Updated on 9 November 2026 by Nicolas Finet, CEO of Sortlist. This guide has been rewritten for 2026: it covers how Google ranks pages today, the March 2026 core update, AI Overviews, Google's spam policies, Core Web Vitals (with INP), the role of links and what to measure.
Google SEO is the practice of making your pages easy for Google to find, understand and rank, and worth a click when they do. The fundamentals have not changed: useful content, a technically sound site and credibility. What has changed is the results page, which now includes AI answers, and Google's tougher stance on content made to rank rather than to help. This guide walks through each area.
Key takeaways
- Google's Statcounter share of UK search-engine referrals has held at about 89-92% since 2024, so Google remains the main channel, but AI answers are changing click behaviour.
- Rank by being genuinely useful: match search intent, show first-hand experience and expertise, and keep the site fast and crawlable. Core Web Vitals "good" thresholds are LCP 2.5s, INP 200ms and CLS 0.1.
- Scaled, low-value content is a spam policy violation whether it is written by AI or people, so quality beats volume.
Section 1. Introduction to Google SEO
What is SEO?
Search engine optimisation is the process of improving a site so that it earns more visibility and traffic from organic search results. It has three parts:
- On-page SEO: content, titles, headings and internal links.
- Technical SEO: how crawlable, fast and well-structured the site is.
- Off-page SEO: signals from outside your site, mainly links and brand mentions.
For a broader introduction, see our SEO guide.
Difference between SEO and SEA
SEO earns unpaid placements through relevance and quality. SEA (search engine advertising) buys placements through bids. SEO is slower and cumulative; paid search is immediate and stops when you stop paying. Most businesses use both. See SEO vs SEA.
How Google Search works
- Crawling: Googlebot discovers pages by following links and sitemaps.
- Indexing: Google analyses the content and stores eligible pages.
- Ranking: when someone searches, systems select and order results based on relevance, quality, usability and context.
Pages that are blocked, duplicated, low-value or slow to render may not be indexed or may rank poorly.
What decides which content ranks best?
Google does not publish a list of weights, but its guidance, quality rater guidelines and spam policies point to consistent themes:
- Relevance and intent match: the page answers the query in the format searchers expect.
- Helpfulness: original, accurate content made for people.
- E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust, most important for topics that affect health, money or safety.
- Page experience: speed, stability and mobile usability.
- Links and mentions: signals that others consider you a credible source.
What changed in Google Search recently
| Change | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| March 2026 core update (rolled out 27 March, complete by 8 April) | Rankings can move significantly; improve usefulness and originality rather than chasing a single factor |
| AI Overviews and AI answers | More answers on the results page; fewer clicks for simple questions; value shifts to being cited and to queries that need a visit |
| Spam policies on scaled content abuse (from March 2024) | Mass-produced pages made mainly to rank are a violation, however they are made |
| Quality rater guidelines updated (2025) | Raters are told to look for low-quality generative AI content |
| INP replaced FID as a Core Web Vital (12 March 2024) | Responsiveness is measured across the whole visit, not just first input |
Core updates are periodic changes to Google's ranking systems. If your traffic moves after one, do not make rushed changes: compare the affected pages to the new top results, find where they are weaker, and improve them. Google's Search Status dashboard lists confirmed updates.
Section 2. On-site optimisation
On-page SEO
Keyword research and targeting
Find the phrases your audience uses and group them by intent. Start with Search Console, Google Keyword Planner and autocomplete, then add a paid tool if you need difficulty scores. Our guide to the best keyword research tools compares options, and the focus keyword explains how to pick the main phrase for a page.
Titles, meta descriptions and headers
- Title tag: put the main topic first, keep it roughly under 60 characters, make it unique and specific. It is often what people see in results.
- Meta description: not a ranking factor, but it influences clicks. Summarise the benefit in around 150 characters. Google may rewrite it.
- Headings: one H1 for the page topic, H2s and H3s for the structure. Use headings to answer questions directly.
Content optimisation
Create high-quality, informative content
Aim to be the most useful result for the query. That usually means:
- Original information: your data, examples, photos, tests or expert input.
- Clear authorship and sources, with dates, so readers can judge reliability.
- Complete coverage of the topic, including the follow-up questions people ask.
- Honest updates: show when content was last reviewed, and keep it accurate.
Formatting for readability
Short paragraphs, descriptive subheadings, lists, tables where data is comparative and meaningful images. Put the answer near the top; then add depth.
Internal linking
Links between your own pages help Google find content and understand how topics relate, and help readers move on. Use descriptive anchor text, link from strong pages to important ones and avoid orphan pages. See our article on internal linking.
Technical SEO
Website speed and mobile-friendliness
Most searches in the UK happen on mobile devices, and Google indexes the mobile version of your pages. Check that content, links and structured data are the same on mobile and desktop, and that text and buttons are usable on a small screen.
Core Web Vitals
| Metric | Measures | Good threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | Loading speed of the main content | 2.5 seconds or less |
| Interaction to Next Paint (INP) | Responsiveness to clicks, taps and key presses | 200 milliseconds or less |
| Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | Visual stability while loading | 0.1 or less |
These are measured at the 75th percentile of real visits. INP replaced First Input Delay in March 2024. Common fixes: compress and lazy-load images, reduce JavaScript, serve fonts efficiently, reserve space for images and ads, and limit third-party scripts. Check the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console and use PageSpeed Insights for diagnostics. Metrics such as Total Blocking Time and Speed Index are lab measures that help you debug but are not themselves Core Web Vitals.
Website structure and navigation
Keep a logical hierarchy, shallow where possible: important pages within a few clicks of the home page, with clear menus, breadcrumbs and a clean URL structure. Submit an XML sitemap in Search Console, and use canonical tags to manage duplicates: see canonical tags.
Schema markup and structured data
Structured data (schema.org markup, usually JSON-LD) helps Google understand entities on the page, such as articles, products, reviews, events, organisations and FAQs. It can enable rich results but does not guarantee them. Google has reduced the visibility of some rich result types over time, so check current eligibility before investing. See FAQ rich results.
Image optimisation
Use modern formats such as WebP or AVIF, serve appropriate sizes, write descriptive file names and alt text, and set width and height to avoid layout shifts.
Section 3. Off-page optimisation
Link building
Links from relevant, trusted sites remain a signal of credibility, though their importance is debated. In 2025 Google's Gary Illyes said Google needs very few links, according to Search Engine Journal. Industry studies still show a positive relationship between strong link profiles and rankings. The practical conclusion is to earn fewer, better links, not to chase volume.
“Google's Gary Illyes says that Google needs very few links, more evidence that links matter less than at any other time in SEO history.”
Search Engine Journal, Google needs very few links (September 2025)
Strategies for acquiring quality backlinks
- Publish original research or data that others cite.
- Create genuinely useful tools, templates or guides.
- Do digital PR: newsworthy stories, expert comments and partnerships.
- Earn mentions through speaking, podcasts and industry associations.
- Reclaim unlinked brand mentions and fix broken links pointing to your site.
More tactics in how to get quality backlinks.
Avoid harmful practices
Buying links that pass ranking credit, link exchanges at scale and low-quality guest posts can breach Google's link spam policy. Paid placements should carry rel="sponsored" and advertorials should be labelled; see advertorials and UK rules.
Link profile analysis
Review new and lost links in Search Console or a link tool. Google says its systems mostly ignore spammy links, so disavowing is rarely needed. Use the disavow tool only if you have a manual action or a clear paid-link problem.
Section 4. Local SEO
If you serve customers in a place, local visibility matters.
- Google Business Profile: claim and complete your listing (formerly Google My Business): categories, opening hours, services, photos and posts.
- Consistency: keep your name, address and phone number the same across your website and directories.
- Reviews: ask satisfied customers for reviews and respond to all of them professionally. Reviews influence both rankings and click decisions.
- Local content: pages for the areas you serve, with real information, not duplicated text with the town name swapped.
See also SEO for architects as an example of a professional-services local strategy.
Section 5. Advanced SEO techniques
SEO for ecommerce websites
- Category and product pages: unique descriptions, clear specifications, high-quality images and product schema.
- Faceted navigation: control crawling of filter combinations so Google does not waste time on near-duplicates.
- Technical: handle out-of-stock products consistently, keep page speed high and use canonical tags.
- Merchant listings: add product feeds to Google Merchant Center for free listings and shopping results.
International SEO
- Structure: choose country domains, subfolders or subdomains deliberately.
- Hreflang: use hreflang annotations (language and, where needed, region) to tell Google which version to show to which audience, with reciprocal tags on each version.
- Cultural fit: adapt language, currency, units, examples and legal details, not just translate.
Section 6. Measuring and tracking SEO performance
Set realistic goals
SEO takes months to show results, and the time depends on competition, site age and the work done. Set goals tied to the business (leads, sales, sign-ups), not rankings alone.
Key metrics to track
| Metric | Where to find it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Impressions, clicks, CTR, position | Search Console | Visibility and appeal of your results |
| Organic sessions and engagement | Analytics | Traffic quality |
| Conversions from organic | Analytics, CRM | Business impact |
| Core Web Vitals | Search Console, PageSpeed Insights | Page experience |
| Indexed pages and errors | Search Console | Technical health |
| Links and referring domains | Search Console, link tools | Authority signals |
One important change: when AI answers appear, impressions can rise while clicks fall. Judge pages on conversions and on whether the queries you target still need a visit, not on traffic alone.
Reporting and analysis
Review monthly: top gaining and losing pages, queries with high impressions and low CTR (improve titles), pages ranking on page two (improve content and internal links) and technical issues. Annotate updates and releases so changes can be explained. For tools, see web analytics tools.
Section 7. FAQs and troubleshooting
Common SEO mistakes and how to avoid them
- Publishing lots of thin or near-duplicate pages. Fewer, better pages perform better.
- Ignoring search intent: writing a guide when the results are product pages.
- Blocking important pages in robots.txt or with accidental noindex tags.
- Slow, unstable pages caused by heavy scripts and unsized images.
- Buying links or using link schemes.
- Letting content go stale, with out-of-date prices, laws and statistics.
- Measuring rankings rather than business results.
Resources for further learning
- Google Search Central documentation and the Search Status dashboard.
- Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines, which describe what quality looks like.
- Search Console help and the Core Web Vitals documentation on web.dev.
Conclusion
Google SEO in 2026 rewards the same things it always has: a clear understanding of what searchers need, content that delivers it better than the alternatives, and a site that is easy to use and trustworthy. The difference is that more answers appear on the results page, and spam rules are applied more firmly. Build for people first, measure what matters to the business, and keep improving what you already have.
Frequently asked questions about Google SEO
What is Google SEO?
The practice of improving a website so that it ranks higher and attracts more traffic from Google's organic results.
How long does SEO take to work?
Usually several months, depending on competition, your site's authority and the work done. There are no guarantees.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Three page-experience metrics: LCP (loading), INP (responsiveness) and CLS (visual stability). The good thresholds are 2.5 seconds, 200 milliseconds and 0.1.
Do backlinks still matter?
Yes, but with less weight than in the past. Google has said it needs very few links, so quality and relevance matter more than quantity.
Is AI-generated content allowed?
Google's policy is about intent and quality, not method. Content produced at scale mainly to manipulate rankings is spam, however it is made.
How do AI Overviews affect SEO?
They can reduce clicks for simple questions. Focus on being cited, covering topics in depth and targeting queries where a visit still adds value.
Need expert help with SEO? Post your project on Sortlist and compare UK SEO agencies for free.
Sources: Google Search Central, Core Web Vitals, web.dev, INP replaces FID, Google, March 2024 spam policies, Search Engine Journal, algorithm history, Statcounter, UK search market share, Search Engine Journal, links.
