Appearing high in the search results of digital search engines is important for every company. No matter whether you are a small wine merchant from the suburbs or a large company based in the capital. SEO optimization of your website is an important step. We will therefore show you five tips to ensure that your website is more than just a digital business card.
Optimizing your own website for SEO is not rocket science
In order to achieve a good ranking for your website on the largest search engine, Google, you don't have to invest a lot of money in agencies and consultants. Because although SEO – Search Engine Optimization – sounds complicated at first, it is not.
While a few years ago it was sufficient to generate as many backlinks to your own site as possible, Google is a lot smarter today. And it even makes good ranking easier.
Search engines use constantly adapting algorithms to determine whether the website actually provides the visitor with the information they are looking for. You can achieve this in two ways.
On the one hand, you obviously have to make the information you are looking for available on your site in the form of text, images or video. On the other hand, good ranking results also require basic SEO optimizations in the website settings, such as titles, meta descriptions and adjusted image sizes.
Basics for successful SEO optimization of your website
Before we give you the most important tips for SEO optimization of your website, we'll go over two basics:
- Search engines like Google check each individual page of your website and not the domain as a whole. To put it simply: Each subpage is checked and ranked as its own small website. This means for your strategy: Each subpage must be self-contained and contain all information on a topic.
For example, if you create a page for a specific offer, you should summarize all information such as price, conditions, booking options, FAQ, etc. on this page.
Therefore, when developing the individual pages, the following applies: What do you want to achieve with it and is it important that this page is found easily on Google?
Of course, there are also pages that are important for your website but do not rely on a good Google ranking. This includes, among other things, the pure contact pages or, for larger companies, the “About Us” pages.
Therefore, analyze your page structure and decide for which subpages of your website SEO optimization is important.
- Optimize each page for just one keyword. This will help both your readers and Google see that this page is about information on a specific topic.
Let's take the example of a winemaker from a suburb who would like to be better found regionally. It would be advisable to create individual subpages for your offer. “White wine” in combination with the mention of the place makes it clear what the customer can buy from this winemaker. The same would also be conceivable for “red wine” + location or other combinations.
The reader and Google also receive precise information.
SEO optimization of your website: Our tips
Don't put off SEO optimization of your website any longer because it's easier than you think. Follow our tips:
It doesn't work without mobile display
Basically, you can save yourself all the SEO optimization of your website if it is not easy to access on mobile devices. Fewer and fewer people are accessing information from the Internet via a desktop PC. Smartphones and tablets are definitely on the rise.
This is not new information for Google either, which is why the algorithm was recently changed to reflect this. Google is now checking whether the mobile version of your website is easy to reach and use and punishes this with a worse ranking if it is not fulfilled.
Therefore, the first step in SEO optimization of your website is: Is your website available on smartphones etc. well presented? Do the image sizes adjust, are the buttons appropriately sized and is the text readable without scrolling sideways?
Title optimization
The title of your page or post is the first thing both your readers and Google see. A look at the open tab in your browser proves this.
Make sure your keyword appears in the title. This also helps with further spread. If you or your visitors share your pages and posts on social media, the title will also be displayed.
But SEO optimization is not yet complete with that alone. Because your visitor or potential customer will only read your post if the title also arouses curiosity or promises information on the topic they are looking for.
We therefore have three tips for really good titles:
1. Use the keyword. Then it is clear to both the reader and Google what your post is about.
2. Prove relevance. And thereby convince your reader to actually read the text. Feel free to get creative. Maybe you choose a provocative title or a heading that is not expected in the context of the content.
3. Pay attention to the optimal length. This is between 40 and 60 characters. Longer titles cannot be displayed in the search engine results display. This doesn't necessarily bother Google, but your readers may miss the crucial information that makes them click.
If your titles meet the criteria described above and you receive more and more access to the SEO-optimized pages of your website over time, this is also an indicator of relevant content for Google. This will of course be rewarded with a better ranking.
The meta description is part of the SEO optimization of the website
The meta description is a short summary of the page or post content that Google uses to display it as a teaser in search ads. This gives the reader concrete information about what to expect from each page.
If you do not specify a meta description when optimizing your website for SEO, Google will use the beginning of your text. However, you are wasting valuable potential because you probably don't use the keyword or a description of the content in the first sentence.
The same tips apply to good meta descriptions as to meaningful titles: Be sure to use the keyword and briefly describe the content so that the reader has no choice but to click on your post.
The character limit for the meta description at Google is currently limited to 160 characters. However, please check regularly as the algorithms can change at any time.
Shorten your URLs
These adjustments are often forgotten, but they are just as important for the SEO optimization of your website as the other tips.
You should also pay attention to the use of the keyword in your URLs. Shorten the URL of pages and posts to a few words that still refer to the content of the post.
Let's stick with the example of the winemaker: Use www.NameWinzer.de/weißwein place and everyone knows what to expect from the site.
Don't forget your pictures
Customizing your images also falls under the SEO optimization of your website. There are two things to consider.
Take care of the size of the images. Of course, depending on the structure of your site, you may need larger images, but as a rule the photos and graphics should not exceed 200 KB.
This is especially important for the loading time of your website. Nobody wants to have to wait for the individual elements to build up when accessing a page.
By the way, the key to web design is to save the appropriate image size for each device and deliver it dynamically.
And don’t forget to use the alt tags on your images. Google is currently image-blind, which means that the search engine only recognizes information from images if they are described accordingly.
The same applies here: Use the keyword and describe in a few words how the image fits the text.
But despite all the tips, we would like to keep one thing in mind: Yes, search engine optimization is important. But don't forget that your offer and your texts will be found by people who are looking for them. Therefore, make it as easy as possible for your readers to get to the information they are looking for through clear user guidance, ease of use, good content and fast loading times. This makes your readers happy and ultimately also Google.
As you can see, SEO optimization of your website is also possible for you. If you need support, then of course you can contact us.
Stay in touch.