What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization Guide 2023

SEO, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Optimization and even SEO optimization.

The dear child has many names, and this is also the case when it comes to SEO.
SEO is an abbreviation of Search Engine Optimization.

Confusion notwithstanding - the goal is the same. In a nutshell, search engine optimisation is about optimising the content and technical aspects of your website so that it ranks for valuable keywords and appears at the top of Google's coveted page 1.

And there's good reason to be visible on Google Search. The search engine is one of the most well-known and used search engines in the world, and in 2021 it had a market share of 95.12% for search engines in Denmark!

And that's where SEO comes in - search engine optimisation
gives you the best chance of being visible in search results when potential customers are looking for your services or products.

Back in the wild 2010s, SEO was all about spamming your website with landing pages targeting different keyword combinations - landing pages that were in turn overstuffed with the keyword you wanted to rank for.

Thankfully, this method has long since been blacklisted by Google. Google's mission, in their own words, is to "provide the most relevant and reliable information available" within a given search, and a landing page that exists solely to rank for a given keyword is hardly intended to provide relevant and reliable information.

That's why Google is constantly striving to optimise the search engine's content requirements - most recently with their helpful content update from August 2022. As the name suggests, the helpful content update aims to ensure that users are satisfied with the content they are served in search results. In other words, the content should be useful.

So what is useful content in Google's view? Well, useful content is:

• created for people, not (search) machines
• adapted to the primary target group
• relevant to the subject matter and general content of the website
• produced by experienced (the extra E in E-A-T) authors with authority in the field.

For SEO specialists, the helpful content update means that they need to think (even more) about how they think about keyword analysis and strategy - but also how they produce content.

There is no point in trying to rank for as many keywords as possible if the search results are not relevant to the recipient. Similarly, it is not about bombarding the web with content, but about selecting relevant content - and not least adapting it to the given search target.

That's why it's a good idea to look at your competitors when developing your content strategy - what makes them rank high? For example, you can look for:

• What types of content rank for specific search terms? Is it informative? Selling?
• How far are competitors' content?
• What questions are typically asked about the topic?
• Are there subtopics within areas?
• What does the content link to?
• Who is the sender of the content - and what is their experience?

With useful, user-centric content, you're well on your way to ranking high in 2023.

Search engine optimisation is about optimising a number of factors that Google considers to be quality for users - and that can help a website rank higher in search results.

In fact, Google has hundreds of factors in the equation. Factors that together determine how a website ranks for certain keywords in search results. You can think of it as one big equation, where each factor has an impact on how visible your website will be. That's why there's no fixed recipe for getting to the top of Google - just as results don't come overnight.

Overall, however, there are 3 main elements that can help you get started: content, technique and authority.

The content of your website is important. But if the technical stuff isn't right, Google won't find the site readable, and the site won't be user-friendly for your potential customers. That's why optimising the technical factors - technical SEO - is also a vital part of search engine optimising a website.

Technical SEO is the slightly more long-haired part of search engine optimisation. It requires a good understanding of what goes on inside the engine room of your website.
In practice, technical SEO includes analysis:

• the quality of the source code on the website
• whether the page is indexed correctly
• whether it is mobile-friendly
• whether there is duplicate content
• if there are heavy images or other elements on the page that make it slow.

Technical SEO also includes dead link analysis and redirection, search engine friendly URL naming, ALT and H tag optimisation, page titles and meta descriptions, and structured data setup to help Google understand the content of the website.

And that's just a small sample of the many tasks within technical SEO. Long story short, the purpose of technical SEO is to get a website to perform technically optimally. Partly to give users the best experience, but also to make the site more readable by Google - and thus increase the chance of coming out on top.

Having knowledge and insight into Google's algorithms is crucial when working with search engine optimisation. It's the algorithms that help determine where your website appears in search results.

That's why an algorithm update will always make SEO specialists hold their breath - because if an update means the house of cards falls, years of strategic work could be wasted.

However, there's rarely much to worry about as long as you put your users first. Google Search is a search engine that will always try to display the content that is most relevant to the user's search - and this is exactly what you need to keep in mind when working with SEO!

And while it's not always easy to understand Google's exact algorithms, there are several parameters that can have a significant impact on a website's search rankings - and are therefore worth considering when starting your SEO adventure.

Past experience shows that the following factors help determine where in the rankings your website will appear:

• User's specific search
• Geographical location of the user
• Credibility of the website
• Usability of the website
• Relevance of the website.

SEO is long-term and continuous work that never really ends. Google's algorithms are complex and ever-changing, and competition for the top spots on Google can be fierce.

If you've tried your hand at search engine optimisation, you know that it can be difficult to make sense of a SEO strategy. But you have to start somewhere.

A SEO strategy might look like this:

The goal of search engine optimisation is visibility, which should ultimately lead to more sales or enquiries through your website. That's why it's a good idea to set up proper tracking of visitors, referrals, sales, newsletter sign-ups and other key metrics that can tell you about the return on your SEO efforts.

Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager are indispensable tools here. Analytics can give you almost any data you need about your website, while Tag Manager is the link between your site and your Analytics account to make sure you're measuring the right metrics.

The quantity and quality of links pointing to your site from other sites has a big impact on your site's authority - and therefore your rankings on Google. That's why it's important to keep working on getting relevant links to your site. This discipline is known as 'link building'. This means links from pages that are thematically similar to yours.

Links from generic private blogging networks, shady casino sites and lurid porn sites are not relevant links. Links from industry associations, suppliers, partners, bloggers, sponsors, press releases and reviews are.

So while the quantity of links matters, the quality is the most important. Better one relevant link than 10 irrelevant ones.

There's no such thing as resting on your laurels when it comes to SEO. Google's algorithm is complex, just as competition for certain keywords can be high. That's why it's important to continually evaluate the return on your efforts.

For example, do you rank poorly for certain keywords? Is your website not generating enough enquiries? Or are your users otherwise not interacting with your content as desired?

These are questions that you must ask yourself on an ongoing basis, and which form the basis for possible optimisation.

While there are hundreds of internal and external factors that can affect your SEO strategy, the optimization process is often referred to as two general categories: on-page and off-page SEO.

Outbound link building is used to link to external pages that make sense and are relevant to your visitors. Outbound link building has been used in several places in this guide - can you spot them? Psst. you can find an outbound link under 'what is external link building?'.

It's no exaggeration to say that external link building is a divisive technique in most SEO departments. External link building aims to direct traffic to your website so that Google considers your website relevant and valuable. You can link through websites, blog posts, social media and other Google services such as Google My Business - you canread our guide to Google My Business here.

However, link building is about more than "just creating links". Before you know it, you may have spent a lot of time, effort and money on external link building to no avail. Like all other aspects of SEO, you need to get your analytics right before you start.

External link building can be divided into 2 categories - the free and the paid.

You have now found the landing page you want to link to and found a domain that is relevant to get links from. Now it's time to check the quality of the domain.

Take a look at the following:

1. DR (domain rating) - how high is it?
2. The content - does the website content match YOUR content?
3. Credibility - is the website trustworthy?

At Webamp we mainly use the Ahrefs tool when we need to get an insight into all corners of a website, as the tool collects virtually all kinds of data. A true dream tool for a SEO specialist.

For the sake of clarity, we have run a test on google.dk, as you can see in the image below. It's clear to see that Google (obviously) has an incredibly high DR, a lot of backlinks and referring domains as well as organic traffic.

If you want to avoid violating some of Google's many guidelines, we recommend that you properly understand what good and natural link building is. If you want to make sure it's done right, you can also use a marketing agency that are experts in marketing. In the worst case, a violation could lead to your domain being banned from Google's index.

At Webamp , our SEO team specialises in link building and we only use relevant and trustworthy sites that provide value!

Are you new to SEO, or just want to check if there are any tools you are not familiar with yet? Don't worry. Here you'll get an insight into the SEO tools that our SEO specialists use every day.

If you want good results, it's important to use the right tools. Just as there are people who prefer gin to vodka, there are also, of course, divided opinions about the different SEO tools.

Our specialists have years of experience in search engine optimisation, and this is your opportunity to get an insight into their tools.

Are you driven by data like our own SEO specialists? Then don't fool yourself by reading one of our previous posts that goes in depth on the aforementioned SEO tools and more.

Do you know the feeling of standing in a metre-long queue at your local supermarket, eagerly waiting to pay for your groceries? It's a bit like the feeling you get when visiting a slow-loading website. Few people have the time or patience to wait. By examining and optimising the load time of your website, you can be more successful on Google.

Did you know that Google rewards websites that have a fast loadtime? In 2021, Google rolled out an update to their algorithms that meant a good page and user experience became a major ranking factor in Google's eyes. Website usability on different devices, good page speed and secure landing pages were some of the main areas of focus.

There are a host of tools that can give you information about the speed of your website, as well as an overview of which areas need a little extra love.

Tools you can use:

1. Pagespeed Insights
2. Pingdom
3. Lighthouse.

Our specialists all have their go-to tools - try out a few and find your favourite!

Just as there are best practices for SEO on websites, you should also be able to tick off a number of checkpoints if you want higher rankings for your Youtube videos.

We went through all the points ourselves when we published the little explainer video you'll find at the top of this guide in January. This means that at the time of writing we are in the top 10 of Google's video results for the search 'seo' - also in YouTube's top 10 for the search 'what is seo'.

And don't worry, it's not a trade secret what we've done - you get the list right here.

Which marketing strategy is right for your business? This is one of the most common questions in digital marketing - and with so many options available, it's understandable to be unsure!

It's ALWAYS a good idea to invest in your online presence - we at SEO- and Google Ads- can certainly vouch for that.

The long-term investment that creates value
SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that is definitely worth the time if you know what you are doing. The optimisation process is time-consuming and it is necessary to master everything from copywriting and link building to the technical optimisation of the website.

There have been numerous studies showing that people are more likely to click on an organic search result rather than an ad. The organic search results are more associated with trustworthiness - do you even scroll past the paid ads?

The good investment if you are an expert
Advertising on Google is often referred to as a short marketing strategy compared to SEO. However, this is not the case if you put blood, sweat and tears into every ad that is prepared, just like our Google Ads specialists.

If you need a well-functioning Ads account and a Google Ads strategy that delivers a positive ROI, don't hesitate to contact a marketing agency.

You'll never go wrong investing in both SEO and Google Ads - but you'll need the time and budget. These are two of the biggest areas in digital marketing, and if you can harness the potential of both, you'll definitely be noticed.

SEO can benefit greatly from the large data base that can be found in Google Ads. As search engine optimisation is a solution that sometimes requires patience, this can provide a better and faster overview of which keywords are worth investing in.

In addition, if you use the same keyword combinations in your paid ads as you do in SEO, past experience shows that search engine optimisation gets a boost. Some would argue it's a better love story than Jack and Rose in Titanic.

Google Ads works in the same way as an auction house, but it's not just price that's a deciding factor at Google.

Google prioritises user-friendliness, the so-called quality result - and this is also true when it comes to paid ads. So you can't be sure of winning a page 1 ranking, even if you put in the biggest amount of money. This is where SEO plays a key role, working on page speed, landing pages, text formatting, title and meta descriptions, etc.

A US marketing agency has looked into the interaction between SEO and Google Ads, and the study showed that a better quality result (due to SEO) resulted in cheaper click-through rates and more traffic to both the organic and paid ads. Read more about the study here.

Have you been convinced that your business should be visible in both paid and organic search results? At Webamp we are ready to take your marketing strategy to new heights!

It's not impossible to succeed with SEO on your own - but it's a time-consuming process that requires you to keep your mouth shut. There are many different areas that you need to master - including copywriting, communication and the ability to troubleshoot and correct technical errors on a website.

There are many benefits to using a marketing agency if you want to grow and realise your business potential.

1. Most marketing agencies have the ability to handle ALL of your marketing activities.
2. You save the cost of a marketing person (which is typically much higher than the cost of using an agency).
3. You avoid the cost of training a new employee.
4. You can get specialised advice and help to identify business potential.
5. You don't need to spend money on all the SEO programmes.
6. You get a tailored, specialised and targeted SEO strategy.
7. You will be assigned a specialist with years of experience in SEO, who knows what works.
8. You can focus on your core competencies.
9. An agency specialising in SEO is always up to date with the many updates in Google's algorithms.

There are a multitude of marketing agencies offering the same services, so it's understandable that it can be difficult to decide which one to choose.

Choose an agency where...

• You have a good working relationship with the consultant.
• There is an understanding of your company's vision and mission.
• You have a good gut feeling from the start.
• It is not the price that is the main selling point.

If you would like help with SEO, or would like to know more about digital marketing in the form of SEO or one of our other services, then you are more than welcome to contact us for a no-obligation consultation. We also highly recommend reading Google's SEO starter guide.

There's actually a linguistic term for using redundant acronyms, and it's called RAS syndrome. The sharp rhetorician has already discovered that RAS syndrome also falls into this category - and at Webamp we certainly like to take the piss.

Examples of RAS phrases:

• HIV virus (human immunodeficiency virus... virus)
• AIDS syndrome (acquired immune deficiency syndrome... syndrome)
• ISBN-number (international standard book number.... number)
• ATM machine (automated teller machine... machine)
• IBAN-number (international bank account number... number)
• SEO-optimization (search engine optimization... optimization)