What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization Guide 2024

SEO aka Search Engine Optimization is all about improving your rankings in organic search results.

But how do you do it? In this complete guide to search engine optimization (SEO) in 2024, you'll (hopefully) find answers to all your questions. All the tips in this guide are based on my personal experience with SEO - an area I've been working in one way or another since 2015.

Adam Ketelsen

SEO specialist

Last updated: March 21, 2023

Does it seem too extensive? Feel free to reach out to me or one of my colleagues - as an SEO agency, we always have our eyes on best practices in the industry, and of course we have the necessary chrome-plated overview.

Read about: What is SEO? - SEO in 2024 - How do you do SEO?

SEO for beginners - get started with search engine optimization

Have you decided to get started with SEO? Great!

When you first get started with SEO, it can seem like a long and confusing process. But don't worry, once you've been at it for a while, it gets (a little) easier. In this article, you'll get all our insider tips for getting started with search engine optimization.

Click through the table of contents on the left (or above if you're on mobile) - or read it all from cover to cover.

Have a great time!

What is SEO - and what is its purpose?

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

It goes by many names, and this is also the case when it comes to SEO.
SEO is an abbreviation of Search Engine Optimization.

Despite the confusion, the goal is the same. In short, search engine optimization is about optimizing the content and technical aspects of your website so that it ranks for valuable keywords and appears at the top of Google's search results.

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 - in 2023, Google had a worldwide market share of 83.49% for desktop searches.

In Denmark, Google has an almost unofficial monopoly with a market share of around 94%. It's not without reason that the word "google" has become synonymous with searching the web.

And that's where SEO comes in. Because search engine optimization
gives you the best conditions for being visible in the search results on the world's largest search engine when potential customers search for your services or products.

Most used search engines last year (in percent)

Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Search Engine Market Share

Get visible on Google with Search Engine Optimization

So why should you work with search engine optimization?

Simply because it can be your shortcut to success on Google - and therefore success in your business. Because having a website is one thing. It's another to get it seen by your target audience.

And that's where SEO comes in. Sure, you can get to the top of Google via Google's paid search results Google Ads. But since the vast majority of information-seeking users click on the so-called organic search results rather than ads, it's crucial to be visible where users click.

However, without targeted SEO efforts, your website will most likely live a lonely life in the darkest corners of Google - far away from the attention of your potential customers. That's why SEO is an indispensable part of your marketing strategy if you want to drive traffic to your website.

With a targeted and structured SEO strategy, you can achieve the following benefits:

Search engine optimization can ultimately help generate more revenue for your business. In other words, it can be a valuable investment for your business.

SEO, SEA and SEM - what's the difference?

The acronyms SEO, SEA and SEM can be confusing - even for more experienced marketers.

SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing and is basically all the marketing activities you can do in search engines - paid and organic.

The organic activity SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, where SEA stands for Search Engine Advertising. With SEA, we're talking about advertising in search engines - for example, text ads in search results, Google Shopping and Performance Max. This brings us to the paid part of SEM.

Google Ads is often synonymous with SEA because Google has such a large share of the market - similar to how search engine optimization is often implicitly used as a synonym for Google optimization.

But you can easily do both SEO and SEA on other search engines - for example Bing, Youtube, Pinterest etc.

So to summarize, SEM is an umbrella term, and SEO and SEA fall under this umbrella. To make it even more confusing, in recent years it has become more common to use SEM as a synonym for SEA - and thus as a counterpart to SEO. Likewise, SEA as a term is not used as often anymore.

But let me put it this way: All SEO is SEM, but not all SEM is SEO. In the same way that all SEA is SEM, but not all SEM is SEA. And no more tirades about marketing acronyms for now.

SEM hierarchy: SEO and SEA are two different activities within SEM

SEO in 2024 - nice and need to knows

You have to stay on your toes to succeed with SEO. Algorithms and ranking factors - and therefore best practices - change all the time. That's why SEO managers need to stay constantly updated. Search engine optimization is never static.

The advice in this article is still relevant - but SEO in 2024 requires an even broader focus if you want to rank high in search results.

So what is essential to know if you want to succeed with SEO 2024? I'll give you a handful of suggestions below. If you'd rather get started with general search engine optimization tips, click through to the 'How to do SEO' section.

In my look into the crystal ball for 2024, I get into:

Google Search Generative Experience (SGE)

In May 2023, Google announced that they would evolve their search function so that in the future you will also get an AI generated answer to your search query. This will be presented in a so-called "AI snapshot" over the traditional search results, giving users a more personalized answer that matches their search intent.

The new AI integration will be a great help when you want to do more complex searches. Instead of having to split up your searches and pick up all the threads yourself, with SGE you will be able to ask more complicated questions or in-depth queries and actually receive in-depth answers that match your search intent.

An important piece of information for website owners and SEO enthusiasts is that SGE will highlight the sources used to generate the AI answer. This means that your website can potentially be highlighted both as a source in the AI answer and as a standalone search result.

While we don't know the exact launch date of the SGE for sure, there is no doubt that the future of SEO is likely to focus even more on creating high-value content for users. Therefore, Google's E-E-A-T guidelines will also become even more prominent as Google is likely to prioritize credible and quality-oriented content even more with the advent of AI.

A demo of the Google Search Generative Experience

Source: Supercharging Search with generative AI

E + EAT = EEAT - the extra E

The so-called E-E-A-T guidelines have been a ranking factor in Google's search engine since 2018, and when Google added an extra "E" to their E-A-T guidelines in late 2022, now called E-E-A-T (or 'Double E-A-T'), the principles became even more relevant.

E-E-A-T is short for 'experience', 'expertise', 'authoritativeness' and 'trustworthiness' and is basically signals to Google - and not least Google users! - that a website demonstrates these 4 characteristics.

In other words, your website content needs to reflect your experience, expertise, authority and credibility in your field or industry if you want to rank high in Google search results.

At webamp.dk, for example, all our content is written by experienced marketing specialists who, through their knowledge of digital marketing, have the expertise and concrete experience to communicate topics in the field. Our authority comes from our reputation - for example, through customer testimonials on our reference page and reviews on Trustpilot and Google.

Furthermore, authority comes through links and referrals from other websites with authority in our industry. Finally, we demonstrate credibility by having a website that is safe to navigate for our users - for example through our SSL certificate.

SEMrush has written a very informative article about E-E-A-T, if you want to read more examples of the 4 characteristics of E-E-A-T.

E-E-A-T is especially important for so-called YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) websites - websites that deal with either health or financial stability. A dentist, a private hospital or a mutual fund are examples of companies with YMYL websites.

As mentioned, the E-E-A-T guidelines will become even more relevant as more AI-generated content becomes available. While AI can analyze large data sets, robots lack human experience, which can limit their expertise, authority and sometimes credibility. Therefore, the combination of AI-generated content that is audited (and not necessarily created by humans) is usually the best solution to get the most useful content.

E-E-A-T is inextricably linked to the Google Helpful Content Update (which I will discuss in the next section), as Google now expects websites to not only answer users' questions, but actually enrich their knowledge and experience.

That's why the E-E-A-T principles must be clear to anyone working with digital marketing - also in 2024, of course.

Knowledge of the E-E-A-T principles is a must for SEOs in 2024

Google Helpful Content Update

Because the E-E-A-T principles are such an important component of Google's guidelines and will probably only become even more important in 2024, it pays to invest time in buildingtopic clustersin the new year.

Topic clustering is an approach to SEO that focuses more on topics than on keywords. It's a concept based on organizing your website's content into topic clusters to better navigate search engines and increase your visibility.

Central to the topic cluster is a 'pillar page' that covers a broad topic and is supported by several 'supporting pages' that cover related sub-topics. This structure creates a comprehensive coverage of a topic, increasing usability and legitimacy of your brand.

To build an effective topic cluster, start by selecting a parent topic for your pillar page and identify related subtopics for your supporting pages. Remember to include internal links between pages to strengthen the coherence. The ideal size of a topic cluster varies, but the most important thing is to maintain focus and depth in the topic.

Topic clusters offer several benefits: they increase the chance of ranking on more keywords, improve usability and build authority. By grouping content around topics rather than keywords, you create a more coherent and user-friendly structure.

Not least, topic clusters can be part of your AEO strategy (read more about AEO below).

Topic clusters

Google's "Helpful Content Update" is a crucial update for anyone targeting SEO as a marketing activity. Launched in August and September 2023, there is no doubt that the update will be a game changer for SEO in 2024.

With Google's "Helpful Content Update", content created for users, rather than the search engine, will be prioritized even more. The goal is to ensure that users get relevant and credible information, so Google will reward sites with genuine experience and expertise, while downgrading those that lack substance.

The update particularly affects websites with over-optimized "SEO content" and a lack of in-depth, original content. To avoid a drop in search rankings, websites need to demonstrate true expertise and offer unique value.

With Google focusing on quality over quantity, the update may particularly affect shopping, online education, tech and entertainment sites that have previously focused more on search engines than users.

As this update also acts as a 'sitewide algorithm', it means that bad content on individual pages can affect the entire website. In other words, one weak link can break the whole chain. To avoid this, in 2024 you need to ensure consistently high quality in all your content so that individual weak links don't affect your entire domain.

AI-generated content and AEO

Just like in 2023, there's no doubt that in 2024 AI will take quantum leaps and revolutionize the world of SEO time and time again. That's why it's important to be ahead of the curve to catch up with the explosive speed of the AI wave.

One term that will be important in 2024 is AEO, short for Answer Engine Optimization. AEO should be seen as a sub-category of SEO and is about optimizing content for AI machines, including Google SGE, ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bing chatbot, Copy.ai and similar language models.

The discipline is therefore to create content that is both useful for the user, the search engine, and that can easily be incorporated into answers from SGE and other forms of artificial intelligence. It can be a difficult intersection to navigate, but nevertheless necessary to perform high on SEO parameters in 2024.

There's no denying that AI is and will continue to be a central part of copywriting and SEO in general. The future of copywriting is more likely to be a collaboration between man and machine. AI robots like ChatGPT will act as a kind of digital assistant, helping the copywriter from idea generation to refining structure and language.

When working with SEO texts, AI is therefore a very useful tool if used correctly. But it's also important to emphasize that it's a tool and not a replacement for a human.

Read our post on how to write with ChatGPT.

I would highly recommend getting a pair of human eyes on your robot content if you want to ensure that it is both factually correct and meets Google's E-A-A-T guidelines.

However, ChatGPT is incredibly good at writing user-oriented, useful content - for example, see the screenshot below where I asked the robot to write a collection text about green tea for a fictional webshop.

I then ran the text through the Helpful Content Checker GPT to make sure it meets Google's guidelines for helpful content.

Useful content targeting users rather than rankings

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

Thankfully, that 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 optimize 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 served to them in search results. In other words, the content must be helpful.

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

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

Trying to rank for as many keywords as possible is useless if the search results are not relevant to the recipient. Likewise, it's not about bombarding the web with content, but about selecting relevant content - and not least adapting it to the given search intent.

Therefore, you can also look at your competitors when creating your content strategy - what makes them rank high? For example, you can look for:

With useful, user-centered content, you're well on your way to ranking high in 202.

Featured snippets and zero click searches

Featured snippets - also known as featured snippets - are nothing new in Google, but they're only becoming more relevant with time. My colleague Andreas pointed them out as a 2022 trend in his article on SEO factors in 2022 - and the trend looks set to continue in 2023.

Featured snippets are selected passages from landing pages that appear directly in the search results. These results are sometimes also referred to as 'ranking 0' because they are visually higher than ranking 1 in Google's organic search results.

These results get this high ranking because(according to Google) they contain the exact information the user is looking for. In other words, they are results on useful content, targeting users rather than rankings - see the section above. For example, below is Webamp's result for the search 'shopify webshop', which is even higher than Shopify's own result.

Many SEO specialists are probably ambivalent about featured snippets. This is because featured snippets on certain results can result in a lower click-through rate because users get answers directly in the SERP and do not click on the result - the so-called zero click searches. And that, of course, means less traffic.

Conversely, it also means more relevant traffic and a higher conversion rate, because those who actually click will in many cases be more relevant customers. Therefore, there is also good reason to go for featured snippets.

So how do you get featured snippets?

One way to do this is to focus on your target audience and their search intent. Focus on good content - write for users, not bots.

You can also work more data-oriented with featured snippets. In SEO tools like Ahrefs, for example, you can see which of your keywords typically activate featured snippets.

Click on the 'Organic keywords' report, sort by 'SERP features' → 'Featured snippets. Click 'Apply' → 'Show results'. You will get a list of all keywords on your website that have featured snippets. Is your website not #1 under 'Position'? Then just start optimizing your content and go for the featured snippet.

Featured snippets will only get bigger in 2024

Lower crawl rate - fewer updates in the SERP

Instant search engine data has become so taken for granted that few people think about the machinery behind the seemingly endless flow of information. But keeping a search engine as large as Google Search up to date requires considerable resources.

Because while we think of the Google search engine as "a thing in the cloud", the "cloud" is actually a physical entity, consisting of countless servers in data centers all over the world - data centers that in turn need to communicate with each other across countries and continents. And that stuff consumes power - a lot of it!

This kind of resource consumption doesn't go well with Google's goal of going carbon-free by 2030. That's why Google is continuously implementing measures to reduce their annual carbon footprint.

One of them is reportedly to limit the number of crawler requests (crawlers are basically bots that scour the web for URLs and then register and index them).

Fewer crawler requests obviously means fewer updates in the search results, as updates in the search results are directly related to crawler behavior - if your website hasn't been visited by a crawler since your last update, you won't see any changes until you are visited again by the GoogleBot, aka Google crawlers. It's for the same reason that optimizing internal link structure is crucial in technical SEO, because the GoogleBot finds its way around the internet by following links on the pages it crawls.

In short, this means that it will pay off in the long run to optimize landing pages from the start instead of doing it continuously. So if you have your keyword and content strategy in place, you may want to implement changes immediately rather than updating continuously, as bot visits will also become less frequent.

This will increase the chance of your changes being indexed by GoogleBot faster - and thus being included in the SERP.

AI - a game changer for SEO in 2024

The ChatGPT language model rocked the tech world with its arrival in late November 2022, and the seemingly omniscient AI has only gotten better in the past year. And just over a year later, in early December 2023, Google released their answer to ChatGPT; Google Gemini. AI is here to stay - and has also become an integral part of SEO. And it will continue to be in 2024.

Now that Google has not only accepted AI-generated content, but is also coming up with its own AI, we can assume that AI, and AEO in particular, will become a regular part of search engine optimization.

But why? To answer this question, I asked ChatGPT to explain its own potential impact on SEO. The text below is almost 100% AI-produced text - I have only made minor corrections myself.

Automating SEO processes with AI

Although as an AI model I don't actively participate in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in the same way as a human SEO specialist, I can still play a useful role in the SEO process. Here are some ways you as an SEO specialist can benefit from my knowledge to streamline your work:

Keyword optimization: I can help you identify relevant keywords and key phrases that are important to your target audience. You can ask me questions like "What keywords are popular in my niche?" or "How can I optimize my content to rank better for specific keywords?".

Content planning: You can use me to generate content ideas. For example, you can ask me, "What topics are trending in my industry?" or "Can you help me brainstorm ideas for blog posts?".

Technical SEO: I can provide advice on technical SEO by answering questions about website speed optimization, structured data, meta tags and other technical aspects of SEO.

Competitor analysis: I can help you analyze your competitors' SEO strategies by identifying their most popular keywords, backlinks and content for you to reference.

SEO-friendly content: I can help you optimize your content by generating meta descriptions, titles and headlines that are optimized for search engines.

Here's an example:

Q: "What are the most popular keywords in the fitness industry right now?"

Answer: "The most popular keywords in the fitness industry include 'weight loss training', 'healthy eating', 'fitness equipment', and 'exercise plans'. You may want to create content on these topics to appeal to your target audience."

Remember that while I can provide information and help with analytics, human expertise is still needed to make decisions, execute implementation and understand the context needed to drive a successful SEO campaign.

However, the interplay between AI and human judgment can be a powerful combination to streamline the SEO process and achieve better results.

Source: ChatGPT

In addition, the launch of GPTs - customized versions of ChatGPT - in November 20223 made ChatGPT's toolbox even deeper.

For example, the GPT Helpful Content Checker lets you check if your content meets Google's requirements for useful content, while Seer's Screaming Frog & Technical SEO Companion gives you expert knowledge about the website crawler Screaming Frog - even with the option to upload your crawls directly into the chat.

Last but not least, you can also create your own GPTs tailored to specific needs - for example, writing texts for organizations with their own unique tone of voice.

In other words, the language model can help you with everything from strategy and analysis to content optimization and technical SEO.

How do you do SEO?

Search engine optimization is about optimizing a number of factors that, in Google's eyes, equate to quality for users - and which can send a website higher up in the search results.

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

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

Semantic SEO - good content over SEO texts

SEO used to be all about stuffing your landing pages with the keywords you wanted to be found on. I myself have a background as an external freelance copywriter in a marketing agency, where my job was to write meaningless SEO texts for clients' websites and where there was a fixed framework for how many times a keyword should appear in each text.

Fortunately, this is no longer the case. Today, the search engine prioritizes content that is of value to users first and foremost, and Google has released several algorithm updates over the past handful of years to ensure this - most recently in August 2022, when they rolled out their helpful content update, which was last updated in September 2023.

Quality content requirements mean that semantic SEO is an important third leg of the SEO stool. The search engine highly prioritizes quality content that lives up to user expectations. Conversely, landing pages with thin, duplicated or worthless content very rarely get good rankings.

For the same reason, writing good, user-friendly content for your website is essential if you want to rank high on Google. But it's easier said than done. It requires a combination of rhetorical tools, understanding user search intent and the ability to use the right keywords in the right context. If you think it's about throwing the most important keywords into a generic text a certain number of times, you're sorely mistaken.

With Google's algorithm updates, the search engine has become insanely good at understanding users' search intent - and displaying search results based on it. So if you value unique content that is dedicated to humans over robots, you're well on your way to the top of Google's coveted pinnacle.

Rules of thumb for semantic SEO:

Interested in learning more about semantic SEO and how to create good SEO text? Read much more about what we emphasize at Webamp when we talk about search engine friendly content.

Technical SEO - making your content accessible

The content on your website is important. But if the technical aspects aren't right, Google won't find it readable and it won't be user-friendly for your potential customers. Therefore, optimizing the technical factors - technical SEO - is also a vital part of search engine optimization.

Technical SEO is the slightly more long-haired part of search engine optimization. It requires a good understanding of everything that goes on inside the engine room of your website.
In practice, technical SEO consists of analyzing, among other things:

Technical SEO also consists of analyzing and redirecting dead links, search engine friendly URL naming, optimizing ALT and H tags, page titles and meta descriptions, and setting up structured data to help Google better understand website content.

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

Linkbulding - make your website credible

SEO is not just what happens on the website itself. Your website also needs to gain authority - and link building gives it authority.

Link building is basically about getting other websites to link to your website - the so-called backlinks. Roughly speaking: The more websites that link to yours, the more authority your website gains. However, the quality outweighs the quantity of backlinks. Having 100 spam links from casino sites, Indian link directories and Russian porn sites is not a signal of authority. On the contrary, it is a spam signal and can have a very negative impact on your organic visibility in search engines.

Conversely, having many links from many industry-relevant domains with high domain authority is an authority signal - for example, if a dentist website has many links from health blogs, industry associations etc.

The graph below is a horrifying example of the impact of spam links. It shows the average Google ranking for a major keyword, and as you can see, it breaks completely and even drops out of the index on certain days.

The webmaster of the website had the best of intentions and diligently redirected countless subpages from other domains he managed - domains that were in no way industry-relevant and had a low domain authority. Google perceived this as an attempt to manipulate rankings via spam links, and months of SEO were undermined in a matter of days.

Here's the reverse example: A steadily growing backlink profile with links from relevant and authoritative domains has given a subpage good Google rankings on a major keyword.

A selection of our SEO results

Health Group

Content, Google Ads, SEO, Social Ads, Web

OLIOLI

Branding, Google Ads, SEO, Social Ads, Strategy

Collectia

Branding, Content, SEO, Web

Bernstorff Castle

Branding, Content, Google Ads, SEO, Social Ads, Strategy, Web

A2Vent

Google Ads, SEO, Web

Nordic Tea

Branding, Content, Google Ads, SEO, Social Ads, Strategy, Web

An update to Google Algorithms has the industry holding its breath

Knowledge and insight into Google's algorithms is crucial when working with search engine optimization. These algorithms help determine where your website appears in the search results.

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

However, as long as you prioritize your users first, there's rarely much cause for concern. 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 gain insight into Google's exact algorithms, there are several parameters that can have a significant impact on a website's rankings in search results - 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 appears:

How do you get started with search engine optimization?

Feel free to use the image above as long as you link to: https://amplify.dk/academy/seo-guide/

For example:

				
					Foto: <a href="https://amplify.dk/en/academy/seo-guide/">Webamp: Den komplette SEO guide</a>

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

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

An SEO strategy can look like this:

Technical SEO

If it's an older website, it might be a good idea to start by prioritizing the technical part of SEO. It's incredibly important that your website works properly, otherwise it can compromise search engine optimization - and then your hard work won't do you much good.

This is another reason why it makes sense to consider getting an agency to handle your SEO - it requires technical know-how.

Get a quick overview with Screaming Frog
There are several programs that can give you an overview of the technical quality of your website. One of them is Screaming Frog, which quickly troubleshoots and visualizes technical issues.

Areas worth starting to investigate:

HTTP URLs
4xx error
Content - duplicated and missing content
Missing and duplicated H1s
Missing and duplicated SEO titles

Missing and duplicated H1s
Images over 100 KB
Pagespeed
Missing canonical tags
Missing and duplicated meta descriptions

In short, you can get a complete overview of SEO technical pitfalls that can hinder better organic keyword rankings in search engines.

Of course, there are many other areas to look into, but some are more urgent than others. Remember, it's all about getting an overview from the start so you know what needs the most attention.

You can read more about the screaming frog in Webamp's post 'Seven tips to improve your SEO via Screaming Frog''.

Screaming Frog - 4xx errors

Keyword analysis

In keyword research, you need to go full throttle. Think of it as a data-based brainstorm, where you find all the keyword combinations that can relate to your business. It's a good idea to consider the following questions when embarking on an exciting keyword analysis.

What products/services do we offer?
Which products/services are most important to us?
Which products/services are most in demand?

While it's good to include as many keyword combinations as possible in your keyword analysis, it doesn't mean you should immediately try to optimize them all at the same time. It's difficult to assess how many is appropriate to start with, as it depends on how competitive the keywords are - however, most people will start by focusing on around 5-10 keyword combinations.

Brainstorm or database-based keyword analysis?

The keyword analysis can be based on something as simple as a brainstorm and your knowledge of your own industry and how your target audience searches. For example, if you are a dentist with a dental clinic in Østerbro in Copenhagen, keywords such as 'dentist', 'dental clinic', 'root canal treatment', 'toothache', 'dental crown' etc. will be relevant to look at. Since you are dealing with a clinic that is typically interested in local customers, you will also focus on the locations Østerbro and Copenhagen rather than a nationwide search.

A brainstorm can be a good place to start. However, we would always recommend taking a more data-driven approach.

Tools like Ahrefs and Google Search Console have everything you need to do a good keyword analysis.

In Ahrefs, for example, you can extract the keywords your website already ranks for and at the same time see the estimated monthly search volume and your ranking on them. This gives you an overview of where there is room for improvement. You can also perform competitor analysis in the 'Content gap' function. Here you can enter your own domain and compare it with one or more competitors' domains and get an overview of relevant keywords they rank for that you don't rank for.

In the example below, I've compared a wine retailer's website with a competitor's.

Ahreds has many great features for search analytics

Content plan

If you have a website that contains a lot of landing pages with well-written and descriptive content for all your services and/or products - well, you can immediately start SEO. However, very few people have that.

There is one thing you can steal with - and that's your eyes. Explore the websites that are on the first page for the desired keyword and see how comprehensive their texts are. Are there 2000 words on the landing pages? Then it's most likely necessary to have the same.

Additionally, it's important that you optimize keywords on the pages where it makes the most sense - and mixing too many topics and keywords is rarely a good tactic. Let's use the dentist example again. Google is all about usability, and it's not clear to the user if they have to read about teeth straightening on the same page where they find information about tooth removal.

You should always keep in mind that if YOU have doubts about whether it makes sense, Google certainly will too. Later in the guide, you'll get more information on how to write good SEO texts.

Setting up tracking of key metrics

The goal of search engine optimization is visibility, which ultimately leads to more sales or inquiries through your website. Therefore, it's a good idea to set up proper tracking of visitors, enquiries, sales, newsletter sign-ups and other important metrics that can tell you something about the benefits of your SEO efforts.

Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager are indispensable tools here. Analytics can give you almost any data about your website, while Tag Manager is the link between your site and your Analytics account to ensure that you are measuring the right parameters.

Continuous link building

The quantity and quality of links from other sites pointing to your site has a huge impact on your website's authority - and thus your rankings on Google. That's why it's important to continuously work on getting relevant links to your site. This discipline is known as 'link building'. That is, links from pages that are thematically similar to yours.

Links from generic private blogging networks, shady casino sites and sleazy 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 thing. Better one relevant link than 10 irrelevant ones.

Continuous optimization and evaluation

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

For example, are you ranking poorly on certain keywords? Is your website not generating enough inquiries? Or are your users otherwise not interacting with your content as desired?

These are questions you need to ask yourself on an ongoing basis and which create a basis for possible optimization.

Want us to take your SEO to new heights?

Webamp is an ambitious SEO agency ready to boost your company's presence on Google. Want us to help you?

On-page and off-page

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

On-page SEO

Off-page SEO

On-page SEO

Off-page SEO

Build authority on Google with link building

Link building is essentially about building links between pages - this can be across subpages on one domain (internal link building) as well as across domains (external link building). Especially the latter is an important focus for SEO specialists, as links from other websites can be seen as a kind of recommendation to Google and other search engines that a website is worth a visit.

In other words, links from other websites are a signal of authority to Google and other search engines - and are therefore an important part of search engine optimization. You can read more about this in our blog post on link building.

What is internal link building?

Get rewarded by Google

The purpose of internal link building

What is internal link building?

Get rewarded by Google

The purpose of internal link building

What is outbound link building?

Outbound link building is used to link to external sites 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'll find an outbound link under 'what is external link building?

What is external link building?

It's not an exaggeration to say that external link building is a technique that divides the waters 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 can read our guide to Google My Business here.

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

How do you get external links to your website?

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

Outreach and guest blogging

Paid link building

Outreach and guest blogging

Paid link building

Check domain - is it valuable?

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:

DR (domain rating) - how high is it?
Content - does the website content match YOUR content?
Credibility - is the website trustworthy?

At Webamp, we primarily use the Ahrefs tool to get an insight into every corner of a website, as the tool collects almost any kind of data. A true dream tool for an SEO specialist.

For an overview, we ran a test on google.dk, which 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 and organic traffic.

Take a look at domain authority when looking for backlinks

Avoid being penalized by Google

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

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

Useful SEO tools

Are you completely new to SEO or just want to find out if there are any tools you don't know about yet? Don't worry, don't worry. Here you get an insight into the SEO tools that our SEO specialists use on a daily basis.

Why is it important to use the right tools?

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

Our specialists have years of experience in search engine optimization and you get the opportunity to get an insight into their tools.

Ahrefs

Screaming Frog

Google Search Console

Google Analytics

Pagespeed Insights

Ahrefs

Screaming Frog

Google Search Console

Google Analytics

Pagespeed Insights

Optimize your website's pagespeed

Are you driven by data like our own SEO specialists? Then don't deceive 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 meter-long queue at your local supermarket, eagerly waiting to pay for your groceries? It's kind of the same feeling you get when you visit a website that loads slowly. Few people have the time or patience to wait for it. By researching and optimizing the loading time of your website, you can be more successful on Google.

Google rewards good pagespeed

Did you know that Google rewards websites that have a fast load time? In 2021, Google rolled out an update in their algorithms that meant that a good site and user experience became a significant ranking factor in Google's eyes. Website usability on different devices, good pagespeed and secure landing pages were some of the biggest focus areas.

Choose your preferred tool

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

Tools that you can use:

Our specialists all have their go-to tools - try a few different ones and find your favorite!

Get the visibility you deserve

Have you had the courage to take a closer look at your website's load time? Of course you have! We've put together 5 areas that you should pay special attention to when you start speed optimization.

1. images

2. Redirects

3. web host

4. Loading files

5. Coding

1. images

2. Redirects

3. web host

4. Loading files

5. Coding

Youtube SEO - SEO is more than Google

In Denmark, we often equate search engine optimization with Google optimization. But Youtube is also a search engine - according to some sources, the second largest in the world - so it pays to optimize Youtube videos if you have a Yotube channel to complement your website.

Youtube SEO can benefit your rankings in the video giant's own search results, but also in Google's results - both in the regular search results and in the video results. Google owns YouTube and therefore their search engine also prioritizes YouTube videos relatively highly.

How to do SEO on Youtube

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 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 in 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.

An example of search engine optimization on YouTube

In the video at the top of this article, I give a brief introduction to the 3 elements of SEO. The video is on Youtube, and following the motto "practice what you preach", my colleagues and I have of course been through the list above.

And Youtube has also rewarded us with good rankings - here on the broad keyword 'search engine optimization' - try searching for 'SEO' and 'what is SEO' on Youtube. Does our video show up in your search?

Also, try searching the different keyword combinations in Google video results. Do we show up there?

You can also search engine optimize your YouTube videos

SEO vs. Google Ads

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

Investing in your online presence is ALWAYS a good idea - and as an SEO and Google Ads agency, we can vouch for that.

SEO - pros and cons

Benefits of SEO

The front of the medal

Disadvantages of SEO

The back of the medal

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're doing. The optimization process is time-consuming and you need to master everything from copywriting and link building to the technical optimization of the website.

Countless studies have shown that people are more likely to click on an organic search result than an ad. Organic search results are more associated with credibility - do you scroll past the paid ads yourself?

Google Ads - pros and cons

Benefits of Google Ads

The front of the medal

Disadvantages of Google Ads

The back of the medal

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

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.

SEO and Google Ads - the perfect match

You can never go wrong by investing in both SEO and Google Ads - but only if you have the time and budget for it. These are two of the biggest areas of digital marketing, and if you can harness the potential of both, you'll definitely feel it.

When does SEO benefit from Google Ads?

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

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

When does Google Ads benefit from SEO?

Google Ads works similarly to an auction house, but it's not just price that's a deciding factor at Google.

Google prioritizes user-friendliness, the so-called Quality Score - and this is also true when it comes to paid ads. You can't be sure of winning a page 1 ranking, even if you spend the largest amount of money. This is where SEO plays a key role, as you work with page speed, landing pages, copywriting, title and meta descriptions, etc.

A US marketing agency took a deeper dive into the interplay between SEO and Google Ads and found that a better quality score (due to SEO) resulted in cheaper click prices and more traffic to both organic and paid ads. Read more about the study here.

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

Can an agency improve your SEO?

It's not impossible to succeed with SEO on your own - but it's a time-consuming process where you have to keep your tongue firmly in your cheek. There are many different areas 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 fulfill your business potential.

Most marketing agencies have the ability to handle ALL of your marketing activities.
You save the cost of a marketer (which is typically much higher than what it costs to use an agency).
You avoid the cost of training a new employee.
You can get specialized advice and help identifying business potential.
You don't have to spend money on all kinds of SEO programs.
You get a tailored, specialized and targeted SEO strategy.
You'll be assigned a specialist who has years of experience in SEO and knows what works.
You can focus on your core competencies.
An agency that specializes in SEO is always up-to-date with the many updates in Google's algorithms.

SEO - how do I choose the right agency?

With so many different marketing agencies offering the same services, it's understandable that it can be difficult to decide which one to choose.

Choose an agency where...

If you need help with SEO or want to hear more about digital marketing in the form of SEO or one of our other services, you are more than welcome to contact us for a non-binding conversation. We also highly recommend you to read Google's SEO starter guide.

SEO optimization - or actually just SEO

Among professionals, the terms 'SEO' and 'search engine optimization' are used interchangeably. But you've probably also come across the term 'SEO optimization', which is a funny double confection we as professionals encounter almost every day.

The explanation is that SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. If you translate it into Danish, it means search engine optimization. It is correct to use all 3 terms - but not SEO optimization. Even if we optimize more than once, you don't need to write SEO-optimization-optimization-optimization-optimization-optimization... The one time it's already mentioned in SEO is enough.

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

Examples of RAS phrases:

Does SEO work?

It really does if you do it the right way. Together with my colleagues, I have been working purposefully with SEO at webamp.dk for the past year, and the development in our organic traffic speaks for itself.

We've almost quintupled our SEO-generated traffic in one year. But it has also taken time and effort. In other words, you can't expect here and now results with SEO - Google Ads is your go-to tool. But with the right effort, SEO can be an extremely important source of long-term online success.

Get help with search engine optimization

Does getting started with SEO seem like a daunting task? Don't know where to start? Or are you stuck in the work you've started?

Then contact Webamp. Our SEO specialists are ready to kick start your SEO strategy - from initial analysis to strategy, implementation and ongoing monitoring and optimization.

As an SEO agency, we always have our eyes on current best practices in our field and we love to translate our knowledge into concrete actions that create value for our customers.

Typical questions about SEO

What is SEO?

SEO is search engine optimization to enable your services or products to be found in Google search results. Optimization includes on-page SEO, off-page SEO and technical SEO.

What does SEO mean?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which translates to search engine optimization. Many people also call it Google optimization and SEO optimization.

Why is SEO important?

Because it's your shortcut to higher rankings in organic search results. That's why it pays to familiarize yourself with search engine optimization best practices.

Can you do SEO yourself?

Yes, if you have the basic knowledge and access to a small handful of tools, you can easily start search engine optimization yourself. With the advice in this guide, you should be well equipped to start optimizing SEO on your own.

Can SEO pay off?

SEO is a long-term investment that pays off in the long run if you play your cards right. But it's also important to understand that in some cases SEO is just part of the channel mix - for example, few webshops will be able to survive with SEO alone. Here the competition from Google Ads and Google Shopping is fierce, and SEO is more likely to support paid search engine marketing.

What does SEO cost?

If you want to get started with SEO yourself, you can easily get started without a big investment, and there are also plenty of good, free SEO tools. If you choose an agency, the price depends, like everything else, on effort and desired outcome - do you want consulting hours for sparring, or do you want hands on execution of everything from analysis to implementation? A conservative estimate of a monthly SEO budget for a medium-sized company would be DKK 5,000-30,000.

Get even smarter

Whether you're a generalist or a marketing specialist, our specialists have put together some great advice for you on our blog.