There are over 200 factors that Google uses to rank websites. But the most important element Google uses is backlinks.
A backlink is when someone links to your website from their website. The more pages that link to you, the higher your rank on Google.
Not all backlinks are created equal today. Here are some of the things Google looks for when analyzing backlinks:
1. How reliable are the sites linking to you? I find links to the Huffington Post more effective than links to a smaller website why? Because the Huffington Post is considered a well-known and authoritative site.
2. Authority is measured by a metric called "domain authority". It's a scale from 0 to 100. The higher the number, the better. Ideally, you want to get backlinks from websites with higher domain authority than yours. You can check your domain authority using the ahrefs.com tool.
3. The more relevant the page, the better the link. For the plumbing field, the link from Huffington Post is not as good as Home Depot (an authority site in the repair field). Try getting a link from a site with high domain authority in your area. If you want to create links, the easiest way to generate them is to round up your post. Email or interview people in your field. Include their thoughts on your blog and share when you publish posts containing them. Ask them to share the post on their favorite social network and ask if they can link it.
This will improve your ranking on Google.