Many websites are never found despite having the best content. If you rank on page 2 in Google, you are simply not relevant - no matter what secret treasures the site actually has to offer and what enormous benefits it contains. That's why search engine optimization (SEO) is important. And there are a few things to keep in mind.
If you don't do technical SEO, you don't stand a chance.
Many companies that run blogs, online shops and the like do not take care of search engine optimization. The thought still prevails that the best content will inevitably prevail in the long run and that the familiarization with the many technical SEO subtleties is nothing more than a waste of time. In times when the Google algorithm is an enormously strong gatekeeper, which is also constantly readjusted and sharpened, such thinking is fatal
If you want to be successful on the Internet, you have to make sure that your site is found
In concrete terms, this means that an examination of Google's ranking mechanisms as well as a constant adaptation of one's own measures to the innovations of the algorithm is necessary. Whereas a little more than a decade ago it was sufficient to pump one's own page full of certain keywords, today other qualities are required: usefulness, clarity and, last but not least, technical accessibility. The latter aspect has become increasingly important in recent years and has been one of the key ranking factors since June 2021, which is why SEO should be at the forefront of optimization work today
So, this guide will help you catapult your site from the shallows of search results to the top spots by teaching you essential aspects of search engine optimization.
The hundredth page with the same phrases and content over and over again is recognized by Google as a boring copy of the copy. For a long time now, the connection between content and SEO has no longer been about merely enriching the content with certain signals so that Google presents it for certain search queries. Meanwhile, the usefulness of the content is in the foreground of the evaluation on the part of Google
If you can't stand out from the competition, you're not adding tangible value and Google won't consider you relevant
In this case, the text can be perfectly peppered with keywords and prepared in a technically flawless manner - it will not stand a chance.
Google no longer sees itself as a search engine that simply offers as many matching results as possible, but as a kind of guide through the Internet that points only to the most relevant points. Who counts among these nodes is not decided first by the page itself, but in the congruence of supply and demand
For you, this means that you need to create an offer that stands out so much from the competition that Google recognizes that you are offering something unique that potential visitors can't get elsewhere.
The most important step towards this goal is to invest time and effort into your content
Content and SEO are not separate components.
It is rather a matter of making sure that the content is already useful when it is produced. The optimization for search engines is thus not a process that starts at an already completed page, but one that must always be in the background and thought about at every step to lead to success.
You're probably wondering how you can produce useful content that is really new. Here it helps to think about what people are looking for on the Internet. Usually, it's about problem solving: People searching for "overview B2B direct marketing" generally want to come across specific tips, not a history of direct marketing or a text that tells in general terms why direct marketing in B2B makes sense
The situation is different when searching for "study online marketing in B2B", where a practical guide to online marketing is just as unhelpful as a general text on the subject. What is needed here are surveys that provide an overview of the use of online marketing methods and/or their success.
What is helpful is therefore highly dependent on the respective situation. Successful optimization for search engines therefore requires a good knowledge of the search intentions
Which search queries should lead to my site?
What is the search actually asking for?
What is the need behind it?
Accordingly, a target group research as well as a strategic alignment of one's own content is of central importance.
However, even the best content does not guarantee an excellent ranking on Google. Content SEO therefore means not only creating useful content, but also presenting it in an appealing way. Central to this is the page structure. Only pages on which users can easily find their way around will be visited with pleasure and for a long time
If, on the other hand, a large part of your traffic bounces back because a text block is presented without subheadings, without navigation and without images, this sends negative signals to Google: Your page does not seem to offer what is being searched for. In addition, a good structure with heading tags and co. also has a positive influence on your technical SEO, as you ensure that the Google spiders know what the article is about.
Wouldn't it be nice and silly to refer your hard-won readers to your competitors? Quite the opposite! Links to further reading bring real benefits for those who want to delve deeper into the topic or a specific aspect. Furthermore, they send positive signals to Google, as a link to other content relevant to the topic suggests the relevance of the page in question. So as long as you don't link to your most important keywords, linking won't hurt you.
To strengthen your authority, there is no better way in the eyes of Google & Co. than to be mentioned and linked to by other topic leaders in the market. You can get good backlinks through collaborations, by being mentioned in use cases, participating in interviews, writing guest posts or features on other online platforms
Keywords? Keywords! They still play a role today, although they no longer have the central importance they once had. There is no separate science around the selection and placement of keywords. It is only important that you know for which keywords you want to be found
The central keyword, which reflects the topic, should appear in the title and in some of the subheadings as well as in the text. It also makes sense to place it in the URL and ALT tags. This is not difficult: If you write about success factors in the used car trade, you will probably name your text the same way and place this phrase in the text for content reasons alone.
It goes without saying that content should not be stolen together. But duplicates also have a negative effect on the ranking within your own page. If Google recognizes that text passages or entire texts appear on several sub-pages, it will largely ignore at least one of these sub-pages - which is detrimental to the ranking of the page
SEO only works with unique content!
So don't write about the same topic over and over again in similar terms, focus on different questions and content if you want to rank well.
It is often said that content is all that matters. But without technical SEO, all this is often worth nothing. So don't stop before the finish line! Google may be convinced of the relevance of your unique and useful content, but you won't make it to the first page with a lame page that's barely readable on smartphones and doesn't have an SSL certificate.
At the latest with the algorithm update in June 2021, Google has made it clear that technical factors now occupy a large space in the optimization for search engines
Load speeds,
technical page structures
and optimization for mobile devices
are now just as important as the security of the page and the quality of the source code.
What sounds like a lot of work does not have too explosive consequences in practice. SSL certificates are now provided free of charge by most hosters and activated with a few mouse clicks. Loading speeds can be achieved by reducing image sizes, by keeping the source code as lean as possible and by using a cache, while optimisation for mobile devices has long been included by all professional providers today.
But it doesn't work completely without commitment. Ideally, you should implement the following measures to bring your page to the front:
Enable AMP on static pages to increase loading speed on mobile devices
install a cache
Reduce image sizes
Minimize CSS and JavaScript
use responsive design, change template if necessary
use an SSL certificate and enforce encryption
Continuously check if there are 404 links that go nowhere
If you put these technical measures into practice and deliver good content, nothing will stand in the way of a top ranking. So don't waste time, but get to work: SEO is not an option, but a must!
It can be stated that success on the Internet is no longer possible without targeted search engine optimization. In addition to content optimization, the focus today is on technical measures, which are increasingly weighted by Google. Those who invest in technical SEO today, make their site fit for the future and create the basis for an ideal ranking of their optimized content.