The activities carried out by SEO specialists can be divided into those that noticeably change the appearance of a website and those that deserve to be described as more discreet.
For understandable reasons, this first category of modifications attracts much greater interest from our customers.
It's worth presenting popular changes made by SEO specialists, taking into account how they affect a website's appearance and to what extent they are noticeable to website visitors. SEO optimization isn't just about tinkering with a website's code.
SEO optimization and website design
When working with websites, we understand that website owners have specific visions for their appearance and functionality. Website designs are often designed without SEO in mind, and this is simply a statement of fact, not a criticism of the website designers.
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The ideal situation is one in which a website is created from the outset with the intention of being SEO-friendly. If the SEO decision is made for an already completed website, the SEO specialist will likely recommend changes to make the site more attractive to web crawlers. These changes may impact the design to varying degrees and be more or less visible to visitors.
At Verseo, we adhere to the principle that visible and eye-catching website changes must receive our client's approval before implementation. Therefore, in the modification description, we indicate whether a given change requires such approval. The following list of activities is not exhaustive; it simply addresses those aspects that our clients frequently inquire about.
1. Changes to the website address and subpage URLs
This step involves address redirection, which eliminates duplicate homepages and subpages. These changes are invisible to website visitors, so they are implemented without consulting the client. Optimizing pages for Google can also be easier if keywords are included in the subpage URL. We consult with the client on this matter to ensure the keyword usage is consistent with their intent (although this is a change that site visitors don't notice).
2. Introducing new content to the website or expanding existing content
SEO activities often involve adding new content to a website or modifying existing content. It's through these texts that a website's ranking can be significantly improved for specific keywords. We always consult with our clients on these modifications. While these changes can be cosmetic, a complete content overhaul is often required. This undoubtedly impacts the website's user experience, so consultation is essential.
First, adding new content changes the website's appearance in a way that's immediately visible to the naked eye. Second, we want to ensure that the texts developed by our SEO copywriters are not only optimized for SEO (our specialists will ensure this) but also accurately and accurately reflect the specific nature of the client's offering.
Client approval confirms our belief that they like the content we propose. Obtaining approval for content includes content posted on the website (this applies to the home page and subpages), content posted on the client's blog linked to their website, and sponsored content (available with some Verseo SEO packages) posted on external portals.
When adding new content to a website, it's worth discussing its placement. Content location and accessibility are crucial for SEO. The ideal solution is text placed at the top of the page (e.g., above products assigned to a given category) and immediately visible. If, for some reason, this idea isn't accepted by the client (usually because it conflicts with their idea of how subpages should look), a compromise might be to place some content at the top of the page and the rest at the bottom, or to use a "read more" button (or a related one). These aren't ideal SEO solutions (especially since expanding the text requires action on the client's part), but they're still better than completely rejecting the idea of adding new content to a given subpage.
It's also worth mentioning, as a point of interest, a very archaic SEO "method" whose use has resulted in numerous websites receiving harsh penalties from Google. This is so-called hidden text, which involves inserting content in a background color or very close to it, often in very small fonts. This text is visible in the page's code and is accessible to web crawlers, but the human visitor has no real opportunity to read it. Because Google dislikes such tricks and the different messages they convey to both web crawlers and humans, the use of hidden text often led to unpleasant consequences. This method is practically unheard of today.
When consulting with an SEO specialist about content expansion or modification, it's important to remember how crucial copy is to a website's visibility. It's the copy that carries all the keywords for which the site should be positioned. Used appropriately and supported by valuable content, it's one of the most important elements of optimization. Good SEO relies heavily on copy, which should be created in accordance with Google's algorithm "preferences." This means that the copywriter must remember, among other things:
- appropriate keyword density (too many of them are not beneficial)
- proper distribution of phrases – naturally and evenly, remembering that the main phrase should be in the first paragraph,
- maintaining the optimal length of texts,
- dividing the content with Hx headings containing keywords, including long tail phrases,
- maintaining the uniqueness of the content – no fragment may be duplicated (also within the same website).
The above principles only describe the SEO basics for creating website content. Furthermore, it's important to ensure that the texts perfectly represent the company, its values, and its offerings, and are engaging from a user perspective. It's also important to ensure they are written in a language that reflects the benefits and presents the information visitors want to find on the website. Linguistic and stylistic accuracy are also fundamental requirements. While it's not crucial for optimization, accurate and well-constructed content builds the company's image. A professional website leaves no room for error!
3. Friendly subpage addresses
For some CMSes, such as WordPress, setting friendly subpage addresses is a matter of enabling the appropriate setting. We don't consult on such a change, but we do let you know after it's implemented. There's no argument for leaving unfriendly addresses in place – friendly addresses are more readily perceived by web crawlers and website visitors, who, thanks to such URLs, find the page's content easier. This is also important, for example, in the context of URL sharing.
What are friendly URLs? They are distinguished primarily by a logically related string of characters corresponding to the subpage's content. Furthermore, such an address should include a reference to the parent category, informing the user where they are on the page. It should be free of random characters, phrases, or numbers. If it includes a keyword (preferably the one designated as the primary keyword for the given tab), it has even greater SEO significance.
An example of a friendly URL is the address where you can find this blog post.
4. Adding new subpages
This is also a change whose implementation is contingent on client approval – partly because of its visual impact. Our clients receive a proposal for a new subpage, along with information about what they would like to see on it. We determine which graphics would complement the content, and our copywriters write them. The client receives these for approval, and then the completed subpages are available for review. We want them to be happy with the expansion of their website.
Why add new subpages? SEO basics explain everything. Each subpage can be positioned for a maximum of a few keywords. Cramming a large number of keywords into a single tab will certainly be less effective than focusing on one main phrase and several secondary ones that complement it thematically. If your offer includes several distinct products, it's worth creating a separate tab for each. For example, you could describe the offer of an insurance company or broker in a single tab, divided into sections for specific types of policies (life insurance, home insurance, car insurance, health insurance, etc.). As SEO principles dictate, dedicating a separate tab to each type of insurance is a much better solution. By adding links from one subpage to another, you can further increase their value to search engine crawlers.
5. Menu redesign
This is partially related to the previous point and also means we need to consult this idea with the client. This is a noticeable and important modification to the website. Sometimes, the client accepts the idea of adding new subpages, but stipulates that the existing menu layout remains unchanged. In this situation, an acceptable solution might be to add, for example, an additional menu at the bottom of the page, which will be less noticeable while still serving its purpose.
6. Changes recommended by PageSpeed Insight
The changes this tool indicates largely concern the page's code (recommendations are unique to each tested site) and are not noticed by visitors. In the case of very slow pages, implementing the recommended changes can provide a noticeable sense of speed, but not every optimization consistent with PageSpeed Insight's recommendations will yield such a clear result (even if the test result is improved after implementing the changes). When PageSpeed Insight recommends optimizing graphics—slimming them down—it's not about making them lighter at the expense of quality, but about a compromise between these two aspects. Website optimization isn't always an exact science.
7. Changes that make it easier for web robots to index the page
This refers to actions related to the robots.txt file, the robots meta tag, and canonicals. These changes are visible in the website's code and, as such, do not require client approval because they do not affect the website's appearance. However, they do significantly impact the SEO optimization process.
8. Changes to meta tags: title and description
These are also changes that website visitors don't see, so as such, they aren't communicated to our clients for review and approval. If our clients wish to see them, we see no reason to hide them (meta tags are visible in the page code, not hidden in any way). Meta tags have significantly less room for modification than on-page text. The limited character count and the need to use keywords dictate the discipline of their writing.
Regarding meta tags—title and description—our clients sometimes ask if it's possible to display different meta tag variants, assigned to a single subpage or home page, depending on the search query, as is the case with Google Ads. This isn't possible. The home page and each subpage should have its own unique meta title and description, but only one meta title and meta description are displayed, visible in the page's code.
Entering long meta titles and meta descriptions—longer than the SEO specialist's expectations—will also not yield any additional SEO benefits, and longer meta descriptions, for example, won't be fully visible in search results anyway. Good SEO, however, requires adapting meta tags. The most effective practice is to adhere to the principle of uniqueness while maintaining character limits and including keywords within them.
9. Redirecting broken subpages – 404 error
We also don't consult this optimization process with the client. In this case, the visitor sees the redirection as a result, reaching a working subpage within the website. This encourages them to stay on the website and explore its offerings.
Redirects are extremely important and necessary, for example, when changing subpage URLs to user-friendly ones. They should also be implemented when switching to an encrypted protocol (https) or changing a domain. Redirects can also be used to streamline the indexing of a website and its subpages. If the appropriate provisions are not included in the page code, Google may index the website address separately, both with and without the www, as well as addresses with and without a trailing slash. This creates confusion and significantly weakens any SEO efforts. Using this type of redirect does not affect the reception or functionality of the website, but it is important for website optimization.
SEO optimization and expert recommendations – why is it worth working together?
The changes proposed by SEO specialists can have a positive impact not only on the SEO process but can also bring more benefits. A good example is the frequently recommended changes involving content expansion.
Valuable text on a website provides additional information that can accelerate a customer's decision-making process or influence them to choose a particular company over another. This applies, for example, to product categories or descriptions in an online store or the content of a company blog.
In this case, the goal is not only to optimize pages but also to increase their conversion efficiency. Well-written content also helps build a company's image.
A website that's ascetic in terms of content deprives itself of these advantages – after all, everyone wants to know what they're buying. Therefore, it's worth ensuring unique and informative descriptions and providing appropriate structured data for the products available.
When it comes to descriptions, however, it's important to remember uniqueness – many sellers make the fundamental mistake of posting product descriptions copied from the manufacturer. However, this behavior can result in penalties. Optimizing your pages for Google can be based solely on unique content.
The same applies to expanding your website with new subpages. More detailed grouping of products or services makes them easier to find, which can translate into higher conversion rates. There's also no point in keeping product categories permanently empty in your store.
In summary, website optimization is, or at least should be, a comprehensive process. SEO specialists' efforts are aimed at increasing a website's visibility, but their effects are much broader. Modern SEO principles align with the expectations of internet users, so their implementation brings tangible benefits in many areas.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- SEO optimization includes both technical code fixes and user-visible changes to the website's appearance that are of particular interest to customers.
- SEO optimization often requires modifications to the finished website design, so any visible changes in the design should be consulted with and accepted by the client.
- SEO optimization includes invisible changes to the URL structure and key content expansion, which, due to its impact on the company's image and offering, always requires consultation and client approval.
- Implementing friendly URLs is a key, indisputable element of optimization that improves the readability of the page for both Google robots and users.
- Adding new subpages is done with the client's approval and serves more effective SEO by creating separate, thematic tabs optimized for specific keywords.
- Rebuilding menus and implementing PageSpeed Insight recommendations are significant changes that require consultation with the client and improve the site's structure and performance, often without a noticeable impact on appearance, but with benefits for SEO and speed.
- Technical changes that facilitate indexing (robots, canonicals) and optimization of title and description meta tags are invisible to users, do not require client approval, and are crucial for effective SEO.
- 404 error redirects and comprehensive SEO optimization, including technicalities and unique content, streamline indexing, improve user experience, and significantly increase website visibility and conversion.
