Google's algorithm is a secret, but the company publicly publishes guidelines for webmasters (Google Search Central) and quality criteria known as E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust.
Nothing can confirm the correctness of our work more than testing each matter, checking differences that affect the ranking of our websites in search engines.
I am convinced that good, useful and original content is one of the most important factors ("Content is king"); content written only for the search engine does not work.
The purpose of this section is to provide insight into what spiders are looking for on the page. Changes to the page itself will most likely not guarantee a leading position for the searched keywords, as you will have to do something more based on the guidelines below, which will definitely help your site rank better.
It is necessary to choose keywords. If these are very competitive, consider optimizing multiple secondary keywords.
Key Elements for Good Website Placement
Proper and regular maintenance of your website can be crucial for higher rankings in search engines. Search engines regularly index all web pages, but with regular and proper website editing, you can also ensure that your website is indexed more frequently. When talking about search engines, we primarily mean the largest of them all - Google. Algorithms change, so stick to the Google Search Central guidelines and verify the effect of every change.
Text content - high-quality, unique, and keyword-rich
Write for people and answer the search intent. Use the keyword naturally in the title (title and H1), in the introduction and where the reader expects it; do not repeat it by formula and do not bold it systematically. Use synonyms and related terms. Every page should have original content: copied supplier descriptions are not enough. Google does not penalize text because a machine wrote it, but it does penalize mass-produced content with no value for the reader; pages written only for the search engine do not work.
Visual material - high-quality and unique
Name images descriptively (e.g. red-running-shoes-women.jpg, without accents and spaces), add alt text that describes the image accurately (it also helps visually impaired users) and use modern formats (WebP, AVIF). Search engines also understand images on their own; a descriptive alt helps them and is an accessibility requirement. Do not stuff keywords into them.
Outbound links (links from your site to another site)
Link to trustworthy sources where it benefits the reader. Mark paid or sponsored links with rel="sponsored", links in comments and user content with rel="ugc", and links you do not trust with rel="nofollow". There is no "100 links" limit.
Meta tags
- Page title (title): concise, describes the content and contains the main keyword, preferably at the start; usually up to 50-60 characters (the limit is in width, not characters). Every page has its own title. Use the word "and" instead of the & sign.
- Meta description: a summary of the page that Google often shows under the title. Up to roughly 150-160 characters, written for a person as an invitation to click, not stuffed with keywords. Google may rewrite it.
- Meta keywords: do not use them. Google has ignored them since 2009, and Bing may treat them as a negative signal.
Title before/after: before "Washing machines - Store XY", after "8 kg washing machine for the family: quiet models up to 500 EUR | XY".
Additional tips:
- Headings (H1-H6): one H1 per page with the main topic; H2 and H3 for division; headings are structure, not decoration.
- Sitemap: an XML file that you submit in Google Search Console; an HTML sitemap is not needed.
- robots.txt: sets what a search engine can read, not what is in the index. Do not block CSS and JS files. To keep a page out of search, use the noindex tag. The same file also sets access for artificial intelligence robots (more: AI in search and shopping).
- Internal links: descriptive link text and links to important categories.
- Speed, mobile friendliness, HTTPS: Core Web Vitals are part of the page experience assessment.
- Canonical link (rel=canonical) tells the search engine which version of a page is the main one when the same content is reachable at several addresses (e.g. an item in several categories, filters, URL parameters). Every page should point to itself or to its main version. Never point all pages to the home page: the search engine could overlook the other pages and drop them from search.
- 301 redirects: when a URL changes or an item is discontinued; redirect a discontinued item to a replacement or to the category, or return 410.
- Out-of-stock items: do not delete them right away; if a return is likely, keep the page.
- Multiple languages: hreflang tags.
As you can see, it is necessary to consider many factors, but these are by no means all. Optimization is a long process that takes a lot of time and effort, but it always pays off in the end.
How Search Works Today
Google assesses a page by several criteria: whether the content is useful to the reader, how much experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust it shows (E-E-A-T; this is not a direct ranking factor but a framework by which Google assesses quality), how fast and stable the page responds (Core Web Vitals), whether it is mobile friendly and whether it is safe. The helpful content system has been part of the core of the search engine since 2024; so pages written only for the search engine, or mass-produced content without real value for the reader, do not get far at Google.
Core Web Vitals measure the visitor's real experience: LCP (the largest content loads within 2.5 seconds), INP (responsiveness, up to 200 milliseconds) and CLS (layout stability, up to 0.1); they are assessed at the 75th percentile of visits. Check them in PageSpeed Insights and in Google Search Console.
Answers from artificial intelligence. Google increasingly shows a summary with cited sources in search (AI Overviews); these are available in many EU countries and languages (status as of autumn 2026). Your page will be cited if it is clear, verifiable and well structured. More: AI in search and shopping. Regularly monitor Google Search Console (queries, pages, indexing, Core Web Vitals, structured data), GA4 and PageSpeed Insights.
URLs should be short, descriptive, without unnecessary extensions and parameters; when a URL changes, always set up a 301 redirect.
Frequently asked questions
On-site SEO is everything done within the website: optimization of headings (H1, title), meta descriptions, URL structure, content with relevant keywords, internal links, images (alt texts, compression), and technical elements (speed, mobile-first).
The title should be concise, usually up to 50-60 characters, with the main keyword preferably at the beginning, and click-worthy. The meta description should be written for a person, up to roughly 150-160 characters, and include a call to action; Google may rewrite it. Do not use meta keywords. Each page needs a unique title and description.
With descriptive file names (not IMG_1234.jpg, but red-leather-shoes-42.jpg), alt text that describes the image accurately, and modern formats (WebP or AVIF, lazy loading). Images are often a neglected SEO element that brings additional traffic through Google Images.
Short, descriptive URLs with a keyword are better than long ones with parameters. Best practice: /category/product instead of /index.php?cat=5&id=123. Changing URLs requires 301 redirects to preserve existing rankings.
There is no magic number. A page should answer the search intent and have original content. Quality and relevance are more important than word count.
My name is Anže, I am a certified Magento solution expert and the maker of several award-winning online stores. I am the architect of all Degriz projects.
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