Through professional search engine optimization
be found better on Google
Search Engine optimization
In order to be found better in Google, search engine optimization belongs in the hands of experts, because more and more individual factors have to be considered. It is almost impossible to prepare for all updates to the ranking algorithms in order to be found better unless, in addition to providing the data for the crawlers, a high level of user comfort and the fulfillment of the expectations of a website's visitors are consistently focused on . If you do the latter, you don’t have to worry about any significant crashes when placing in the search results with the major updates to the algorithms and ensure that you can always be found more and better on Google.
In the following we describe what measures are required to be found better in Google and other search engines.
How high are the costs for good search engine optimization?
Through our unique system, which is controlled by extensive and complicated software developed in-house, we can the costs be kept within a small framework. From 299,- per month you will be better found within a radius of 50 towns under your specified and desired services in Google.
Factors to help you be found better on Google?
Whether a website can achieve a positive image and a good ranking also depends on the age of a domain. Older domains are usually more trusted than new domains, which is why they tend to rise faster in the ranking and are easier to find on Google. Therefore, when setting up new websites, it can also make more sense to buy an older existing domain with regard to search engine optimization than to register a new domain. However, a look at the reputation of the previous content and users is important here in order to be able to get to the first page in Google. The easiest way to view the former content is in the Wayback Machine archive. In addition, it is advisable to check the common spammer directories before buying a domain. If the domain appears there, it is unsuitable for setting up a new website.
The reputation of a page in the social networks also gives an important indication of the efficiency of off-page optimization. The SEO experts as well as Google itself not only consider the number of likes that a website or individual parts of the content have received in the social networks. In addition, there is a consideration of the number of users who clicked on the "Share" button. But even that is not enough to get reliable information about the reputation of a website and to be found even better. In addition, the comments should be checked, in which users can express their personal opinion.
Testing tools for optimal optimization
Many test tools offer the integration of the respective test results with a prepared code snippet. The search engine crawlers are not interested in these test results at all because the websites are checked and evaluated with their own algorithms. But they are a good way to build user trust. However, only results should be used that visitors can imagine. An example of this is the ad from Qualidator, which evaluates different areas according to a principle similar to that used by well-known rating agencies around the world. With the indication "AAA" no visitor will have any doubt that it is a high-quality website. This means that a solid base of returning visitors can be generated.
Which elements negatively influence findability in Google?
One fact is certain: search engine optimization has been developing since the Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird updates of the Google algorithms at the latest (SEO for short) to a science. With the major updates of the ranking algorithms, new criteria for evaluating the websites are constantly being added. The greatest challenge for website operators is to understand the interaction of the individual criteria and to use them for their own website.
Around three dozen factors are now considered particularly important for professional search engine optimization. One of the leading American SEO agencies has taken the trouble to summarize them as a "Periodic Table of SEO Success Factors". At first glance, this summary actually looks a bit like the periodic table of the chemical elements. The "SEO-Table" has another thing in common. Just like the research chemists, the Google programmers are always finding new elements, the knowledge of which benefits the AI used to sort the search results.
The 2018 version of the periodic table of search engine optimization names eight points that website operators must avoid as consistently as possible in order to ensure better findability:
- keyword stuffing
- ads
- Spam
- hidden content
- thin content
- cloaking
- Piracy
- Pay Walls
Keyword stuffing means that the most important search terms are used too often. Google assesses this when (according to practical experience) they make up more than three percent of the total number of words in a text. The ads criterion has a negative effect if too much advertising is placed on a website, because this significantly restricts user comfort and the way to the first places could be jeopardized. Hidden content means that terms are stored on a website that are only visible to search engines and not to visitors. Thin content refers to texts that only have a small amount of information.
With cloaking, different versions of the website are stored for the real visitors and the crawlers of the search engines. The crawlers are controlled using special information in the "robots.txt" file. Of course, illegally used content has no place on a website either. Another negative effect of SEO is that the operators of many websites only openly display parts of their content and the rest is hidden behind a pay wall (paid subscription).
On-Page Optimization: More points for a good placement in Google
What matters here is the use of the potential offered by the markup language HTML. This starts with a clear structure of the content with headlines and subheadlines with the information h2 to h6. Use of h1 should be reserved exclusively for the main title of the entire site. In addition, the start page, all subpages and all article pages require a meaningful description that can be displayed in the snippets of search results from search engines such as Google. Further attention must be paid to the use of structured data. These are special HTML tags that allow the crawlers from Google, Bing and Co. to identify the type of data involved.
What is in the Top 10 Off Page Search Engine Optimization?
The off-page optimization is divided into the four sub-areas trust, kack links, personification and impact in the social networks. There are three factors that are most important:
- PageAuthority
- link quality
- Origin
A good page authority increases user confidence in the content published there. The more backlinks from leading websites (big news portals, encyclopedias, etc.) refer to a website, the higher Google rates the page authority. All other backlinks should only come from reputable websites with good SEO values and a positive reputation. The indication of origin is for user convenience. Google Chrome, for example, automatically offers to translate the website into the user's language for foreign-language websites. In addition, specifying the language used provides advantages when ranking in the local search results, because the browser transmits the settings of the user's preferred language with each search query. In addition, the information that was stored in the structured data with the HTML tag “location” is read out.
When it comes to search engine optimization, the experts at the Internet agencies and the operators of the websites must not do without evaluating the bounce rate. A high bounce rate indicates that the content is uninteresting to the user or does not contain the information they expected when they viewed it. In addition, a high bounce rate can indicate that something is wrong with the user comfort of the website (loading time, menu navigation, web design).
What information should still be provided on your website?
Just like the users of the websites, it should also be made as easy as possible for the search engines to exploit the content. In the case of on-page SEO, this includes the necessary "accompanying information" when using photos, videos, other illustrations or PDF files. Although the Google AI is already very mature, it does not have clairvoyant abilities. This entails the need to store machine-readable information on purely visual content and PDF documents. In most content management systems, such a possibility is already integrated as standard, in that tags and descriptions can be specified for the contents of the media library. In contrast to the videos and images, the crawlers can easily read exactly these elements and assign them to a specific search term. That's why it makes sense for SEO to use the most important keywords at this point.
What role does the domain name play on a website?
At times, a website could only rank well for a certain term if this was also included in the domain name. That has now changed, because instead the title of a website is given more weight in the ranking. The reason for this is very simple. Despite the launch of numerous new top-level domains, there is not enough supply to meet demand for many key terms. Focusing on the domain name would therefore be simply unfair to those who offer a very high-quality website under a domain address that does not contain the most important keyword. But one fact has been preserved in SEO about the choice of URL. The domain address should not be too long and if possible only consist of one and very memorable term. This means that professional support for search engine optimization by a specialized Internet agency must begin as early as the planning phase when setting up new websites.
Which search engines should the optimization target?
In the meantime, at least the major search engines are making almost identical claims. This is a decisive advantage in technical optimization. In terms of market share, Google is ahead of the game both in Germany and worldwide. The use of the Internet with mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets is playing an increasingly important role. There, Google currently (as of autumn 2021) has a market share of around 89 percent. This is not least due to the fact that the Android operating system developed by Google is used by many manufacturers. In the field of desktop computers and notebooks, Google achieved around 78,4 percent. The difference comes from the fact that these computers mostly run on the Windows operating system. The associated Edge browser accesses the Microsoft-operated search engine Bing, which has a market share of around 10,5 percent. All other search engines (except possibly Baidu for target groups in Asia) can be neglected in practice in SEO.
Technical Search Engine Optimization: Where Does It Start?
The starting point for technical SEO is the selection of the web server on which the content of the websites and online shops is made available. Websites based on PHP and a content management system can get started for less than 10 euros per month. However, such contracts have one major disadvantage. As a rule, they only provide the variants shared server or virtual server. This means that the hardware capacities are distributed among several customers. This can lead to fluctuations in performance, which depend on the intensity of utilization by other customers. If you want to avoid such disadvantages, for example with a larger online shop, you should use offers for dedicated servers. You don't have to share the hardware performance with other users. Good deals for dedicated servers are available from around 40 euros per month.
Does the domain name also belong to SEO?
You also need a good domain if you want to be successful in search engine optimization. However, the domain name no longer plays as important a role in SEO as it did a few years ago. At that time, the domain name had to contain the most important search term if possible. In the meantime, the programmers of the search engine algorithms have also realized that, despite the increasing number of top-level domains, the demand for such web addresses cannot be fully met. That is why the perspective of potential customers is playing an increasingly important role. The domain name should always be short, distinctive and memorable. Once you have found a good domain name, it is best to secure it with all major domain endings. In this way, you deprive your competitors of the opportunity to use an identical domain name with different endings. With good server contracts, the fees for several domains are often included, so you don't have to worry about any additional costs. If this is not the case, the additional domains cost you a maximum of 1,50 euros per month for most endings.
The actual optimization starts with a good web design
Error-free programming of a website or an online shop is no longer associated with high costs thanks to content management systems and shop systems. However, you should invest money in a high-quality and individual web design. SEO and web design agencies offer special templates for the most common systems WordPress and WooCommerce at a flat rate. Starting here (depending on the provider and effort) is between 150 and 250 euros for an individually created design. For less common systems, the customization effort is more extensive, which entails a higher price for the web design. Completely individually programmed web projects including designs are much more expensive. The total price there can be several thousand euros.
The project is complete: What's next?
Appealing, unique, credible and interesting content is a solid basis for permanently successful search engine optimization. Cheap projects that only contain ultra-short texts in boxes now fall through the rankings on Google and Bing. The crawlers and algorithms of the major search engines "love" detailed texts formulated in easy-to-understand language. Today it is no longer a question of only including the most important search terms with a certain frequency. The Google AI can now recognize semantic relationships with high hit accuracy. This means that working with modifications and synonyms is also indispensable for on-page SEO. If you would like high-quality specialist texts, make sure that the SEO agencies you contact only cooperate with authors who have many years of experience and proven expertise. How high the costs for the text content of a project are depends on the respective scope and the subject to be processed.
What conclusion can be drawn?
SEO is not a "playground" for laypeople, but only real experts with many years of experience can achieve lasting success. The cooperation with Internet agencies has advantages, in which there are also specialists for web design and good programmers. You can link technical optimization with content optimization in a meaningful way. The best way is always organic SEO. The focus is on user comfort and content is created that is very likely to be voluntarily liked, shared and recommended by website visitors. The higher the quality of the content and the more reliable the facts mentioned there, the greater the likelihood that they will be linked by the operators of other websites or given as a source.
Search engine optimization is not a one-off measure, but must be carried out continuously due to the large number of ranking factors to be considered. The user's wishes for a high level of user convenience must be just as important as the demands made by the crawlers of the various search engines. What the success of SEO looks like in the end (regardless of how the abbreviation is interpreted) is already decided in the planning phase, because the choice of a suitable provider for the uninterrupted provision of content also plays an important role. If you want to create a new homepage, you should get professional support from an internet agency at an early stage.
Where previously a homepage did not even have to be stored in a Google Maps entry in order to be found more easily, it no longer matters what information and various sectors are specified in the Google Business entry, since Google now clearly shows the content of the analyzed the website behind the Google entry. If the homepage is not displayed under a search term in the organic search (pages 2-5 are sufficient here), the company entry will not be published or found in Google Plus under the search term.
This is because, logically, Google does not want to reward a company with number 1 position in Google Business if the main page cannot be found under the said search terms in the organic search. With Google Plus, however, this only plays a role if you enter the desired location in the search field, no matter where in Germany you are.
When we, as web jokers, look at websites from new clients, even if they were created by web designers who also claim to be knowledgeable about search engine optimization, we are usually not surprised by well-executed optimization for the desired search terms. H1 headings are often missing entirely, apart from headings H2 through H4 (H5 and H6 are not essential), which are often not set. However, since this is one of the most important positions on a homepage along with the other content, one cannot speak of professional search engine optimization at all, but rather of the amateurishness of the alleged web designers and SEOs.
The word on-page optimization means nothing other than optimizing directly in or on your own homepage. Beginning with the selection of the right name for each individual sub-page, the title for search engines (is displayed as 1.), a meaningful description, and up to specifically chosen search terms, these are the further steps of the programmer for optimal search engine optimization. This would optimize the core of the subpage, although this is far from enough to achieve good search results. The page itself should now explain in detail what your offer is. Here it also makes sense to carry out a keyword analysis for your offer, because it will hardly bring you new customers if you are found under words that no user uses. Targeted selection of keywords and optimization are required here, which usually does not work without the help of the client, because you are the expert yourself. You also have to work a bit as the client.
Manipulations are out and are even penalized by search engine operators such as Google. Why search engine optimizers go this way is because they lack the skills to do clean search engine optimization.
Basically, off-page means that you do not have to intervene in your own homepage. Optimization can be achieved here through backlinks, which refer to your homepage from related sites and recommend you as a partner for the respective product. Through these and high-quality backlinks, your site is optimized off-page than pushed forward by other websites, at least to the linked search term. Another interesting tool are landing pages, which report in more detail about your achievements and from there you can access your own homepage via a link. In the long run, this means space gains for your website in Google and Co.
What web designers and so-called search engine optimizers often ignore is Google Business. What used to be a by-product is now an extremely important tool for being found well on Google. If you have a company headquarters, you should also have a Google entry that is properly optimized. Only then do you really exist for the Google search engine. This is how Google prevents pseudo-companies from being found in Google. Furthermore, you can significantly increase your regional findability via Google Business.
The Internet and thus also Google is the marketplace of the future. After all, you yourself are also looking for everything in Google and Co. If you don't have an existing homepage and want to set it up under a completely new domain name, you first need very good texts. Here you can describe your products yourself or use professional copywriters who have specialized in the respective fields and can deliver the content quickly. Sure, of course it's not for nothing or free of charge. However, this approach speeds up progress because you immediately offer good content on your homepage. The SEO agency now has to correctly set headings and other meta data.
The more content and text combinations are written, the faster you get traffic on your site. Not everyone just enters short search terms. That depends on the way of thinking and the search behavior of the respective person. Some searchers enter short, crisp search terms into the search field and others write entire sentences into the search field. As a rule, those who enter whole sentences will come to your site first if you have written these or similar search word combinations on your website. Sounds easy but it isn't.
You can't set an exact period of time here and, above all, you can't promise a client. Promises are not serious, at least if you cannot keep them. And that is exactly what is and has always been the biggest problem with search engine optimization, because the search engine operator sets the rules here. The bad thing is that the rules are almost impossible to read, at least not in detail.
WEBJOKER works very professionally in dealing with its customers, whether old customers or new customers. We don't make any promises, but try to convince with good references, with constant personal availability and with competent information. Any questions? dm@webjoker.eu
The security of the website is increasingly in focus
Again and again, hackers manage to access user data from different platforms. Therefore, the security of this data has also found its way into the algorithms used by Google for the ranking. This fact is not new, because a look at the search results shows that the websites that have a valid SSL certificate end up well there. In addition, general safety is taken into account. This means that websites must be well protected against hacker access in order to prevent malicious code from being injected. However, the strict data protection guidelines of the European Union must be observed, for example with regard to the permanent storage of IP addresses and the storage and processing of personal data.
What does the term SEO mean and how does it work?
At the beginning, the abbreviation SEO was derived from the English term "Search Engine Optimization", which is translated into German as search engine optimization. In the meantime, however, the synonym "Search Experience Optimization" is being used more and more often. In German, this means optimizing the search experience. Some Tips on SEO we have for you. This change in terminology reflects the development of the algorithms used by Google, because here too the focus is increasingly on improving the user experience. Google's way of thinking is logical, because it makes no sense to optimize existing or new homepages for the demands of a machine (in this case the Google AI). Ultimately, it is the actions of the users that determine the success or failure of a website and its ranking.
As a result, the question arises as the SEO (Meaning) looks at best. First of all, it is important to know that Google's AI has now seen through a whole series of manipulation attempts and is thus blocking the way to the first page. Mass links from article directories and forums have been out for a long time. Instead, Google (just like Bing and Co.) rewards “naturally grown” links. These can only be reached via high-quality content that is voluntarily linked by the operators of other websites. This can still be specifically promoted by an internet agency. Most bloggers are looking for such high-quality content and are happy to provide a link for a good post. However, with this type of search engine optimization, care must be taken to ensure that the linking pages themselves are of high quality.
Findings from the latest SEO studies indicate that naming a keyword or URL in the anchor text for a link no longer affects Google's weighting of the link. Also worth knowing is a new practice in the Microsoft search engine Bing. In the meantime, "fake links" are also taken into account in the ranking. A "false link" is the naming of a domain without linking to it. Tests indicate a similar rating when mentioning personal names, brand names, company names and product names.
Good content is essential
Many website operators believe that Google's "Mobilegeddon" updates will drastically limit the amount of content. But this assumption is wrong, as a look at the insider information that is regularly given at the largest SEO conference SMX proves. Since autumn 2017 there has even been a direct connection between the length of the content and the placement, which goes exactly in the opposite direction. Practical studies have shown that texts with a minimum length of 750 words tend to land at the top of the Google SERPs. The chances of getting on the 1st page on Google are even greater if the texts are 1.300 words or more.
The trend of having to pepper the content with a flood of identical keywords for SEO is also over. In the meantime, this approach has even been penalized as keyword stuffing.
The semantic capabilities, which the Google programmers have now provided the AI with, ensure the extended scope. This allows the algorithms to recognize content-related connections beyond the usual synonyms.
The targeted enrichment of the databases used by the ranking algorithms also contributes to this. They now also make connections between film titles and the names of the actors who are active there, to name just one example.
This means that the professional web authors of the Internet agencies enjoy greater creative freedom and can concentrate on making the texts easy to read.
Information for the Google crawler is a must
If you want to make it into the top search results, you have to ensure that your website provides important information for the search engine crawlers. Specifying the tags is no longer sufficient for this. To improve the search experience for users, Google increased the number of characters in the description displayed in the search results at the beginning of the year. This allows the description to be more detailed and informative. Embedding smileys in page titles and URL ads is possible, but doesn't provide any immediate ranking benefits. It could only lead to such a search result being clicked on more frequently due to the emotionally effective message of the smileys. This means that the advantages of SEO result indirectly from an increase in the number of clicks. In addition to good web design, some technical aspects must also be taken into account when creating websites from scratch because they have a direct impact on search engine optimization. The first point has already been named with the loading time. The loading time is only one of many factors that are taken into account by the Google algorithms. The response times of the servers on which the websites are published play an equally important role. This means that a successful website needs an optimal provider whose data centers have high-quality hardware and a fast backbone connection. Consistent accessibility is also important to avoid de-indexing from the search results. That's why only providers come into question where the content is mirrored on several servers. So the risk is low that the Google Crawler will reach "in the void" when checking the Internet if a server fails.
Why is voice search becoming more important?
The proportion of accesses to the Internet with mobile devices is constantly increasing. Voice control makes special demands on tablets and smartphones. More and more notebooks can also be controlled by voice. Windows 10 comes with Microsoft's Cortana as standard, and the voice assistant Siri accepts spoken commands on Apple computers. There are also Alexa on Amazon Echo, Bixby on Samsung smartphones and the Assistant on Google's Android operating system (to name just a few examples).
Website operators have to adapt to this change if they want to make it to the 1st page on Google in the long term. This includes several measures. It must be noted that this changes the type of search queries. Instead of individual keywords, users use complete questions when searching for information on the Internet. So it makes sense to wrap questions in subheadlines. These are usually specially marked (bold type, different colors or font sizes). These areas have a higher priority for the Google algorithms than the "normal text".
In addition, Google uses special algorithms to sort search results for voice search users. Therefore, successful Internet agencies use additional HTML tags to identify various data. The main topics can be identified by specifying “topic”. The “location” tag brings a plus in local searches. In addition, company, brand and personal names can be highlighted with these tags. They are appropriately called markups by SEO experts because they are primarily used to mark certain data. They increase the user comfort for the crawlers of the search engines and are therefore not only rewarded by Google with an improved ranking.
What else motivates Google to a good ranking or even page 1?
Google's ranking algorithms love well-structured content. The most important thing here is the use of the h specifications. Only the main title of the website should be marked with h1. Multiple use would simply irritate Google's AI. Unfortunately, there are some themes for the common content management systems that do not allow any changes by the user. For example, you display the article titles in the automatic generation of dynamic homepages with an overview of the latest posts as h1. The possibility of a differentiation from h1 to h5 should already be taken into account when selecting the theme used.
If the theme itself does not offer SEO support, it is advisable to supplement the content management system with an SEO plugin. Good plugins of this type are even available for free. However, they should meet some minimum requirements. This includes specifying the title, specifying tags and creating an individual description. They should also offer a choice of different types of indexing and link tracking. SEO plugins, which count the number of characters in the title, tags and description, bring the highest level of user comfort. With the paid SEO plugins, there are even variants available that give tips for improvement and assess readability.
What conclusion can be drawn from this for web design?
The range of ranking factors used is constantly growing. The AI used by Google to sort the SERPs is constantly gaining new skills. The focus of access to the Internet is shifting from the workplace computer to mobile devices. If you want to make it permanently to the 1st page of Google search results, you need insider knowledge, which only an experienced internet agency can provide. In addition, search engine optimization is not a one-off measure, but requires continuous adjustments.
Web design focuses on short loading times, targeted user guidance and the exploitation of the psychological effect of various elements. Illustrations, photos and videos are only advantageous for certain topics. When it comes to content, the trend is towards longer texts in which “grammatical contortions” are no longer necessary to integrate keywords. Data must be trustworthy in order to serve the trustworthiness ranking factor. For long-term effectiveness, the content and technical SEO must be based on user needs and not on the "loopholes" that can currently still be exploited in the ranking algorithms.