your websites online. The hosting includes:

A. Shared hosting – usually the cheapest type of hosting. We only get a certain pool (usually not too large) of physical resources of the server. In most cases, there is no advanced server configuration option. The website will have so-called neighbors, i.e. websites of other people who have also purchased shared hosting from the same provider. Unfortunately, often due to the large number of pages on one server, the performance is sometimes poor. Services of this type are good for private clients or small and medium-sized companies that do not have a lot of traffic and thus do not need large server resources. This solution is good for people who are not familiar with the technical configuration of the server.

B. VPS server (Virtual Private Server) – as the name suggests, it is a virtual server, and in fact a separate part of the server on which a virtual machine is running. In the case of this type of service, we have full access to a separate part of the machine. The virtual machine guarantees us the purchased server resources such as: disk, memory, processor cores. Which will be associated with greater page efficiency. Of course, as it’s a virtual machine, we still share server resources with other people, but it’s safer. To operate a VPS server, technical knowledge is required to properly configure and monitor the service. The cost of such a service is usually greater than that of shared hosting, of course, it all depends on the resources of the server you buy. The service is good for larger projects, i.e. rather for medium and larger companies.

C. Dedicated server – in this case, by purchasing the service, we get the entire server. The entire physical machine located in the server room will be at our disposal. Thanks to the full possibility of any configuration, this type of service offers the greatest possibilities. Of course, as in the case of a VPS server, everything depends on the purchased resources. If we are looking for high performance, this type of service needs attention. Technical knowledge is required for the correct configuration of a dedicated server. This type of service is aimed at demanding users who are able to pay much larger amounts for both the service and administration. A dedicated server is dedicated to large projects with high traffic.

D. Cloud server – is a kind of alternative to dedicated servers. Thanks to the advanced capabilities of the cloud, it is possible to scale the resources that are needed to service the website. It is a kind of a network of dedicated servers (cluster) based on the infrastructure of a selected company. Due to the complexity of the service, good knowledge is required. The price varies greatly, it all depends on the resources currently used. In most cases, it is more expensive than shared hosting or a VPS server. Destiny is usually very popular and demanding projects.

What are the SEO characteristics of good hosting?

I will also try to refer to all of these features in the context related to SEO. Virtually every feature in some way affects or may affect the evaluation of the page by the Google robot or other search engine. The features that are worth including are:

– High availability time (Uptime) – we care about the highest possible reliability of services. Uptime shows the availability of services as a percentage, ideally it should be 100%. We want the website to run continuously. External service monitoring tools are used to check the server uptime.
SEO Context: Robots check the availability of the page. When a page is unavailable, it may be temporarily hidden or even removed from the index.
– Infrastructure – we are talking about both the connection speed and the specification of the device itself, which will affect the speed of the hosted service. The selection, of course, depends on the requirements of the project and the traffic that the service will have to handle.
SEO Context: Regardless of the volume of traffic and the complexity of the project, everything has to be fast. This affects the positive feeling of using the website and promoting it in free search results.
– Fast disks – nowadays it is worth investing in the fastest SSD disks. It is very important to have quick access to files that are placed on the website. SSDs do not have heads that have to search for the correct sector on the disk, as is the case with HDD disk drives.
SEO Context: It is important that the visitor to the website does not have to wait for the resource to load. This affects the so-called Page Experience, which is an important ranking element in Google.
– The latest and configurable versions of the software – it is worth being able to change the software version or configure it. This includes selecting the PHP version and any add-ons that the project may require.
SEO context: The speed and security of the website are closely related to the approach that Google forces on webmasters. The website must be reliable and secure.
– SSL certificate – we are talking about both the configuration of such a certificate and the possibility of obtaining it for free. In the case of small websites or those that do not process a lot of user data, free LetsEncrypt or CAcert certificates are quite sufficient. The data between the server and the visiting user’s computer will be encrypted.
SEO Context: Having an SSL certificate is one of the ranking factors. It is mainly related to the safety of users using the website.
– Access to logs – this is a completely basic thing related to checking how users (including robots) use our website. Based on the error logs, we can fix the page. However, access logs can be used to create statistics that will be used to analyze the website.
SEO Context: Constant verification and analysis of traffic flow helps in fixing bugs and improving the design. It is related to both speed, readability and security, which is pointed out by Google.
– Spam and anti-virus filters – as in the case of computers, servers should also be protected. Of course, a lot of security comes from the application code itself. The danger may also come from a poorly secured server.
SEO Context: Search engines value user safety extremely. Bad security measures can lead to the substitution of the content of the page, which can ultimately result in a complete blockade of the page in search engines.
– Fast and 24/7 support – in case of any problems or breakdowns it is extremely important to act quickly.
SEO Context: If you want to avoid penalties or large position fluctuations, it is extremely important to act quickly in case of problems.
– Backup copies – in the event of a breakdown or hack, it is extremely important that the website is returned as soon as possible. With frequent backups, this is possible.
SEO Context: In addition to the server-side availability of the website, it is also important that everything works properly from the website functionality side to avoid penalties from Google.
– Trial period – thanks to the possibility of testing the services, we are able to check whether the service is sufficient for us. It is worth testing both the speed and possibilities of services, as well as their personalization. It is also important to check the support in order to act as quickly as possible at critical moments. In fact, it is worth testing all the above-mentioned issues.
SEO Context: All the above-mentioned features will provide a good Page Experience, which Google pays for, among others.

I tried to write the above-mentioned features in a rather general way. It all depends on the technologies used and the project requirements. Each project should be approached separately to know the exact requirements.

Does Web Hosting Affect Core Web Vitals?

Basic Internet Ratings are closely related to the user experience of a website that Google believes is very important. Core Web Vitals consists of three main pillars:

– Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – this is the loading time focused mainly on the largest element that is immediately in view after the user enters the site. Google is committed to ensuring that every page is loaded as quickly as possible. The LCP should not exceed 2.5 seconds.
The impact of hosting: Fast page loading is closely related to the server hosting the page.
– First Input Delay (FID) – this is the time after entering the page, after which the page loading process begins. The FID should not be greater than 100 milliseconds.
The impact of hosting: Page response time is related to the infrastructure that supports the website and its load. Choosing the right service for your project requirements is important here.
– Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – while loading the page, there should be no element shifts that could mislead the user (e.g. by clicking on an invalid link). This ratio should not be greater than 0.1.
The impact of hosting: This metric is largely influenced by the coding of the page. Hosting can only be affected when a loaded item is not able to load quickly enough for some reason. In these cases, there should be a (code-side) placeholder to prevent unwanted shifts.

Ensuring the quality of all the above pillars will result in a higher website quality in the eyes of the Google search algorithm.

Does the choice of hosting affect website optimization?

Choosing the right services has a great impact on website optimization. Of course, ultimately everything will depend on the person implementing the optimization. In some cases this can be made easier by the use of technology on the server that will facilitate the optimal optimization of the website. In the case of the popular CMS system – WordPress – it can be support for special plugins optimizing the website. It is important to be able to run the cache on the side of both the website visitor and the server itself. This will significantly speed up page loading and command execution. Another issue is the ability to scale resources when the traffic on the site will be much higher.

What is SEO hosting used for?

When looking for good hosting, you may come across so-called SEO Hosting. This service is aimed mainly at clients dealing with positioning of websites. The main difference between regular hosting is the availability of additional IP addresses. Placing pages on different IP addresses will help to create a larger database of pages (back-end) on one service, which will be somewhat in a different location due to a different server address.

Will an investment in good hosting affect SEO?

Good hosting is certainly one of the factors that will positively affect the position of a website in organic search results. This is just one of many components that should be taken care of before Off-site activities. The service should be properly selected for the project being implemented. In the event of a rapid increase in traffic, you need to react quickly to maintain the upward trend.