Website positioning: SEO and optimization

Once we have our place on the web, we want our website to rank high in search results. For this purpose, the website will be optimized in terms of positioning.

Search Engaging Optimization (SEO) is the optimization and improvement of a website's content and code in order to increase its visibility in the search engine. In practice, its goal is to get the highest possible positions in the ranking of searched keywords. Most often, websites are optimized for a given search engine, which is Google or Bing.

There are many benefits to having good website visibility; SEO activities allow you to reach a larger pool of customers and increase sales. In addition, effective positioning will help increase trust in our brand and give a significant advantage over competing services. How to position websites to make them stand out from the rest? In this article, we describe what exactly SEO is and how to plan and execute an effective SEO strategy. In addition, you will find advice on common mistakes on websites that can significantly weaken its positioning.

Table of Contents:

1. What is SEO positioning?
2. Does SEO still matter in 2024?
3. SEO best practices, or how to become #1?
4. Evaluating and optimizing the website
5. Tools for SEO: How can they help in positioning our website?

What is SEO positioning?

Under the acronym SEO is the term Search Engine Optimization, which literally means "search engine optimization". In practice, it is one of the most important branches of tools for SEO.

Web positioning strives to get a site high in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). This means nothing more than more expertly determining the position of a page in a search engine after a search for given keywords. For example, when we search Google for the keyword "broth recipe," the pages in the first positions are the most relevant to our search. This is determined by complex algorithms that make up the optimization of search results for our intent.

The task of SEO is to fine-tune a website so that it directly responds to algorithms. Unfortunately, only quite superficial information and assumptions about the actual functioning of Google algorithms are known. The actual importance of individual SEO activities is not fully known, but we can assume with great certainty what is most effective for the current version of the search engine.

This does not mean that SEO activities are shots in the dark. In practice, there are rules that have a measurable impact on the perception of our website by search engine indexing bots. These include, above all, issues related to the structure of the website, the correctness of the HTML code and the architecture of the content.

In addition, we can also distinguish more qualitative metrics, such as the value of the content, its reliability or the credibility of the domain. We are not able to fully investigate whether our content is considered by the search engine to be qualitative or a matter of our website's authority on a given issue. There are tools that allow you to estimate this, such as Semrush or SurferSEO. However, they are only able to determine these metrics according to their own estimation algorithms.

Why is it worth optimizing our website for SEO?

Optimization and positioning of a website in the Google search engine brings numerous benefits. How can SEO help us grow our business?

1. Increase organic traffic and sales:

   Thanks to SEO optimization, we can get a high position in search results. The effects of effective website positioning are greater visibility, which directly translates into clicks and gaining the attention of a group of potential customers.

2. Recognition and building of our brand:

   An undoubted advantage of website positioning is its impact on the perception of our brand. By creating valuable content that will position our website highly, we will ensure a positive experience for its recipients. In addition, highly ranked websites inspire more trust and are better remembered.

3. Competitive Advantage:

   These days, most companies choose to do some degree of SEO optimization of their website. Awareness of SEO is high, so in order to gain an advantage, you should take careful care to implement the best and most up-to-date SEO practices possible. With effective SEO, you will gain a valuable advantage and "capture" customers.

Does SEO still matter in 2024?

Good SEO is still of great importance in 2024. Despite numerous changes over the years in the calculation of search results, SEO still plays a vital role in ensuring a high-quality experience for our website.

Despite this, we still have to keep in mind the above-mentioned changes. Google Search periodically updates the way it calculates the best search results for our query. Only by adapting to the latest trends in positioning and using good tools are we able to achieve positive results.

SEO best practices, or how to become #1?

In that case, the question arises: How to do SEO optimization in an effective way? The answer is not simple, because it consists of many factors and it depends on the type of activity of our website. Nevertheless, we can distinguish the best SEO practices that currently have the greatest impact on the positioning of our website.

No. 1: Content marketing

Perhaps the most important concept around SEO is the so-called Content Marketing. It consists in creating and adapting the content on our website so that it is both interesting and in accordance with certain rules.

The content itself must be interesting for the recipients so that they are more likely to use our offer and stay longer on our website. This translates into a positive user experience (UX), which is an important factor in the value of our website.

Content marketing includes all text and graphic content on our website. Good content marketing will ensure greater popularity of the website. Naturally, interesting content will get more shares and clicks than content created in a sloppy way. In this case, we must be particularly careful when using AI tools when creating texts. Current search engine algorithms detect low-quality AI-generated content. (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini).

If our website does not have much text content or we simply want to go a step further in its optimization, it is worth creating a dedicated blog. The blog, which is part of our website, may contain articles about the subject matter of the website. Well-written articles, optimized in terms of keywords and related to a given topic, will significantly support the positioning of our website. In addition, they will provide interesting content for our customers – this is a great opportunity to create our own brand.

No. 2: Building a network of quality backlinks

The process of positioning our website is not only about the content. What happens behind the scenes is equally important. An important variable in determining our position in search engines is the network of backlinks – links leading to our website from other websites.

When our website is linked to another website, part of its positioning value is transferred to us, and vice versa. It is a system that allows search engine bots to better assess the credibility of our website. In short: the more reliable websites link to ours, the better. A link from a well-known, verified website will increase the value of positioning our website to some extent.

However, this principle also works the other way around. Be wary of low-quality sites that offer to buy backlinks for your site. Toxic backlinks can harm our website, making it considered less reliable by the search engine.

The primary way to acquire backlinks is to create high-quality content for our website. If it is original and reliable enough, other portals and people may start linking to our articles.

Another method is the so-called guest posts. It is a kind of backlink exchange, which is an agreement between two different domains. Both parties decide, for example, to post articles containing backlinks to the other site. Such cooperation brings value and is a sure method of acquiring backlinks.

No. 3: Correct page layout and formatting

In the positioning strategy of our website, we cannot forget about the technical aspects of SEO. Meeting the generally accepted rules and determinants of the correct code for Google is an extremely important issue in optimizing our website in terms of SEO.

Properly defined headlines on our website are the basis of success. We must remember that all key phrases should be in the right places. The keywords we want to focus on should be in the H1 and H2 headings directly.

In the code of our website, we should correctly mark its elements, such as reviews, question section, contact information or product information. Search engine bots use this information to properly place it in the page's search results card.

The speed of the website also plays a key role. Speeding up page loading is a must to ensure good UX and better positioning of our website.

No. 4: Meta page in accordance with common rules

We also cannot forget about the rules of formatting meta information. These are the titles of our subpages, descriptions of our website in the search engine (meta descriptions) or robots tags. The latter is information directly addressed to bots scanning pages. They specify certain commands, e.g. whether we want our website to be indexed, or whether links from ours are not to be followed.

Poorly formatted meta affects the perception of our website, which directly translates into its visibility. Cut off titles or irrelevant descriptions of our website in the search engine will effectively scare users away and push us to the bottom of search results.

No. 5: Domain authority, i.e. trust in our domain

All of the above aspects of SEO and many others contribute to determining the level of trust and credibility of our website. This is a specific result of the prestige of our website, including the reliability of the authors creating the content.

Websites that are frequently linked, have high-quality content and stand out from the competition are positioned higher than those less competitive. Effective website positioning means coexistence among many active competitors. It depends on our approach whether we will be able to outdo our rivals in the adequacy of our website in relation to user queries.

A thorough analysis of the competition is the basis for positioning a website. Competing websites have probably already developed a certain pattern of content that allows them to stand out in the first search results. By creating an even better quality website, we will gain an advantage and thanks to systematic actions we will develop the authority of our domain.

Evaluating and optimizing the website

How to include the best SEO practices on our website in an effective way? If we already have a website, but we want to improve its positioning without creating it from scratch, we can take several thorough actions.

SEO audit

Conducting a thorough SEO audit is an essential first step in the process of optimizing a website. This audit should include:

• On-site analysis:

  • Evaluating page content for relevance, quality, and keyword usage.

  • Study of site structure and navigation.

  • Checking the page loading speed.

  • Optimized for mobile devices.

• Off-site analysis:

  • Examining the profile of links leading to the website.

  • Identify potential errors and technical issues.

  • Competitor analysis.

Defining realistic SEO goals

Before you start working on improving your SEO, it's important to be clear about the goals you want to achieve by performing page optimization. These goals should be measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound and specific.

Examples of SEO goals could be:

• Increase organic traffic by 20% in 6 months.

• Improve conversion rate by 10% over the year.

• Getting a higher position in search results for selected keywords.

• Increase brand recognition.

Choosing the right keywords for your website

When choosing keywords, we must be guided by our brand and industry. Keywords are phrases that users type into search engines to find information or products.

You should choose keywords that are:

• Relevant: They correspond to the needs and intentions of the target group.

• Relevant: They refer to the content and services offered on the website.

• Popular: They have the right level of search.

• Competitive: Possible to achieve a high position in search results.

Content optimization

The content of a website is one of the most important ranking factors for search engines, which we have discussed in the above subsections. Once we have a certain positioning strategy, we need to implement it in practice. We must pay special attention to ensure that our content is:

• Informative: It provides users with useful and interesting information.

• Unique: It stands out from the competition.

• Optimized for keywords: Keywords are used naturally in the content.

• Current: The content is regularly updated and supplemented.

Building a backlink network

Comprehensive website positioning is not only about content, but also about linking. The more high-quality links lead to a website, the higher it ranks in search results.

There are many ways to build a link profile, m.in.:

• Publish valuable content: Other websites will be more likely to link to content that is valuable and interesting to their users.

• Guest blogging: Writing guest articles on other websites with links to your website.

• Participation in Internet forums: Answering questions and participating in online forums with links to your website.

• Building relationships with influencers: Cooperation with influencers in their industry who will promote your website.

Tools for SEO: How can they help in positioning our website?

Our positioning strategy does not have to be difficult to implement. We will make our work much easier by using many valuable tools currently available on the market. These are special tools that make SEO optimization easier, and at the same time gain insight into valuable information about the operation of our website.

Google Search Console

One of the basic SEO tools is the platform provided by Google. It is completely free, for it to work it is enough to place a special token in the code of our website.

Thanks to it, we get insight into various types of reports on organic traffic on our website, the ranking of the website in organic search results or the correctness of the layout and meta of our website in relation to the rules.

The use of Google Search Console significantly supports keyword analysis, allows you to index new pages faster and supports the monitoring of traffic on your website (views in search results, clicks, etc.).

Semrush

One of the most popular paid SEO tools is the Semrush platform. Effective website positioning becomes much more intuitive thanks to the enormity of functions that this tool offers.

There you will find various tools for tracking and researching keywords, backlink profile, search engine positioning or detailed analysis of website traffic. It also offers information about the quality of our SEO, e.g. internal linking, link profile quality or error information.

In addition, many of these tools allow you to analyze competing websites. This makes it easier to figure out how we can gain an advantage and rank higher in the rankings.

SurferSEO

An integral part of the website positioning process is creating high-quality content. SurferSEO is a tool focused on just that task: optimizing and improving your content for keywords and quality.

Its main function is a text editor that allows automatic examination of key phrases in the text and indicating determinants for the length or layout of the text for given search terms. SurferSEO also allows you to automatically audit your website and indicate possible actions you can take to further improve your SEO. An interesting feature is the new AI tools that allow you to generate the text of articles automatically.