WEBSITE SEO

What is SEO?

SEO (in English search engine optimization) is to increase the visibility of a website in search engine results. In Estonian, SEO is called optimizing a website for search engines. This is one part optimization of the homepage. 

The goal of website SEO is to make the website visible. Simply put, the goal is to bring more visitors to the website through search engines. If a person enters a keyword into the search engine and thereby shows interest in a certain product or service, the optimized page will be shown at the top of the search results. Optimized web pages organically bring more visitors and therefore significantly contribute to better sales results.

What are search engines and how do they work?

Search engine i.e. a search engine is a computer program whose output can be used to find information on the web. Internet search engines collect and organize web pages according to the user's query. Although the various search engines are extremely complex programs, it is not difficult to understand their basic functions:

1. internet search engines collect information about the content on web pages,
2. categorize and systematize this information,
3. help users to find the most suitable one among this huge amount of information.

Search engines are considered the cornerstone of the Internet today. For many, a search engine is the starting point for opening a web browser. 98% of all Internet users uses a standard search engine at least once a month.

Arguably the most used in search engines is Google. In addition, popular search engines such as Bing, Yandex ja Yahoo. Search engines in Estonia work on exactly the same principles, but there is a difference in the popularity of their use. It is certainly the most famous among Estonian search engines NET.

Considering the dependence of internet users on search engines to find all types of content, both search engine marketing, or SEM, and SEO marketing are increasingly popular. It is increasingly important for marketers and entrepreneurs to be familiar with both areas. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is different from Search Engine Optimization (SEO). While SEO focuses on increasing traffic through organic search, SEM also increases traffic through paid advertising and other means. 

How does search engine SEO work?

Search engines use robots, so-called "spiders" (in English crawlers, bots), which move from site to site and collect information about those pages. In this way, the "spider" documents all the information contained on the website and stores it in the database. 

When a user enters a word into Google, for example, the search engine uses algorithms to find the most accurate and useful list of results for that query from among the information stored in its database. A search engine algorithm is each search engine's special system for ranking web pages, and the results are constantly changing. Some of the factors that search engines consider in their algorithm:

• keywords and their relevance,
• the content and its organization and length, 
• references from other websites,
• meta codes,
• alt tags.

Optimizing your website and content can help your website rank higher in search results. Unlike paid search advertising, search engines cannot be paid to rank higher in organic search. 

Search engine marketing

Nowadays, if you need to know something, you generally go to Google. Every second is made globally 70 000 Google search.  In addition to the search engine, other Google services are also available - Gmail, Google Maps, Google Docs, etc., which are used worldwide. These services are available in all Google languages, including Estonian.

The website is added to the Google search engine automatically - the owner or administrator of the website does not have to do anything for this. But how to get on the first page of Google is a question that many entrepreneurs and e-shop owners are looking for an answer to. Google SEO is no different in its principles from SEO of other search engines. However, there is a lot to know about Google when starting search engine optimization.

With Google SEM, or Google marketing, attention should be paid to paid advertisements. Websites with paid advertising appear before organic websites in Google search. Google Ads allow the company's website to appear above the search results, as well as display the company's location in, for example, Google Maps. The price of a Google ad depends on its success. You only pay for results - for example, clicks to a website or calls to a business. Google in Estonia and paid advertising works on the same principles.

If you think about how Google could still contribute to the marketing of my company, the answer is Google Partner Program. Joining the Google Partners program gives you access to training, support and resources to help you create successful campaigns for your clients and grow and promote your business.

Why is SEO necessary for a website? 

Think of your business as a plant. Different plants require different types of care to grow and bloom. Everyone knows the basics - use soil, plant a seed, water and let in sunlight. In theory, all that remains is to see how the plant grows. In reality, many novice plant growers get into trouble and many questions arise. What kind of soil is needed? How much is enough, but not too much water and light? When do you need a bigger pot?

The same is the case with your company and its website. Creating a good website, like growing plants, does not seem like a difficult task in theory. Attractive design, user-friendliness, specific sales texts and paid website advertising seem to be sufficient to cover the necessary aspects for search engine marketing. But why is the findability of some company's homepages better and thus the number of visitors and sales results higher? How can any website thrive with seemingly the same operating principles? 

This is where SEO comes into play. SEO is what ensures a website's better visibility and ranking in search results. The better the search engine friendliness of the website, the more likely the website will be visible in Google and attract potential customers.

1. SEO analysis

The most extensive part of search engine optimization is the first step in the process - mapping the existing. It helps to find the weakest aspects of the website. The analysis creates a basis for the health of the website and gives an overview of the pain points. Optimizing your homepage is the safest thing to rely on to the audit and previous results and only then implement changes to achieve better discoverability. To improve the position of the website in the search results, you can optimize mainly the website itself, but also many other factors. 

2. Keyword analysis

Keywords are the terms through which the user of the internet search engine reaches the web page. There are specific tools for finding keywords that show not only the terms through which users reach the page, but also their order of importance, related terms, successful keywords for competitors and much more. There are the best programs for finding keywords for example Semrush, Ahrefs ja Surf SEO. The terms obtained from the keyword analysis are used in later stages to create content. 

3. Content - text, images, videos

Website content is one of the most important, often even the most important component of SEO. Without proper and structured content, it is impossible for a website to be better than competitors and to reach the first page of search engines. Content is the front page, product or service description, blog post, video, article and any other text. 

While there is a lot to keep track of when it comes to website content, there are three main recommendations:

• using the right keywords in the right places, including the wording of titles;
• structuring and organizing texts;
• length of texts.

4. On-page SEO

On-page SEO, or website optimization, as the name suggests, means work on the website itself. On-page SEO means optimizing both page content and HTML source code. In addition, this part of SEO includes, for example, text under images, keyword selection, speeding up page load time, and optimizing titles. One of the most pivotal factors in on-page SEO is relevance. How relevant is the content of the web page to the user's search query and the purpose behind the search. 

5. Technical SEO

Technical SEO is about improving the technical aspects of a website. Technical SEO is considered a part of on-page SEO that focuses on improving the elements of the website itself. Important elements of technical SEO include crawling, indexing, rendering, website architecture, and mobile friendliness.

The most important part of technical SEO is website speed. Search engines know that slow web pages do not provide optimal user experience and convenience. Therefore, they prefer web pages that load faster.

Technical SEO includes the details that need to be done to please the search engines. The average website visitor usually doesn't notice any of them.

6. Off-page SEO and backlinks

Off-page SEO is work done outside of a website to influence search engine rankings through it. Off-page SEO refers to all SEO tactics that do not involve updating or publishing content to the homepage. This includes, for example, external links, content marketing, advertising, social media and much more. 

One of the most important parts of off-page SEO is external links. External links or "back links" (in English backlinks) are simply links that lead from one website to another. Search engines use backlinks in ranking analysis because when one website links to another, it means they believe in the importance of the content they are linking to.

7. Local SEO

Local SEO is a marketing method that helps businesses with a physical location improve their visibility in search engines, especially Google and Maps. It is an integral part of SEO strateegiast that targets customers in a specific region, city or neighborhood. If the website wants to sell products or services to consumers located in one city, for example, the emphasis is on local SEO.

SEO services

Successful website SEO and good results include several elements. In such a case, an SEO specialist and those offered on the Estonian market will help to fulfill the client's goals SEO services the selection itself usually includes the following steps:

1. An audit that includes both a technical audit and a content audit. It provides a concise overview of the pain points of the website that need to be improved in order to secure a good position in organic search. 
2. Keyword analysis to find out the current results and positions and to use the information and terms obtained on this basis later in the content. Optimizing your content based on valuable keywords is what gets you in front of potential customers.
3. Content creation - it includes front page text, blog posts, category pages, landing pages, as well as images and videos. Creating content with a purpose and using the right keywords in the content is one important part of SEO.
4. On-page optimization – this stage includes, for example, title optimization, meta/alt texts and content creation control. 
5. Technical SEO, which refers to improving the technical aspects of a website. Making a website faster, easier to crawl, mobile-friendly and understandable to search engines are the cornerstones of technical optimization. 
6. Off-page SEO and external references or backlings - this stage includes the history and traffic of the website, advertising, the number of referring links and other actions that are performed outside the website. 
7. Local SEO reveals a lot of useful information about where a website's target audience is looking for goods, services or information. This data can then be used for localized SEO strateegto create ia.

Website SEO service can be a one-time undertaking, but search engines are constantly changing. This means that regular work leads to the best possible result. The Google search engine makes an average of 600 or more changes to search engine logic per year. Major changes are made on average four times a year. All of these changes affect the ranking of search results. Maybe it has to be said, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.