With so many changes to Google’s algorithms in recent years, it seems that hardly anything stays the same. From link building and keyword usage to multimedia and local optimization, SEO has undergone a constant evolution since the first days of the internet. One of the more stable elements of Google’s assessments of websites is how it determines the trust of a website. The dynamics of this certainly have been tweaked over the years, but a fairly consistent approach to content creation and site management can be applied to ensure that your site or blog is viewed favorably by the search giant. We will discuss some tips in the following article to help you ensure that your trust rankings with Google are at optimal levels.

Contact and Whois Information

Believe it or not, the contact information that you are pinging to Google has a profound impact on how Google views your page when it compares that information to your site’s Whois listing. In many cases, webmasters like to mask their Whois and use information of the hosting company. While this can be a smart move for those concerned with privacy, it is also a common way that fraudulent websites manage to operate without any real accountability in the short-term. By having the same information on your contact pages and in your Whois, you will convey a sense of trust to Google and be more trusted when it comes to SERPs. Many websites manage to overcome this, however, as there is no direct penalty to having conflicting information in this regard.

Content Length

Another great way to determine whether or not Google trusts your site is to examine the length of your posts and pages. While ideal numbers are not specifically available, metrics and research suggest that your posts and pages should strive for an average of at least 1,000 words. If you currently have a website with dozens of 300 word articles, then Google probably raises an eyebrow when indexing and examining your website. As the model of SEO continues to move toward one that emphasizes quality content, the length of that content will naturally be a consideration. While longer content does not always equal better content, a lengthy post that is not duplicated does suggest that the site is an authentic entity and is producing legitimate content.

Multimedia

It is important that you include videos and other external forms of multimedia in your website, as Google does tend to provide higher trust ratings to sites that feature larger amounts of this type of content. The best and safest bet for this approach is to use YouTube when pinging to Google, but a variety of other media platforms such as Vine and Vimeo seem to have a positive effect as well. Regardless of your niche, there should be plenty of relevant videos out there to help you summarize a topic or tutorial. If not, then why not create your own video and, in the process, added value for your website? Videos can be a great way to bring people to your website, so user-created videos can serve more than one purpose in regards to boosting site performance.