For a successful search engine optimization (SEO) you should work out a few keywords first under which you would like to be found.

Always consider whether these concepts are relevant for your (potential) customers and make sure that you really chose the exact terms they are looking for. As soon as you have determined the keywords you are ready to go!

The following checklist is intended solely as a rough guide on how you should regularly update and optimize your site to be found by search engines.

1. Write unique content/text

  • The fundamental basis for a good SEO is a unique textual content, which means that the texts of your web presence exist only there and not on other domains, this is called having "unique content";
  • Make sure that you mention in the text the terms under which you would like to be found - but make sure that the text is readable and the keyword density of desired keywords is just between 2-4%;
  • Optimize a contents page for a single keyword only;
  • Make sure that the header contains the appropriate keyword as well for achieving best results;
  • Do not use images as headings or navigation elements as search engines currently can only recognize text properly - search robots generally do not know what is hidden in a picture and therefore you risk giving away very important SEO potential.

2. Link your page internally

  • Connect your internet presence internally by linking your website pages amongst each other. It offers your visitors an added value, providing references which could be relevant by reading a text;
  • If possible, place links on keywords under which you would like to be found;
  • Do make sure that the readability of the text does not suffer and the number of links remains manageable. Depending on the length of the text, two to five links per page are recommended.

3. Make use of the meta-data

  • Write an interesting META title that is relevant to the page keyword, which should not be longer than 70 characters;
  • Write a meaningful descriptive text (META description), which gets the attention of visitors and makes them curious to read on. It should not have more than 170 characters;
  • By using the META information you can influence the results page of Google directly, because the information given here is usually directly influencing the search result.

4. Welcome link from other websites

  • Try to get links from other Websites as these are basically business recommendations for search engines and therefore very interesting and relevant. This possibility of optimization is called off-page optimization;
  • If possible, try to ensure that the pages that link to yours offer the same or very similar topics;
  • Try to get links from sites that have a very high page ranking as their popularity translates to some extent to your page;
  • It is best to link keywords under which you would like to be found and to place links to texts and not on images such as banners, etc.;
  • All referring pages should not have the same wording, so use different link texts for the best results;
  • Be careful with cheap search engine optimization service offers, as these are often dubious and have at worst the opposite effect - namely, the blocking of your domain in the search engines.

5. Pay attention to the needs of your visitors

  • You should optimize a page only to a certain extent for search engines;
  • The ultimate goal of a website optimization is to provide the best possible source of information to the visitors of the site - the potential (new) customer. Keep in mind that in the end the customer buys, not the search engine;
  • Ensure having a simple user interface (usability) in place, so that the customer quickly and easily gets the desired information or desired products and services;
  • Write the text of your website by taking into account your desired keywords, but never in a way that the text is difficult or cumbersome to read for visitors.

Please do not expect your website to achieve top rankings in search engines within just a few days after your optimization measures. The topic of search engine optimization is basically very complex because search engines are continually developing, which makes it necessary to always track and/or react to the news on SEO market needs. Thus, it is an on-going process that should be steadily driven forward to achieve measurable and consistently good results.

By Daniela La Marca