Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is a method of improving findability in search engines. The abbreviation SEO stands for the English term “Search Engine Optimization”. SEO pursues the goal of making your own relevant content appear in prominent positions in the search results. Search engine optimization can be carried out for all search engines. Due to the dominance in European countries, the focus is on optimization for Google. Other search engines, such as Bing or Yahoo, play a minor role in optimization. Therefore, the focus of the following text is on the Google search engine.
1. Why SEO?
Actively pursuing SEO not only means investing a lot of time in research, market analysis and optimization, but also continuously and accurately informing yourself about the latest trends and Google updates . With Google updates of various dimensions taking place several times a year, this represents a challenge that should not be underestimated. However, if this time is invested, enormous opportunities can arise.
For most companies, search engines are the most important channel for attracting users to their own website. The users who reach a website via search engines usually also have the intention of achieving a desired goal on the website. This goal depends entirely on the intention behind the search and can, for example, simply be information or even the purchase of a product.
SEO also plays an important role in acquiring new customers , as search engines are often the most important source for bringing new users to a website via generic search terms.
Ongoing search engine optimization can ensure the long-term success of a website without permanently investing in paid ads. Good SEO optimization can pay off over the years as you gain authority in your field, increase brand awareness and, over time, be seen as a reliable source of information by Google and users.
2. SEO and SEA in comparison
SEA stands for Search Engine Advertising , i.e. advertising in search engines . The main difference to SEO is that for an optimal ranking in Google search results you have to pay a fee to the search engine operators, whereas with SEO the good ranking results from the quality of the website. Search Engine Marketing or SEM is usually used as a generic term and is considered a combination of SEO and SEA.
3. Important metrics of SEO
The success of an SEO strategy can be measured by a variety of metrics that are of varying importance depending on the goal of the campaign. Important key figures include:
- Click-through rate (CTR): This key figure tells you how many users who were shown the page in the SERPs actually visited it.
- Bounce rate: Says how many users leave the domain after visiting a single page.
- Average session duration: The more satisfied the user is with a page, the longer he or she stays on a page. The type of content can play a big role. If the dwell time is very short (~less than 30 seconds), this could be due to the quality of the page.
- Number of backlinks: Which and how many external websites link to a page is used as an indication of whether this page is perceived as relevant and of high quality.
4. How does SEO work?
Search engine optimization is purely about organic search results. This means that paid ads on the respective search engine are excluded. In this respect, you do not pay a fee to improve the ranking of a website, but rather make it attractive to users and search engines in order to achieve a good ranking. In classic search engine optimization , a distinction is made between on-page SEO and off-page SEO .
4.1. On-Page SEO
On-Page SEO refers to those search engine optimization tasks that consist of technical, content and structural adjustments to a website.
The aim of on-page optimization is to ensure that a web page meets search engine standards and to create useful and good content for potential users.
The right keyword
Before you even create content, you should get an overview of potential search queries. To find out the search volume of a search query, there are some tools that can help. It is important to determine the so-called user intent , the motive for the search query from the user’s perspective. This is crucial for the ranking potential of the planned content.
SEO Meta-Tags
Three aspects of a web page are summarized by the term “ meta tags ”:
- Title Tag: Choosing the right title tag (= the link text that is displayed on the Google results page) is important for Google and for the user. The main keyword should appear as close to the front as possible and the chosen title tag should accurately describe the topic of the page.
- Meta Description: The meta description (= the short summary of the website’s content, which is displayed under the title tag) is not a direct ranking factor for Google from the algorithm’s perspective, but it is important for users. It can contain further information and a call to action that has a positive effect on the number of visitors.
- Heading (H1): Headings give a web page structure , which is important for users and Google. The main heading of a page is also called H1 . It should contain the most important keyword and give the user a good impression of what content they can expect on the page. The other headings should be divided depending on the importance of the information.
Clear structure of the website
A clear structure of the website is essential for the user. This also includes a proper link structure . It is also important that content is easy to find and that the website does not become too branched and confusing due to countless complicated levels.
As a rule of thumb, you should be able to access all content on the homepage in three to a maximum of four clicks.
Featured snippets optimization
Featured snippets are excerpts (=snippets) of an existing page compiled by the search engine, which are usually displayed at the top of the Google search results page – above all conventional search results. The type or format of the snippet depends on the respective search query; they are often short descriptions or lists. Since featured snippets often still occupy the “pole position” of search results today, it is worth optimizing the page content for them. Several factors come into play here.
Examples of these factors include:
- The correct HTML formatting
- Snippet-ready short summaries
- An excellent text structure
4.2. Technical SEO
Technical SEO deals with preparing a web page in a technically adequate manner for the Google algorithm. These measures are mainly relevant for Google, but the user can also benefit from them.
Page Speed
The speed at which a website loads after being accessed is very important, as Google imposes so-called penalties for slow pages. The main reasons for a slow site are often images that are too large and complicated animations. Optimization options to reduce loading times include, for example, teasers during loading time or delaying loading for images that are not visible. There are already numerous tools that allow you to examine the page speed of a site.
Crawlability
Crawlability describes the user-friendliness of the website for search engines. Good crawlability is characterized by the fact that it is easy for a search engine to visit and capture all the content on a website.
Some context: Search engines “crawl” the Internet to uncover new content. After this content has been found and indexed, it can normally be found on the search engine (e.g. Google). “Crawling” works via links on a website. Google follows one link after another to find content. In this respect, good internal website linking is a great advantage, promotes good crawlability and guarantees that new pages added can also be found by Google and therefore also by users.
Mobile Friendliness
The use of search engines through smartphones is already ubiquitous and will only increase in the future. That’s why search engines are very careful to ensure that top results on smartphones are clear and easy to use. You can find out whether the website is “mobile friendly” and how exactly it is displayed on smartphones using various tools, not least Google Search Console.
4.3. Off-Page SEO
The heart of off-page optimization is backlinks. Backlinks are links that lead from other websites to the page to be optimized . From the user’s perspective, backlinks expand the reach of a page and give it authority in the search algorithm, which leads to a better ranking.
It is important: quality is more important than quantity. A few backlinks from domains with high domain authority (=authority in the eyes of the algorithms) are much more profitable than dozens of links from bad websites. In the worst case, an excessive number of backlinks can trigger a penalty from Google because the search engine assumes that link spamming is being carried out here.
5. Results with SEO
SEO should be viewed over the long term as it can take some time to see results. The exact period of time to be expected before measures take effect varies and depends on many factors. In principle, however, results should become apparent after three to six months for sites that are already established. What is important to note is the ongoing nature of SEO. You can’t just optimize a website “finished”, you have to continually improve and expand it to stay relevant.
6. Summary
SEO is a comprehensive and complex area of online marketing, but one that stands out for its enormous potential for profitability. The improvement measures mentioned should be seen as an introduction. In order to become a competent search engine optimizer , you need to gain more know-how and experience.
However, the essence of SEO is relatively easy to summarize: the quality of a website is the ultimate!
English
Deutsch