Every company wants to be found in Google and certainly the higher, the better. Because let’s be honest: who looks beyond page 1 on Google? Exactly, hardly anyone. That’s why it’s important to rank higher in Google’s search results. This gives you more clicks and site visitors, who may eventually become a customer. You can get higher in Google by applying SEO. This process, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, is not a setting for the website that you can turn on or off, but you must actively reach. You do this by offering content that search engines can then present to your potential target group in a good way. You can read how to do this later in this article. We first explain quickly what SEO is exactly and what its benefits are.
What exactly is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and therefore ensures that you can be found better in search engines. To achieve SEO, you as a web administrator must build your website in the optimal way. For this, it is best to take into account all the rules and algorithms that search engines such as Google provide for this. In short, SEO means that you set up the website in the most pleasant way possible for the user. Your customers have a great experience and can easily find the information they are looking for. The better your page on a topic is for the user, the higher you’ll appear in Google’s rankings.
What are the benefits of SEO
SEO initially ensures a higher place in search engines, but this is certainly not the only thing. SEO can provide a big boost for many other, often also important, factors. For example, a higher place in a search engine also means a higher Click Trough Ratio. People click on your website more often and you generate more traffic.
In addition, by being actively involved in SEO, you can better tailor your texts and content to the wishes of your target group. Via CTAs (Calls to Action) you can then withdraw your visitors into the next phase of your marketing funnel. For example, let them subscribe to the newsletter or link them to another article on your website. This way you prevent people from becoming just a single visitor to your website.
Spearheads of SEO
The goal of all search engines is to show the most relevant pages on a topic as high as possible in the results. People are then satisfied with the service of the search engine, so that they retain customers.
In order to select the most relevant pages, no employees have been hired to manually check all content. For this purpose, many automatic factors have been determined, which can be briefly divided into the following three pillars.
- Technique. This section is mainly about the security, speed and response of the website. We also look at the sitemap and components such as robots.txt.
- Content: This specifically looks at the content of the website. for example, does it match the search intention? Or is the content on the website relevant and valuable, possibly through the use of illustrations or videos? The layout based on subheadings, the readability and the meta tags are also important here.
- Authority: Finally, we look at how long the website has been around. In addition, we look at the extent to which other websites link to your pages. The longer you exist or the more other people recommend you, the better the content is overall.
At the top of Google with 9 steps
Now that you know what SEO is exactly and on which pillars SEO is based, you can get started with writing the texts. You can read how to do this in the 8 steps below. We go through them one by one and extensively with you.
Create pages based on keywords
The results on Google and other search engines are determined on the basis of many bots or algorithms. They look at all the words that are on a page and to what extent they are relevant to the keyword that a user enters. The more these words appear in a text, the clearer the image that search engines have of the content of your page. For example, if you write about SEO like we do in this case, you will often have to deal with words such as ‘SEO’, ‘search engine’, ‘keywords’ and the like.
Users of the search engine can enter their keyword when they are looking for something. This can be information, or just about purchasing a product or service.
By basing your own pages on common keywords on Google, you ensure that both Google and therefore potential customers can find your website. So do good research in advance about which keywords are often used and in what form.
Preferably choose 1 topic to which the keywords that support this are tailored. Then include similar words or synonyms in the running text, so that people with a slightly different search can also find your page.
Provide content focused on search intent
If your page gives the very best answer to users’ keywords, search engines will reward you with a higher ranking. So make sure that your content always fits well with the keywords of users.
For this, it is best to look at what the competitors are doing. Search for the keyword yourself via, for example, Google. Then analyze what competitors use in their texts. What is good about this, but above all: what can you do better? For example, give more tips, 10 instead of 5. Or explain it in more detail, 1000 words instead of 750.
Above all, avoid getting started with so-called thin content. If there are already many strong pages with a certain keyword that perfectly answer the search intention of the user, there is no reason for search engines to put you above. Therefore, always strive for the highest possible quality and always go a step further than the competition.
Is your page better than the competition? Then finish it even further by adding various visual elements. Think of supporting images, videos or infographics. This ensures more variety, but also better readability and a higher time on page of users. Also, be aware that a page often needs updates and refreshes so that everything stays fresh and slick. Search engines value this, which you immediately see in the rankings.
Stand out in Google search results
The end goal of SEO is to end up in the SERP: the search engine result page. This is the first page with all the results that best fit the search term. Once you’re standing here, you naturally want to stand out even higher above the competition to stand out. But how do you make sure you stand out on the SERP?
- Write an attractive meta-title. This is the title of your page as it appears in the search engine
- Write an attractive meta description. This is a small summary of the web page, so that potential visitors already know better in advance what to expect from the content of the page.
- Use rich snippets. These are small but very important pieces of information about the website. An example of this are reviews from previous users.
- Use emojis and symbols. These help your result on the SERP stand out even better compared to the other results.
- The more attractive your data on the SERP is, the faster people will click on your link. You don’t even have to be in first place for this, as long as you stand out. Once you’ve managed to generate clicks, you can then analyze your content and improve it for even more final clicks.
Make your website conversion-oriented
Your web page is now completely filled with important keywords. Then it’s time to take a good look at the rest of the web page and website. The appearance of your website is very important for the visitors: of course, they would rather see a professional and sleek website than a dated and outdated interface.
If many visitors find your website unattractive, they will click away faster. Google knows how to trace this and concludes that your website does not fit well with a keyword. The result of this is that your page plummets in the results.
You want to avoid this, after all the hard work. Therefore, make sure that your website itself looks professional and responds nicely to what the user asks. So make your website responsive. So take into account a different layout for both laptop users and mobile users, but also the readability on each platform. Use enough white lines, subheadings, bullet points, visual elements and above all enough variety in your text.
One thing is especially important here: focus on the users. Search engines will mainly focus on matching keywords with the content on your page, but visitors want more. In addition to the information they are looking for, they also want to use a nice and cooperative website.
Finally, focus your website on conversion: the transition to purchase by visitors. Of course you want to attract a lot of customers to your website, but selling your product or service remains more important at all times. So make it as easy as possible for customers to make a purchase faster.
Make sure you have a fast website
A fast website is better for everyone. The loading speeds on your website determine, among other things, how high you end up in the listings of search engines. Logically, fast websites come higher in the results.
Slow websites can really kill you. If a page takes too long to load, many people have already clicked away before the content appears. You have lost these people, but this is also disastrous for your future result on the SERP.
In short: with a fast website you will initially get higher in the search engines. Then you know how to bind customers to you better and you lower your bounce rate, the speed at which people leave your website again. This also strengthens your position in search engines. Fast websites only ensure a better position.
Optimize the internal link structure
Internal links are referrals from one page on your own website to another page. This makes the mutual relationships on your site clear, as well as which pages are the most important. For users it is easier to then take a further look at your website. Search engines find clicking through important for their search results. When users click through on a website, it must be a site that has benefited the customers. So make sure you have click-through options!
Internal links can be used in all kinds of parts on your website. Think of the main menu, but also the footer or in your web text itself. This makes a distinction in degree of importance for the website.
If you want to be able to create more internal links, it is advisable to write about similar and related topics. In these texts you can refer back and forth to each other, to make the internal link structure even more solid.
Higher in Google with backlinks
Now that you have optimized everything in your own site, it can happen that you do not yet appear as the highest in the rankings. This probably has everything to do with the third pillar of SEO, namely authority. This is therefore the most important pillar, since you can do very little about this yourself, unlike the other pillars. Your Competitors are likely to get better or more links to their content, which will keep them passing you.
This problem can be solved with link building. You will actively generate links to your own website from other websites. A natural link profile is important here. Record which links have a higher or lower quality and which are therefore more relevant.
Since link building does not take place on your own website, you have less control over it and this pillar is the most difficult to achieve. Once your link building is well set up, you can now be far ahead of your competition and achieve substantial profits.
Make your website mobile-friendly
The mobile market for websites is getting bigger and bigger as more and more people buy a smartphone or tablet. You probably also look at a website on your mobile device a lot more often than before. Therefore, make sure you have a mobile-friendly version of your website.
This allows you to achieve an even stronger position in the search engines. With a mobile-friendly version, you can also offer mobile users a great website experience. So they stick longer on your website, which benefits your bounce rate.
Google techniques and trends
Appearing higher in search engines is possible for any company, as long as you use the right techniques and steps. First of all, you need to be clear about who your target audience is. Then look at which keywords your target group often searches for. You will then view these relevant keywords in Google, to see what competitors write and how often these words are searched for.
The more volume a keyword has, the more potential there is for your website to climb higher in the results. Keep in mind all three pillars of SEO, as these are important for your position on the page. Research, optimize and professionalize all these pillars and your high result in search engines will quickly become a fact.
Higher in Google with SEO specialists
Does using SEO sound like music to your ears, but you don’t know where to start? Fortunately, there are a lot of SEO specialists who can help you with this. They carry out the analysis for you in advance and determine on the basis of this which content is needed for your website. In addition, the three pillars of your website itself are also further optimized.
In addition to existing knowledge about all the factors involved in SEO, specialists are also more quickly aware of changes and new trends. This allows you to jump on these trends with your site as one of the first and end up even higher in search engines. Hiring an SEO specialist therefore provides a lot of knowledge to make your pages appear as high as possible in Google.
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