If you’re not showing up in the top three results when people search for window coverings or window and door services, depending on your specialty, you’re missing out on sales. The bulk of clicks go to those three top links. And it can seem like you’re on a quest for a magic potion just getting to those spots.

Luckily, it’s not magic. Often, it’s actually math. Check out these five SERP statistics and what they mean for home improvement marketing efforts:

1. Featured Snippets Are Scoring More Top Search Result Spots
Google loves these little tidbits of knowledge that answer common questions—so much that they garner up to 65 percent of top search engine results spots.

Home improvement companies can increase their chances of winning the featured snippet by creating on-page content that asks and answers common questions. Interspace this content with other text on the page, but try to ask the question in a subheading and provide a 40- to 50-word answer directly beneath.

2. Backlinks Still Matter
Top search engine results tend to have more backlinks. The average number of referring domains for pages in the top spot in organic search results is more than 1,900. It drops drastically to an average of more than 400 for pages in the second spot and continues to decline from there.

Home improvement marketing should never step into black-hat SEO territory (fostering links via spammy practices or purchasing links). But you should create content people and other businesses will find shareable to increase the chances of earning valuable backlinks.

3. Keywords Are Still Strong Factors in SEO
No, we’re not salting content heavily with keywords these days; that makes your page unpalatable. And whether or not people truly consume your content does matter.

But you still need the right keywords on page, and SERP statistics show that key phrases in meta descriptions, alt text tags, title tags, and H1 headers are critical. You should also pepper them lightly into other areas of on-page text.

4. Security Is Not Optional
About 90 percent of all page-one Google results are HTTPS (as opposed to HTTP) sites.

For home improvement companies, this extra detail is no longer optional. Google has been quite vocal about favoring HTTPS in search rankings. Savvy consumers also look for this type of encryption before they’re comfortable handing over personal details ranging from email addresses to payment information.

5. Relevance Reigns Supreme
A review of the SERPs also uncovers a single factor that can outrank any other. Google’s goal is to serve up the most relevant links for a search query, and if one page simply shines beyond in this area, Google might overlook other factors to push it to the top.

Quality home improvement content marketing involves chasing factors such as keyword placement and security while maintaining as much relevance as you can.