Learn how to optimize your site for search engines and attract more organic traffic to your online business.
Thomas Haurum
There are many reasons why it’s worth constantly focusing on optimizing your website. In the always-changing online universe, it is essential to keep up with trends and developments. Website optimization is an ongoing process, and SEO plays a key role.
But what exactly is SEO? For many, SEO can seem complicated. That’s why I recommend reading my colleague Ieva’s article about why it’s worth investing in SEO for more clarity before diving into site optimization.
Google constantly releases updates to its guidelines and algorithms, which you should follow if you have an online business and want to increase sales or leads through Google. By indexing, all relevant pages become visible to crawlers. For the best positions on Google, your website pages need to be optimized – both for users and for crawlers.
In this article, I’ll share valuable tips for creating an SEO-friendly site, a good user experience (UX), and other key aspects of website optimization.
An essential aspect is having a site optimized for search engines. Simply put, an SEO-friendly site will perform better in Google and rank higher.
In addition, a well-optimized site helps Google Ads campaigns achieve better results and can reduce cost per click through relevant landing pages.
If you also use Facebook ads, technical quality and optimized landing pages will bring better results here as well.
So what should you do to have an SEO-friendly site?
If you just launched or are about to launch a new website, it’s vital to notify Google. Without indexing, you’ll stay practically invisible. The site won’t appear in Google results and you won’t get organic traffic.
This is a critical issue – so check it from the start. If not, the issue should be identified as soon as possible so potential customers can find you. There are several ways to check if Google is indexing your site. See them below.
The quickest way to see if your site is indexed is to type in Google search bar site:yourdomain.com (e.g. site:wemarket.ro). If you see your site’s pages in the results, they are indexed. If they appear in a site search, but not on the first Google page, you need to optimize SEO: keywords, content, etc.
If there are no results or very few, there is probably a technical problem. You can check in Google Search Console if the pages are indexed or if there are issues. You can also submit your sitemap here to draw Google’s attention.
You won’t always find the root of indexation issues directly in Google Search Console. Still, there are a few simple things you can check yourself.
If you discover your site is not indexed, first check if the entire site is accidentally set to “noindex.” Noindex is a piece of code that can be added to pages to exclude them from Google index. Useful for confidential or internal pages (e.g. intranets, dealer pages, etc.), but not for the whole site.
If you use WordPress, check ‘Settings → Reading’ for the “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” option. If checked, uncheck it right away.
Noindex can also be added directly in code. You can check the page source and search for “noindex” using find. It’s simple, even if you’re not familiar with coding.
Besides noindex, there may be blocks in the robots.txt file. To check if you have a robots.txt file and if it blocks robots, go to yourdomain.com/robots.txt – for example https://wemarket.ro/robots.txt. Look for restrictive lines here:
If you find such lines, Google cannot access (read) your pages. You can easily remove them from the file.
If you suspect a ‘disallow’ for a specific page only, check the URL directly in Google Search Console under “URL Inspection”.
Google Search Console is an essential free SEO tool! You can have Google index your site by uploading your sitemap under “Index → sitemaps”.
In some CMSs, the XML sitemap generates automatically, in others it needs to be created manually. It can be helpful to get help for correct generation and automatic updating when adding or removing products/categories.
In most cases, the majority of traffic comes from mobile. Moreover, Google uses the “Mobile First” principle when indexing, meaning the mobile version determines ranking.
If your site isn’t mobile-optimized, you risk it not being indexed at all, as mobile pages have priority. When optimizing, always check the mobile version – so visitors can navigate easily and frustration-free. This also reduces bounce risk – i.e., rapid site abandonment.
Our clear recommendation is responsive design, meaning the site automatically adapts to any screen size – without the need to maintain multiple versions.
If your site loads slowly, it may depend on the internet connection, device, or whether the user has visited before. One thing is certain: for Google, loading speed is vital. Ideally, it should load within 3 seconds – for online stores, under 2 sec. Under 1 sec is best for a quick user experience and to avoid abandonment. Slow sites frustrate visitors and get penalized by Google.
Many factors affect speed, but small tweaks can have a big impact on load times. You can reduce data to load (images, videos, heavy files), and your developer can help you optimize the code.
If you use WordPress/WooCommerce, the number of plugins and theme can slow down your site. Some plugins are slow, some themes have unnecessary code.
You can test your site speed with Page Speed Insights. Focus less on the score, more on optimization recommendations in the report – those bring real improvements.
Another vital aspect for a SEO-friendly site is user experience (UX). This is the general impression visitors get. First impressions matter as much online as in real life! That’s when they decide to stay or leave.
UX means everything: from look to speed, credibility, and simplicity. The experience should be positive, and users should easily find what they’re looking for. The site must load quickly, work correctly, and avoid distracting elements. The fewer frustrations, the longer users stay on your site.
What matters for UX depends a lot on the site’s purpose. For some, design is most important (how it looks, video, images, etc.). For others, simplicity and easy navigation are key. When working with UX, always focus on your target audience – they need to access all content easily and pleasantly.
Conversion optimization means tweaks that encourage users to take your desired action. For B2C e-commerce, that means purchasing or newsletter signup; for B2B – calls or submitting a contact form.
It’s natural that many visitors won’t convert. That’s why you must always optimize, making conversion as easy and appealing as possible.
Even small changes – the color of a button, more calls-to-action, or prominently displaying your phone number – can visibly increase conversion rates. It’s easy to miss issues on your own site, so it’s useful to have a few new users test and give you feedback.
Content is one of Google’s most important factors. The algorithm aims to deliver users the most relevant content – and this is beneficial for your site too. Users find relevant answers, and their experience is good. If users are happy, Google is happy, and your site rises in results. But how do you ensure quality content?
The most important thing is content must be relevant – meaning it perfectly matches the search intent. Content quality is essential, as is the authority of the publisher – which is gaining more attention in the latest updates.
To get a clear view of your content and search intents, a keyword analysis is helpful. This lets you know exactly what content you have, which keywords you target, and what pages are missing. You’ll also discover new opportunities and uncovered search intents.
Website optimization covers a broad range of activities. Whether you focus on SEO, user experience, or technical aspects such as loading speed, they’re all required for the best online results.
Google constantly updates its ranking algorithm, and user experience and relevance are their priorities. That’s why website optimization and UX are more important than ever.
Need help with your optimization? Our SEO team is ready to audit your site and provide practical recommendations to boost user experience and conversions.
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