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SEO website optimization. What is it?

2001.

SEO website optimization. What is it?

This article will help you understand the basics of optimization and web positioning. It was written in order to answer the most important questions, define the characteristic features, and also the basis of SEO.

SEO - definition and translation

SEO is a literal translation of search engine optimization. This process involves a set of actions that help potential customers quickly find the right website in the Google search engine. Its goal is to build the trust of robots in the resource and achieve top positions in the search results for the information they need.

When we enter the query "how to optimize a website" in Google, for example, we get the following results.

When we enter the query "how to optimize a website" in Google, for example, we get the following results.

There is paid advertising in the search engine - contextual advertising, there are also free search results (organic), and these results depend on SEO.

SEO in the world

Most companies in the world understand SEO as only the processes associated with building website visibility and generating traffic from search results (the so-called SERP, or Search Engine Result Page). SEO affects all factors that improve rankings and visibility, not just optimization. This causes a lot of controversy.

The situation is similar with SEO and SEM, which are considered separately as: SEO - free search results and SEM - contextual advertising or more broadly - Internet advertising (Google Ads). So, SEM (Search Engine Markeitng) is usually a marketing activity consisting of all organic traffic and advertising.

What does SEO do?

In practice, as already mentioned, optimization consists of:

  • content text (for example, when we change the length of articles, their title, add keywords, etc. words, etc.)
  • structure of the site (a means of changing the navigation information architecture)
  •  technical and visual perception (site speed, responsiveness, appropriate choice of videos, moderate use of advertising, etc.)
  • Links to the profile (i.e., as a rule, links lead to the site from other sites on the Internet).

Thus, limiting yourself to SEO optimization code (sometimes including metadata and title) is simply a big mistake, because optimization is only a part of the whole.

In practice, there are In practice, there are a lot of positioning factors. There are more than 200 of them, although none of them seems to have been of them seems to have ever been used. This is difficult to do because Google's algorithm is a secret. Leading SEO efforts rely on Google's guidelines, their own Google's guidelines, their own experience, testing, and correlation analysis.

Off-pages on SEO pages

SEO factors can be divided into two categories - external (off-page) and internal (on-page). Individual factors also interact with each other, depending on depending on the specific keywords in terms of their importance and relevance.

The main groups of factors on the page SEO:

  • content (mostly textual content, but not only that which is often created specifically for SEO text)
  • architecture (i.e., the placement of content on the site, the connection between resources)
  • HTML (creating the structure of the document: headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, quotes)

The main groups of factors outside of SEO pages:

  • link to your website
  • social signals
  • trust to the website (server, domain age, social media signals)
  • other other controversial issues.
Google Ads & SEO

Controversies around optimization and positioning

Many leading experts argue whether certain search engine factors really have an impact (in practice, mainly in the Google search engine) or just compete for high positions. This is quite difficult to verify because we always work in a changing environment. It's impossible to analyze it on a ceteris paribus basis. Along with the formation of one factor, change the others:

  • profile links and optimization of competition pages
  • Google algorithm,
  • user behavior of users.

This often leads to hasty and erroneous statements. For example, many marketers at some point say that starting operations on Google AdWords increases traffic from organic results.

Optimizing content on the website

У In today's technological world, website content is very important when optimizing for SEO. More and more often you can hear the opinion that a website can also be influenced by user behavior on the Internet: how quickly it can be found, how much time spend on it. These factors are directly related to the quality of the website content. Therefore, you need to fill the content of your pages with information that meets certain criteria.

What should be the text on web pages

Volumetric - avoid short texts consisting of several paragraphs (advertising offers). Describe services and products in detail (their characteristics). The site reader will be able to learn a lot, and search engines will recognize your page as more valuable.

Original - use of content that has not been copied from other sources (descriptions from other websites, descriptions from manufacturers, wholesalers). If you are not sure whether the text on your page is unique, you should use ready-made tools that will determine this. Here is one of them: Text.ru.

Accordingly divided - in large texts, you should use the H1, H2, H3 headings. These are HTML tags, that help determine the structure of the text: heading/title (H1), subheading (H2), etc.

Contain relevant keywords - If you don't know how to choose the keywords that are best suited for your website, try using special tools. Among them are the following: Google Ads. Use synonyms of keywords, synonymous words. This is a much better solution than texts that are oversaturated with keywords.

Diverse - If the content on the site is just a block of text, you will not pay attention to it and will not want to read it. Use bold, italics, list markers. Try to find a suitable picture or graph.

Corresponding title tags

The title page is a very important element of SEO:

  • This is one of the most important technical factors on the basis of which the search engine evaluates the subject of the page
  • the page is displayed in the search results
  • SEO optimization of the title meta tag and its impact on search results
  • the page title is displayed in the search results

SEO optimization of the title that appears in the browser

Page title in the browser

How to choose the best page titles? The title tag is definitely the place where to place a keyword related to the content of the page, preferably at the the very beginning. Since page titles are displayed in the search results, we should also enter our search results, we should also enter our name there.

Results search results will display only the title of the page, which is no longer than approximately 55 characters (this is an approximate value). In most cases, search results will display the page title that we set in the tag name, but there are cases where Google shows another title that it considers more appropriate. Another important issue is uniqueness.

Meta Description

This element is also directly related to the HTML code of the page. This description is displayed in the search results, right below the title and URL of the page.

Content description, the goal does not affect your site, but it is important for another reason. The content of the description that appears in search results can affect how people see our site in search results.

URL

The URL should describe the content. In addition, users should also keep in mind the search engine crawlers that will crawl the site. For them, the best addresses are those that are:

  • not too long (up to about 100 characters)
  • do not contain special characters, for example, "?", "$"

Examples of URLs:

http://ujbg.en/index.php?cat=2&type=14&id=141415155151513615155151&sort?=price&filter?=price1000 - the address is incorrect for SEO, because:

  • it's too long
  • contains special characters
  • does not describe the content of the page well

http://sjhgti.en/buty/zimowe/meskie/ - address is correct for SEO because:

  • it's short
  • does not contain special characters
  • is well informed about the content of the page.
Graphics.

On the page, you should pay attention to the abundance of graphics. The longer it takes to load your website, the more negatively it can affect SEO and prevent users from from using it.

SEO
Tips for optimizing your images

Alternative descriptions for images are elements associated with HTML graphics. It is displayed on the page, not the image (in case of loading problems). In the alternative description, we must indicate in a short form what is in the picture. This way, the user knows what is in the image that cannot be loaded at the moment. Images using alternative descriptions are also important from an SEO point of view. Google cannot recognize them, but it can read the description of the alternatives.

Quantitative and qualitative factors in SEO activities

We often hear a mistaken assumption on the part of partners and clients that SEO optimization is a one-time thing. Some website processes can be improved and adapted to Google's requirements once. For example, these can be issues related to internal link errors (redirect settings, 404 errors), converting graphical links in menus to text links, and speedup pages. However, a lot of issues require constant long-term solutions, taking into account the intensity and pace of competition.

To to compete effectively in search results, you need to create content optimized for different subjects and phrases, and form the structure of the optimal placement. In the case of links, not only quantity but also quality is taken into account. It is an indisputable fact is that you need to work on it constantly.

SEO tools

Specialists. SEOs use various tools to diagnose SEO optimization and positioning. There is no one perfect tool or set of tools that guarantees success. that guarantees success. First of all, each specialist has their own programs, that help them. Secondly, even the best tools will not give will not yield long-term success if they are not used by professionals who can read interpret the data and translate it into effective SEO optimization and positioning tactics.

Among the popular tools used by agencies and SEO specialists are the following:

SEO from a strategy perspective

From the point of view of strategic positioning and website optimization, there is:

  • acquisition traffic without a budget for each click
  • presence in one of the most popular media, which is search Google,
  • provides a point of contact between the brand and the customer when you are looking for information

This process should be considered as part of the entire digital marketing strategy, not as a separate activity. SEO is a continuous process, as search results for each phrase are a kind of game, and the continuous activity of competitors makes you work tirelessly and try to occupy the highest positions.

Communication between pages - advanced optimization

An important aspect of website optimization for SEO is the linking between pages. It is usually realized in the form of a menu that includes links to all the main sections. You should know that the best solution for SEO is to create a menu in text form. Therefore, you should avoid menus that are created from images or using flash technology (Google has problems with fully reading the content of such sites).

How you can check the optimization of SEO for your website?

В You can find a large number of browser plugins and programs on the Internet that allow you to diagnose problems with website optimization and give suggestions on how it can be improved. These tools are essential because they can quickly make appropriate changes.

SEO audit - what is it?

У In the context of SEO, the question often arises: what is an SEO audit? It should be noted that the audit refers to the analysis of the technical, content and structure of the of the site, as well as external factors (link positioning) and site visibility at a given time.

SEO audit includes website code analysis, content analysis, and keyword research for reaching potential customers, studying connection profiles, and analyzing competition in the Google search engine. All these actions are aimed at the long-term perspective, to maintain the effectiveness of the website and links, as well as its placement on the the top positions in the Google search engine for potential customers' queries.