What is SEO?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving a website's visibility and position on search engine results pages. This is a significant online marketing strategy that helps to attract more visitors and potential customers to the website, increases its authority and credibility and also helps to improve conversion rates.
Why do websites need SEO services?
Many website owners do not understand that a page that looks good on the surface and has a nice design cannot be successful without SEO optimization. Website Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an essential part of any successful online project.
First of all, you need to understand that the majority of Internet users use search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. to find information, products or services. If your website is not in the top positions of search engines, users will not even know that your website exists. Therefore, if you have a website, but you are not visible in the search engine results pages, there is a high probability that the number of visitors to your website is low.
Improving the visibility of your website on search engine pages will increase the number of potential customers, which can directly affect your sales and profits. In addition, SEO improves the quality of the site, which means that even visitors from other sources will spend more time on your page and will not close it after a few seconds.
SEO headings
What do SEO headings mean?
SEO headings are HTML tags used to structure and hierarchize a page. These elements help you understand what is most important on the page and what will be mentioned in its content.
The importance of SEO headings
SEO headers visually provide visitors with a clear structure of the page and make it easier to find the information they are looking for. However, SEO headlines are important not only for users, but also for search engines. They help search engines understand what the page is about, what important topics it covers, and what keywords the site should rank for in search engines.
Types of SEO headings
There are five types of SEO headers: h1, h2, h3, h4, h5. The h1 is the most important heading and should only be used once on a page, before any other h-headings. h2 headings should be used sparingly and only after the h1 heading - to neatly structure information and make the page easier to read. The h3, h4 and h5 headings are not mandatory, but can be used additionally to highlight and hierarchize less important parts of the page content.
How to correctly optimize SEO headings?
Correctly optimized SEO headlines should be structured, should also match the content of the website and should contain the main keywords. For example, the h1 heading should describe the main topic of the page and is essentially the keyword you target in search engines. By the way, it is recommended to use short and clear headings to make it easier for users to orient themselves and find the information they want faster. The optimal length of SEO headlines is 30-60 characters.
It is also important to apply appropriate styles to the headings. The style of the h1 heading should be bold and the font should be the largest compared to all other headings. The font size should decrease as the heading type decreases (h5 is the smallest font).
Meta data
What is website meta data?
Page meta data is the information that can be seen in the HTML source of the page and that visitors will see next to your website entry in search engines.
Meta title is an HTML <title> tag that indicates the name of the website and is displayed in the browser window and in search engines. In an ideal scenario, the meta title should match 70-100% of the h1 title of your page. Meta description is a short description of the page, which is also displayed on search engine result pages. Meta keywords were used in the past, but now they don't matter much to search engines because most websites manipulate this HTML tag, ignoring the content of the page. For this reason, meta keywords no longer have a significant impact on SEO and no longer add additional benefits.
The need for meta data
Meta title and meta description are important page elements that appear on the search results page. These are the first things people see about your website when they search. Therefore, it is very important that your meta information is of high quality and reflects the content of the page. If the meta information of the page is poorly written or not coordinated with the content of your website, it can not only scare away visitors, but also reduce the position of the website in search results.
Meta data optimization
In order to write the right meta title and meta description, we suggest you consider the following recommendations:
- Main keywords and relevance - Make sure that the meta information contains main keywords that are relevant to the content of your page. This will help to improve the position of your website in search results and increase the confidence of visitors.
- Uniqueness - Each meta title and meta description should be unique and reflect the content of a specific internal page.
- Clarity - It's best to keep your meta title and meta description short and clear and fit into search result boxes. The optimal length of the meta title is around 60 characters, while the meta description should be between 155-160 characters long.
- Call to action - try to include a call to action in the meta description (e.g. "Click here to learn more about SEO services"). This will encourage visitors to click on your links in the search engine window, not your competitors' links.
Technical SEO optimization
Page speed and its importance for SEO
Page speed is one of the most important factors affecting the positioning of a website in search engines. Visitors want a quick response, and a page that takes a long time to load can cause a visitor to close the window prematurely. More than one similar study has shown that the longest visitors wait is about 3 seconds before closing a page that is still loading. In addition, Google has openly admitted that it values fast websites and gives them higher positions on search results pages.
Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals is a new initiative launched in 2021. started by Google to improve the online experience of visitors. These are the latest web page metrics that cover the three most important components of user experience: load speed of the most important element (LCP), speed of interactivity (FID), and stability of visual elements (CLS). These metrics have become very important in terms of SEO, as Google directly considers the results of Core Web Vitals when ranking websites in search results. This means that with good Core Web Vitals results, a website can significantly improve its SEO ranking and positions in search engines.
Briefly about LCP, FID, CLS and TTFB
CP, FID, CLS, and TTFB are just a few of the most important on-page metrics you should know to improve your website's SEO performance.
LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) is a metric that measures the time it takes to load and render the largest piece of content on a website. This can be a main image, video, etc.
FID (First Input Delay) – measures how long it takes from user interaction (such as clicking a button or link) to a response from the website. The lower the FID, the faster the site responds to user actions and the more it strengthens your SEO results.
CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) is a metric that measures how often a website's content moves from one place to another in a browser window. If content is moved too frequently or unexpectedly, it can cause inconvenience to users and impair their experience. The goal of SEO is to have as little CLS as possible.
TTFB (Time To First Byte) - the time required for the server to provide the first response to the request. This is one of the first metrics evaluated by website speed tools. The lower the TTFB, the faster the website responds to user requests, which positively affects the overall SEO ranking of the website.
These metrics can be measured and improved using different tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix or other tools. The best way to improve these metrics is to monitor them regularly and apply appropriate solutions to improve your site's performance and, in turn, the experience for your visitors and your position in search results.
WebP image format and lazy loading
One way to improve the speed of your website is by using the right image formats. A new standard that has become particularly popular recently is the WebP format images. This format was created specifically to improve the loading speed of websites. It is superior to the most popular formats such as JPEG or PNG, especially if we are talking about small images that need to be loaded very quickly. WebP is a compressed format that saves space and at the same time has a positive effect on website speed.
In addition, in order to improve the speed of your website, it is suggested to use lazy loading. This is a technique where images that are not visible to the user as soon as the page is loaded are also not downloaded from the server immediately. Instead, they are only downloaded when the user reaches a certain part of the website where the image is visible. This greatly reduces the loading speed of the site, especially in cases where the site uses a lot of images. This technique is easy to implement, but it can have a significant impact on the overall SEO ranking of the site and its position on the search results pages.
DOM depth
DOM depth is the depth of the website's document object tree, ie how many times objects are nested within each other. The more levels there are between the initial and the deepest elements, the longer it will take for the browser to load the code and render the page image, and the page itself may appear overloaded with too many elements.
The optimal DOM depth for a website is around 4-5 levels, but this depends on the complexity of the website and the need for more levels. For example, email a store will probably need to have a much deeper site tree than a simple information page with a description of services. The most important thing is to find the optimal balance between the complexity of the site and the speed you want to achieve.
Page content
Unique content - why is it important?
Unique content is one of the most important SEO factors. The content should be as long as possible (between 2000 and 3000 words), original for each internal page and not duplicated with other existing websites. Search engines love pages with quality and original content, and copying content can have negative effects on your site's ranking. By the way, unique content is important not only for good results in search engines, but also for the overall experience of visitors. Websites with unique, high-quality, useful and informative content often receive returning visitors, positive ratings and shares.
Dangers of copying content
Copying content from other sites and using it on your page can even cause a few problems. First, it can negatively affect the site's position in the search results pages, as search engines may decide to stop indexing or delete the page altogether from their search results due to duplicate content. In addition, there is a risk of serious legal problems if the authors of the original text find and identify the content they created.
How to create good SEO content?
Content is one of the most important aspects of SEO that must be implemented in order to have a website that is well positioned in search engines. Here are some tips for creating good SEO content:
Decide/identify who your target audience is and what their needs are. The content must be adapted to the interests and preferences of your audience.
Prepare the content. It is very important that the content is original, high-quality and valuable - it brings certain benefits and/or solves a certain problem of your chosen target audience.
Use images, videos, graphs, tables, lists and more in addition to text. This will encourage visitors to share your content on social media and also increase the value of the content in terms of SEO.
Use keywords that match the topic. This helps search engines understand what your content is about and how you should be positioned in the search results pages. However, do not go overboard with the amount of keywords, as too many keywords can have a negative impact on SEO results. The use of keywords should be natural and not too conspicuous.
Structure creatively. The content should be well structured, that is, easy to read and understand by website visitors and search engine robots.
Update and/or add content regularly. This will ensure that your website will always remain relevant both directly to returning visitors and to search engines.
Keyword density
Keyword density is one of the SEO rules, which requires that the content of the page contains an optimal amount of significant keywords compared to all other words in the text.
Since there was a lot of abuse of this rule in the past when trying to manipulate search results by artificially increasing the amount of keywords in the text, this rule is now not as significant as it used to be. However, a well-structured and well-written page that balances relevant keywords with quality content can still have a positive impact on SEO results.
It is important to note that too much keyword density can look bad and unnatural, and search engines will take this as a bad signal and rank the page lower. In the past, many SEO experts recommended keeping keyword density between 2-3%, but this practice is now considered outdated. The most important thing is the natural use of keywords in a unique, high-quality and valuable text.
Backlinks
What are SEO backlinks?
Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They are called "backlinks" because they bring the visitor to your website from another source.
The influence of backlinks
Backlinks are a very important SEO strategy because they have a significant impact on your website's position in search engine results. For search engines, this is a very important factor in determining the authority of a website. The principle is very simple - the more quality links you have to your website that match the topic of your page, the greater the authority and significance of your website for search engines.
Quality backlinks
It is important to note that not all links are equally useful. Search engines pay attention not only to the number of links, but also to their quality, topic and authority. Choose the pages you link to carefully. The page where you add your link should be related to your site's topic and have quality content and good SEO results.
If the website you link to has quality content, has a lot of authoritative backlinks and is technically optimized for SEO, then such a backlink will be much more valuable to you than a page that has poor content, a low number of low-quality backlinks and poor technical SEO optimization. It is worth choosing pages with high DA (domain authority), PA (page authority) and MozRank metrics.
However, the most important thing is that the selected page is of high quality in terms of SEO. If the site to which the link is placed is poorly optimized, has little content, that content is of poor quality or there are suspicions of violations, such a backlink can have a negative effect on the authority and position of your site in search engines.
In addition, it is worth choosing pages whose content is not overcrowded with advertising or other non-essential elements. It can also negatively affect your website's SEO results.
Finally, it's worth looking at the total number of backlinks on the site you'll be placing your backlink on. If the mentioned page has many links to other websites, then your link will become less important and will not bring much benefit. It is necessary to choose pages where your link will be one of the few and will have more weight.
Avoid cheap backlink packages. Often, website owners are tempted by an attractive price for a large number of backlinks on different sites, but almost always such links have a negative impact on SEO results. Quality backlinks are very valuable, so their price will never be low, and it is best to collect backlinks by creating original, high-quality and valuable content, when other website owners will want to use your information as a source and place your website's backlink.
External SEO articles
What are external SEO articles?
External SEO articles are content that is related to your page and/or its topic, but is hosted on other websites and not directly on your page. These articles may be dedicated to specific topics, goods or services related to your business. This is an SEO strategy that is very similar to collecting backlinks, as the external article almost always includes a backlink to your website along with the content.
The importance of external SEO articles
Just like backlinks, external SEO articles can increase your website's visibility and improve your search engine rankings. This is because every quality link that leads to your site increases the authority of your site. Depending on which page the external article is hosted on, it can have a negative impact on your SEO results. It is important to choose high-quality, authoritative, original content-creating, technically SEO-optimized pages that are not crowded with external articles and backlinks.
External SEO article optimization
- Choose the right topic - the choice of topic is important, because it should be closely related to your activit . It is a big plus if the chosen topic of the article is popular and has enough potential readers. This will generate a lot of traffic to the article.
- Use SEO Keywords - Remember to use keywords sparingly when targeting search engines. Your most important keywords should be used everywhere – in the article title, headings, body (in moderation) and meta description.
- Prepare unique content – Just like your website, external articles require original and high-quality content. The article must be attractive and valuable to the readers, bring some benefit and/or solve a certain problem.
- Structure the article – The article should be easy to read and understand. This can be achieved by structuring the article with headings, lists, tables, figures, graphs, etc. This will not only make it easier for readers to read the article, but it will also help search engines better understand its structure and content.
- Include a link to your website - it's important that this link is natural and necessary and not presented directly as an advertisement. Another important aspect about a link is that it should be the main keyword you focus on in the search results with the internal page of the link you are hosting.
In short, in order to write a quality external SEO article, it is necessary to apply all the same SEO practices as you do on your website when creating internal content. Then you just have to look for quality pages where you can place the prepared SEO article. Again, it is very important that the selected pages are authoritative, with good SEO metrics and quality content, not crowded with other external articles and backlinks.
Social networks
Social media benefits for SEO
Social networks are an important SEO tool, because by generating natural backlinks, they increase the authority of the website and, at the same time, the positions on the search engine result pages. Also, social networks encourage your audience to interact with each other and help create a community that will become a constant source of website visitors in the future and one of your most important SEO strategies that bring tangible results. Finally, this SEO strategy greatly activates the overall visibility of the brand, which in the long run brings great benefits to any business.
The most popular social networks
The most commonly used social networks for SEO purposes are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest. Each social network has its own specifics, so it's important to find the most suitable platform that will help you reach your audience and improve your website's SEO results.
Social media strategy
Social networks can be a valuable part of offsite SEO, but there are some important aspects to consider in order to use them effectively.
- It is important to have a clear purpose for using social networks. What noite to achieve? The goals can be various: increasing the visibility of the brand, attracting visitors to the website, engaging users, presenting goods and/or services, etc. Also, you must consider your audience and correctly choose social networks that would be suitable for a specific activity (website).
- Regularly and consistently upload content that is tailored to the chosen social network and its audience. These can be messages, articles, photos, videos or links that provide original, high-quality and valuable content. This will help you reach more people and drive interest.
- Drive user engagement and action on content. This can be achieved through comments, contests, reviews, discussions and other active actions allowed by a particular social network.
- Finally, it's important to monitor and analyze your social media activity. This will help you understand which types of content are effective and which are not; which social networks have the largest audience and drive the most engagement, and which do not. In this way, you will be able to improve your social media strategy and make it as effective as possible for improving SEO results.
SEO never ends
In this text, we have mentioned only some aspects of SEO optimization. It is always important to take into account such things as responsive design, user experience and user interface (UX/UI), sitemaps, website security (e.g. SSL certificates), accelerated mobile pages (AMP), etc.
In any case, we always implement basic technical SEO optimization on the websites we create, that is, we perform a part of internal SEO, so our customers can enjoy fast, convenient and easy-to-use sites.