Table of contents
Positioning is a complex and lengthy process. It consists of many elements, many of which should be taken into account already when building a new website. However, if our site was not built with SEO efforts in mind, there is still nothing lost. Most existing sites (unless they are built using very outdated technology) can also be positioned effectively.
The final positions of our site among organic search results are influenced by a large number of factors that Google explains in its Webmaster Guidelines. These guidelines are a set of requirements for websites from both the technical and content sides.
So what specifically affects positioning results?
1. Website design and operation
How our website is built and how it works is the first and absolutely most important ranking factor for Google. If our website does not meet certain requirements, no other actions will make us achieve high organic positions.
Every website must meet the Core Web Vitals (Core Web Vitals)—a set of metrics established by Google to determine a site’s quality. CWV evaluates a site’s loading speed and UX, and each measured parameter has its own dedicated scale. However, Google takes into account several technical elements that do not fall under the Core Web Vitals but are an integral part of an SEO audit.
An SEO audit is the first basic element of any SEO strategy, a base that cannot be overlooked. In an ideal world, any newly built website should include its elements right away. However, in most cases, sites are positioned much later than when they were created, so we need to conduct an SEO audit of the finished site, which consists of two basic parts: on-site analysis and off-site analysis.
The effect of the SEO audit is the conclusion that needs to be implemented. With a site prepared in this way, we can move on to implementing the next, no less important element of positioning.
The next step is the implementation of the next, no less important element of positioning.
2. Page content
The second very important element that cannot be overlooked is the construction and continuous development of the site content. This process should be carried out in accordance with the previously adopted SEO strategy and according to Content Plan, taking into account any keywords for which we would like to be visible.
The basic feature of content created for SEO must be its originality. Any text posted on our site must be different from others already present on the web. Otherwise, it will be considered duplicate content and ignored by Google, which will not allow its positioning.
The second important feature of content is its quality; the content we write must be valuable to the user and answer the questions he or she is asking in the search engine. The more potential queries of Google users we answer, the more phrases we will gain high positions.
The more potential queries of Google users we answer, the more phrases we will gain high positions.
The third, no less important feature of the content we create must be its length—the longer blog articles, news articles, or product and service descriptions we create, the more keywords we will naturally include in them.
3. Link building
Another segment no SEO strategy can do without is link building, i.e. acquiring links directing to the site. With the passing years and the development of Google’s algorithm, the importance of link building in the SEO process is steadily decreasing, but it is still not an element that can be ignored.
The links we acquire should be qualitative, first and foremost. This means that they must come from sites thematically related to our business. They should not constitute spam—that is, they should only be artificial creations without any value for search engine users.
The number of links acquired is also important. Too few may go unnoticed by the search engine robot, and too many may be considered spam.
Summary
As we can see, the three main segments of SEO are made up of many smaller elements. Each of them must be considered and addressed in order for our site to have a chance of achieving high rankings in organic search results. Focusing on implementing only some of the tasks, to the exclusion of the others, will result in no or little action.
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She has 11 years of professional experience, she started her career at the Emarketing Experts agency as a junior SEO specialist. In addition to website positioning, she was responsible for conducting 360° marketing projects as an Account Manager at They.pl. She worked for companies from the financial sector (Bank Millennium, Bank Meritum, Finai S.A.) and e-commerce (e.g. Black Red White, Autoland, Mumla). At Up&More, he is responsible for, among others, SEO projects for Panek Car Sharing, Amerigas, Interparking, H+H and Autoplaza.