SEO Basics: Website Optimization Guide
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a set of techniques and strategies that help a website appear higher in search engine results. This guide covers the basics of SEO.
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What is SEO?
SEO is a set of techniques and strategies that help a website appear higher in organic (free) search results. Google, Bing, and other search engines aim to show the most relevant and high-quality results for user queries.
SEO is divided into two main categories: On-page SEO (page optimization) and Off-page SEO (off-page optimization). On-page: content, title, meta description, URL structure. Off-page: backlinks, social signals, brand awareness.
On-page SEO
Title tag: The page title, shown as the blue link in search results. 50-60 characters ideal. Keyword should be at the beginning.
Meta description: The description shown under the title in search results. 150-160 characters ideal. Should encourage clicking.
H1 tag: The main heading of the page. One H1 per page. Similar to title tag but can be longer.
URL structure: Short, readable URLs containing keywords. E.g., /en/web/iban-validator (good) vs /en/page?id=123 (bad).
Content: Original, informative, sufficient length (800+ words). Keywords should be used naturally, no keyword stuffing.
Off-page SEO
Backlink: Links from other sites to your site. One of Google's most important ranking factors.
Domain Rating (DR): Ahrefs' metric that scores backlink profile (0-100). DR 0 = no backlinks. DR 5+ = basic visibility.
Backlink quality: Links from high-DR, relevant sites are more valuable. Links from spam sites can be harmful.
Social signals: Sharing on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Reddit. Not a direct ranking factor but provides traffic and visibility.
Technical SEO
Page speed: Google Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS). LCP under 2.5s, FID under 100ms, CLS under 0.1.
Mobile compatibility: Responsive design, mobile-first indexing. Google prioritizes mobile version for indexing.
HTTPS: SSL certificate required. Google demotes non-HTTPS sites in rankings.
Sitemap: XML sitemap, informs search engines about your pages.
Structured data: Schema.org markup, shows rich snippets in search results.
Utilgo and SEO
Utilgo has a strong content infrastructure with 9 languages, 150+ tools, and 20+ blog articles. Optimized for search engines and social media with JSON-LD structured data, Twitter Card, and Open Graph meta tags.
Site: utilgo.net
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