Search Engine Optimization

Check availability

Of course, you want users to actually find your website. So make sure that the content of your website is actually available. Because even a small, incorrectly placed line in the meta tags ensures that Google’s robot does not index the corresponding page, which ultimately causes the content to disappear in the deep web. We are talking about the noindex tag.

But if you don’t want to manually check every single source code of your versatile website, you have the simple option of using a site query to find out whether all your web pages can be found in the Google search engine results. To do this, simply enter the command “site: domain.tld” in the search box, where “tld” stands for your so-called top-level domain (for example.com).

Furthermore, you now have the option of viewing a detailed report on index coverage in the new Google Search Console (back then: Google Webmaster Tools) . All URLs are listed here that have errors or that have problems with inclusion in Google’s index.

As if that weren’t enough, the new Search Console now even includes a URL checking tool that outputs a wealth of data on every single URL. This includes the time of the last crawl, the permissibility of indexing and the crawling permission – information that can be gold for a webmaster!

Make sure you are safe

A secure connection creates trust – especially in times when data protection is discussed intensively. No wonder that the switch from HTTP to HTTPs is no longer an optional extra , but a requirement for good search engine optimization.

Websites that do not have a corresponding SSL certificate can be recognized by a missing green padlock in the browser line. On the other hand, when the visitor clicks on the info icon in the browser line, he receives the alarming message “The connection to this website is not secure”.

With the Google Chrome Browser Version 68, the security gap of affected websites is to become even more transparent for visitors. The warning “Not sure” is then placed in front of the actual URL in the browser line.

It is understandable that potential customers may shy away from such reports and switch to the competition. The increased bounce rate that a lack of SSL encryption can generate will, in the worst case, also have a negative effect on the rankings of the site.

So show your visitors that you care about their safety while surfing.

Find the appropriate search terms

Google indexes websites mainly based on their readable content. By integrating topic-relevant search terms, or “keywords”, Google recognizes that the corresponding page is relevant for this very content.

The search and evaluation of search engine relevant keywords is subject to certain criteria that contribute significantly to the ranking success of web pages:

The keyword research and analysis requires a high degree of technical know-how in dealing with various analysis programs. For this reason, SEO specialists are usually used for this task.

In the meantime, if you want to hunt keywords yourself, even if it is out of curiosity, you should take a look at Google Trends . This free tool gives you an initial overview of topics and search terms that are currently often searched for on Google.

Alternatively, there are many third-party keyword tools available, but they are usually paid for. You can at least get a clear impression of their performance with the KWFinder from Mangools, which provides a useful selection of information on search terms – to a certain extent even free of charge.

Caution: Avoid keyword “stuffing”

Once the right keywords are found, it is important to be moderate. Unfortunately, the misconception of bygone SEO days is still circulating that web texts must contain as many keywords as possible in order for the page to rank well.

You can’t just leave it like that nowadays. So-called keyword stuffing annoys not only human readers, but also Google. Need a taste? Gladly – here is an example from the Google Quality Guidelines for the use of these so-called superfluous keywords, in which the term “individual humidors” was meant a little too well:

Under certain circumstances, a page with such content could be rated negatively. Google is less and less happy when a page appears over-optimized (one could also say: unnatural) – with keyword stuffing only being one aspect of such over-optimization.

Depending on the severity of violations of Google’s webmaster guidelines , individual rankings may be lowered, website-wide penalties or even permanent site removal from the search index.

So don’t overdo it with keyword density. Here you can see where your search terms should nevertheless be placed:

Convince with useful, unique content

For Google today more than ever:

Excellent content deserves the best spots in the SERPs.

Among other things, the Panda update , which was rolled out for the first time in February 2011, ensures that pages with inferior content achieve worse ranking results than those that offer the user real added value . The Panda update has now become an integral part of Google’s core algorithm – so rely on high-quality content!

But what is “high quality content”?

Try to put yourself in the shoes of your users. Does your visitor get the information they want in response to their search query? The more precisely and / or originally you respond to the needs of users with your content, the more likely Google will reward your efforts with a good ranking.

Profitable Content is characterized by the following features:

You should also refrain from presenting your company in the best possible light for better or for worse. Better focus on what your customers are looking for. Show them what supporting role you can take.

Last but not least: so that your texts not only shine on the desktop, but also look good on mobile devices, you should use responsive design for your website. With this application, the display of your website automatically adapts to the respective device.

If you take these tips to heart, you increase the chances that your visitors will stay on your website for as long as possible. This not only improves the relevance for Google, but also the likelihood that visitors will ultimately become customers.

Page Speed ​​Optimization (PSO) – because long loading times are real conversion killers

Nowadays it has long been no secret that the quick accessibility of websites is crucial for users.

Nobody likes to wait for something – and with a wink we can say: The number of patient surfers on the World Wide Web has decreased over the past ten years at least as rapidly as the number of smartphone users has increased rapidly.

One likes to speak of an upper limit of loading times of 3 seconds. And even if this “3-second rule” is only half the story , Google, fueled by the ongoing mobile boom, is becoming increasingly ungracious towards slow websites.

So better not be one of the snails of the internet!

With the free tool Google PageSpeed ​​Insights you can check the speed of individual web pages or the average performance of your entire site (using the “origin:” operator). In addition to specifying the loading speed, this tool also gives you specific optimization suggestions that you can use to improve the loading speed of your page – for both the desktop and mobile version.

Use search engine and user friendly URLs

You are probably familiar with these URLs, which, because of all the cryptic characters, do not even suggest what they have in store for visitors. Here’s an example:

https: //www.domain.tld/2369-pageID_Dq2FFz77281/thread2.html

So-called speaking URLs make it easier for users and search engines to quickly understand what content is waiting for them. For this it is necessary that the keywords that reflect the subject field of the corresponding domain are part of the URL.

In this way, not only the user but also the search engine can read out the corresponding URL better. Also make sure that your URLs are structured so that they are easy to read and not too nested.

The optimization of our example URL could therefore look like this:

https://www.domain.in/service/seo/

Much better, isn’t it?

Optimize metadata

The metadata of a URL consist of a title and a description, among other things. The metadata are used to send information or commands about a website to the browser or Google bot.

The title gives the search engine and the user information about the main topic of the target page, while the description briefly outlines the content. With this data, search engine crawlers can assign websites to thematically appropriate.

Titles and descriptions are usually displayed to the user as a text excerpt (snippet) in the SERPs. They are therefore your website’s figurehead in search engine results. For this reason, the content should be as concise and appealing as possible – so irresistible that the user cannot help but click on it.

Practical tips for your basic metadata:

By the way: With the help of a SERP snippet generator, you can see how the search hits for your website are displayed in the search engine results. Try it out with a free SERP snippet tool!

Further examples of meta information:

All in all, there are many different ways of specifying or expanding the content with meta tags. However, it is also important here: Do not incorporate as much as possible, but decide on a case-by-case basis which information is actually useful.

(By the way: Have you ever wondered how some page managers manage to get rating stars in search results?

Such extensions are also based on metadata, more precisely on extended structured data or “rich snippets“ . The secret of enriched snippets in general – and the stars in particular – is clearly revealed here , for example . Reading recommendation for advanced users!)

Link building

If we have previously described measures from the SEO area of ​​on-page optimization, we now come to off-page optimization.

The main discipline of this SEO sub-area is so-called link building, which aims to improve the ranking by building backlinks (backlinks).

If the links come from thematically relevant and trustworthy domains, they help the Google crawler find websites better, visit them more often and classify them as more valuable.

Visitors can also be attracted to their own online content by cleverly placed, further links.

As with on-site content, the following has long been the case for backlinks: Quality comes before quantity!

The Google algorithm nowadays also detects inferior links, so that unfair link building (such as links bought from abroad) can lead to a penalty.

Note: The sub-area SEO-Offsite is already quite complex and varied in itself – that’s why we granted it its own introduction and published a BIEG guide on the subject of link building in cooperation with the IHK Hessen – take a look!

Don’t succumb to the dark side of SEO!

As already mentioned, over-optimized pages are rated negatively by Google. There were times when Google let itself be tricked with various factors, so that a webpage could be relatively easily “pushed” into the top rankings with the help of schematic tactics.

But thanks to the algorithm updates “Panda” and “Pinguin” , the Google ranking can no longer be manipulated sustainably using dodgy methods such as keyword stuffing. Rather, the deliberate violation of Google’s search engine guidelines can lead to being excluded from the Google index.

And believe us: Google recognizes and evaluates all data that could be associated with web spam – this applies to page content as well as backlinks!

You should therefore avoid agencies that use so-called Black Hat SEO methods to manipulate the ranking. You only risk that Google will penalize your website and, in the worst case, your users will no longer be able to find it at all.

Exercise patience; the SEO impact latency

You have taken all of our tips to heart and are now wondering how long it will take for these SEO measures to improve your Google results? Perhaps you’re impatiently clicking the update icon in the search engine results over and over again?

Let that be. When exactly an SEO brings the first results cannot be determined across the board.

The time it takes for the first ranking improvements to occur is influenced by many different factors, for example how heavily the keywords you use are advertised. Even if you as a website operator have only just gained a foothold on the World Wide Web, Google must first get to know your content and evaluate it as “trustworthy”.