Long before I started using RW for my sites, let alone heard of SEO, my main site was amongst the top 3 rankings on search results consistently. More recently, it has slipped but remains amongst the top 5-10 and on the first page of Google search. (Whether a site is on the first page, I should think depends upon the degree of competition amongst similar sites. Where a business has a lot of competition to get the site spec right I should think more important.)
For my site, I put the āsuccessā, if thatās the right word, down to content and navigation. The site provides information and the navigation is arranged so that a visitor can find what they are looking for easily, and without distraction. I donāt have any logins or pop-ups or ads.
For content, I tend to work out what Google and other search engines are looking for and go from there. As G is in the business of selling advertising, the more useful a website can be to that end the higher G will rank it. Iām not into keywords, albeit I include a few on each page. I feel sure that a search engine can pick out words of its own volition.
I think the content itself has to be stimulating, informative and useful/helpful to the visitor. Iām not into photos, etc: to my way of thinking, a picture saves 1000 words. Iād rather have the words.
Because RW is thematic, RW sites (judging from the few Iāve visited) have a similarity about them. i donāt know whether thatās a good or bad thing!
A recent development is SSL certificates. I understand the need for visitors to be reassured that a site is secure. But to my way of thinking, visitor safety is the overt reason. Covertly, SSLs are a way for the search engines to sort the wheat from the chaff. Overtly, the s/e can maintain its objective of listing all sites. Covertly, by deterring visitors, the s/e can relegate not secure sites, thereby demoting a siteās usefulness. However, not all SSLs are created equal. The free SSLs (Letās Encrypt, for example) I reckon will also end up low down the rankings. To boost the credibility of my main site I applied for an EV SSL but unfortunately couldnāt pass the test. I settled for the next one along. The idea of a free SSL is a non-starter as far as I am concerned. I reckon visitors, given the choice between visiting a site whose SSL is free with the expiry of 3 months or so and an SSL thatās a longer term will prefer the latter. To my way of thinking, a short term SSL is tantamount to telling visitors a site doesnāt care.
Another factor I discovered long ago is for links to the site to be on other sites of a reputable standard. In the early days, I paid for my site to be listed on a portal. As a writer and contributor to the forum on a well-known site in my field, what I write there gets thousands of views. By linking what I write there to my site, I am sure that helps maintain rankings.