The Google “How Search Works” page talks about “key factors that help determine which results are returned for your query.” On this page, the main factors are summarized as: Meaning. Relevance. Quality. Usability. Context.

If we look at Google’s “How Search Works” page, it directly reveals some of Google’s most prominent ranking factors: Backlinks Freshness Keyword mentions User experience Topical authority

To give you the most useful information, Search algorithms look at many factors and signals, including the words of your query, relevance and usability of pages, expertise of sources, and your location and settings. The weight applied to each factor varies depending on the nature of your query.

This is called ranking, and Google has a whole arsenal of algorithms dedicated to working out which web pages should rank for which search terms. These algorithms consider a multitude of factors – the search term used, the content & functionality of the site, and the web page’s authority.