SEO, but the right way - what store and website operators should know

SEO, but the right way - what store and website operators should know

The path to self-employment has never been as easy as it is today. Whether it's having your own website, starting a career as an influencer or setting up an online store - all of this requires work, but the hurdles to starting your own business are significantly lower than they were 20 years ago. However, before strapping on the wings of entrepreneurial freedom, it's time to go to the drawing board: will your project be successful? What needs to be considered? How can you make sensible use of your rather small budget?

In the beginning, it is often too expensive to place sufficient advertising to reach potential customers. In this context, search engine optimization could therefore offer a starting point. But if you want to go down this path, you should do it right. The most important aspects are outlined in more detail here.

Figure 1: Search engine optimization is still a powerful tool for customer acquisition today. Image source: @ Carlos Muza / Unsplash.com

Search engine optimization - what is it actually?

Search engine optimization is also known as SEO and is often a closed book. "It has something to do with Google" is not an uncommon response from laypeople. Basically, SEO describes all measures that serve to improve the ranking of your own digital asset (e.g. website, profile, channel, store) in search engine results.

These measures can be divided into different areas:

On-page optimization includes the optimization measures that directly affect the respective asset. These include:

Technical SEO as a subcategory

Part of on-page optimization is technical SEO. This involves ensuring that a website can be indexed well by search engines as well as mobile display. Last but not least, technical SEO should also eliminate errors on the website and make data protection regulations technically possible.

Off-page optimization includes all measures to increase visibility in search engines that do not directly entail changes to the digital asset. This is therefore primarily about increasing awareness - and in particular you should not disregard the backlinks. This works via various strategies:

What mistakes can be made in the area of SEO?

If you are interested in improving your website or profile in the search results of popular search engines, you will inevitably have to deal with SEO. However, there are some mistakes and errors that can ultimately lead to problems.

This includes, among other things:

In comparison to placed advertisements, visitors who come to your website via search engines are free of charge. There is therefore no billing per visitor. Nevertheless, SEO measures themselves are not free of charge. The individual optimization measures often have to be initiated, which costs either money or time.

Search engine optimization is never completely finished. A successful SEO strategy therefore does not work according to the motto: "Set and forget". Rather, it is about continuous development, which also includes constant monitoring. This allows you to react accordingly to changes in the search algorithm. Moreover, the measures themselves do not take effect overnight. Depending on the type of measure and the individual circumstances surrounding the website, it can take several weeks for the optimization to be reflected in changes to the search results.

Visitors click on search results because they hope the results will help them with their questions, problems and wishes. For this reason, it is important to fulfill the expectations of visitors when they make a search query. If this is not the case, users will quickly leave the website again. Search engines such as Google track user behavior and rank a website lower if this happens more frequently. For this reason, the following applies: Know user intentions and create tailored, high-quality content.

SEO: An important adjusting screw in online marketing

The bottom line is that search engine optimization is a powerful tool for increasing your visibility within your target group. However, anyone interested in this should avoid a few glaring mistakes right from the start. For example, it is of little use to regard SEO as a one-off action. If you want to be successful in the long term, you should implement SEO measures on a permanent basis and adapt to changes accordingly. If you do it yourself, this means dealing with a rather complex subject area in detail. Alternatively, specialists such as agencies can be hired to develop and implement a suitable SEO strategy. Used correctly, search engine optimization is still very worthwhile today.