The process of SEO optimization for a website involves a sequence of steps designed to achieve the highest ranking for the site on search engines. SEO is an acronym for “search engine optimization,” which entails refining web pages to enhance their visibility to search engines. In the following, we will outline key elements that are crucial for optimizing every individual page.
Keywords
Keywords are important words that describe what your website is about. It’s crucial to use these words in the title of your page and within the content itself. But don’t overuse or underuse them – a good rule is to repeat keywords around 2-4 times for every 100 words you write.
To figure out which words people are using to search for topics related to your website, you can use a tool like Google’s keyword planner. This tool tells you how often certain words are searched for.
Make a list of topics that are connected to your website. Look at which words brought people to your site from search engines. You can use tools like Google Analytics to see which words brought visitors to your site.
Choose words that fit your content, are searched for a decent amount, and aren’t too competitive. Try using longer phrases with three or more words – these can target specific questions that match what your content covers.
Choosing a domain
When choosing a domain, there are practically two ways to choose it. The first option is to choose a “branded” domain that contains a keyword or phrase that is already known to visitors and you want to attract visitors to your site through it.
Another option is a keyword-based domain, where keywords or phrases are found in the domain name itself. From the SEO point of view, this option is much more effective because it guarantees better positioning in web search engines.
When selecting a domain for your website, prioritize a straightforward and memorable address. This makes it simpler for users to recall and type into their browsers. Shorter domains are more user-friendly, minimizing the likelihood of typing errors. Ideally, your domain should consist of no more than three words.
If it is a website aimed at an audience in Croatia, use the local extension .hr. If your website serves a global community, it is recommended to use a global extension such as .com, .net or .org.
Website design and development
Regardless of the technology or programming language you utilize to build web pages, it’s crucial to ensure that your page boasts a solid structure. This involves establishing categories, subcategories, and menus that enhance visitors’ access to content. To aid web browsers in efficient navigation, it’s recommended to create a sitemap.
The architecture of your website holds substantial sway over SEO. A well-designed architecture simplifies both user and search engine navigation. This holds significance because top search engines like Google appreciate high-quality, user-friendly websites. When devising navigation, opt for textual links, ensuring essential sub-pages are reachable within just a couple of clicks.
Employing effective website architecture can substantially elevate your search engine rankings.
Website content
The quality of the content is a very important SEO factor, so it is not recommended to copy content from other sites, but to write your own unique content. Create content that is useful, informative and relevant to your target audience. Add keywords to your content, but don’t overdo it. Look for opportunities to create internal and external links in your content to improve SEO. Of course, these links should be relevant to the content of your website.
Since web browsers do not have the ability to recognize the content of the image, it would be desirable to add alt=tags to each image. The image file name and alt text should contain keywords. Images should be compressed and optimized to load faster on a website.
In the title (title) and description (description) you should include keywords that describe the content of your website. This will help search engines to better understand the content of your site and users to understand if it is what they are looking for. The title and description should also include your branding to improve your company’s recognition. This also helps differentiate your website from other sites using similar keywords.
Each page on your website should have a unique title and description that describes the content of that page. This helps search engines to better understand the structure of your website and users to quickly find what they are looking for.
The number of words on a website is not the only important factor for SEO, but it is certainly important to consider. Pages with more text tend to rank better on Google, as such content provides more information. When it comes to content length, many experts recommend that content be a minimum of 300 words. However, it is important to take into account the type of content, the target audience, and the competition in the market.
When optimizing a website, you should definitely keep in mind that the pages are intended for visitors, not web browsers. The quality of the content has priority over the quantity, and users will not read or share overblown, low-quality and useless content, which will affect the ranking of your site.