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Who's who here?
Published: 24.02.2019.
Category: SEO
How to do SEO and what is SEO optimization.

No website owner is absolutely satisfied with the results that the website gives. After spending time and money, the return on investment does not go as planned despite the web designer’s grand promises that the website will change the business for the better in unprecedented dimensions.

So what now? How to improve the website?

You have heard of some website optimizations. You are bombarded with ads for internet marketing. They offer offers that differ greatly in amounts. Again, mountains and valleys are promised.

Whoever has saved on the website itself will, of course, have to dig deeper into their pocket when it comes to SEO optimization.

Why?

Cheap websites usually do not have preparation for SEO. They do not have predefined fields for titles, descriptions, keywords. The basics of SEO are not made. Such sites are usually on WordPress or Joomla platforms. Simple to make according to pre-made design templates, but almost no possibility of upgrading. It is important that they abound with a lot of unnecessary plugins (irony) that usually complicate and slow down the work of such sites.

WordPress is good for some simple presentation sites that will stay that way, but it is definitely not good for advanced sites that are planned to be expanded in the future. Web shops are also a great example of the old - as much money, so much music. WordPress with WooCommerce are the most common choice, but are they the best? No. The cheapest choice? Yes, in the beginning.

The biggest SEO disaster are Single page websites, i.e. websites where all the content is on one single page, and believe it or not, they really exist.

But, regardless of all that has been written, there is another side, there are web designers and marketing agencies that really overcharge because they consider themselves - a brand.

There is an unwritten rule in business - the cheapest and the most expensive offer are thrown away. Believe it or not, it works.

Let’s get back to SEO optimization

It should be clear that any website with some quality should have the so-called basic SEO optimization already done at the time of creation. SEO optimization is done in the control part of the page and is not visible to users who search the page. At least not obviously. It should be reduced to the creation of a sitemap. The sitemap is a map of your website that you send to Google so that Google knows how to index your website. Heading tags which are actually titles and subtitles of categories and subcategories of a website, written for search engines. Heading tags are arranged from H1 to H6 both numerically and by importance. Descriptions and titles of all images on the page, descriptions and titles of all products and services on the page (Title and Description), secure protocols such as HTTPS. Optimization of image size and format. The idea of creating the entire website should be such that Google “loves” it, that is, certain rules and consistency should be respected.

Advanced SEO optimization

The prerequisite for making advanced SEO optimization is that basic SEO optimization has been done. It is difficult to build on bad foundations. Some of the items of advanced SEO optimization are; Removing JavaScript and CSS that block other resources, compressing HTML, CSS, JS, enabling compression, implementing PWA (one of the most important items), writing quality content and descriptions on each page, improving domain rating and backlinks, publishing your page on relevant sources, behavioral analysis of visitors, implementing HotJar, analyzing competition, Google Analytics, Google Ads, My Business. Given that half of the above mentioned is not understood, one thing is clear - advanced SEO optimization is complex but rewarding.

Advanced SEO optimization also implies Internet marketing which will initially give instant results, and over time as the website is “raised” the share of paid marketing is reduced until it is no longer used at all.

All the SEO in the world won’t help if… How is that now? How “won’t help”?

It won’t help if the website regularly doesn’t get the most important thing; Content or in Croatian; content! Quality and unique content closely related to your products or services that is full of facts and details is the point of any well-done SEO optimization. In the end - even we write a BLOG.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between basic and advanced SEO optimization?
Basic SEO is the groundwork that should already be in place when a site is built: a sitemap sent to Google, proper heading tags from H1 to H6, titles and descriptions for every page, product, service and image, HTTPS, and optimized image sizes and formats. Advanced SEO builds on top of that. It covers things like removing render-blocking JavaScript and CSS, compressing HTML, CSS and JS, adding a PWA, improving your domain rating and backlinks, behavioral analysis with tools like HotJar, competitor analysis, and Google Analytics, Ads and My Business setup. You cannot do the advanced part properly if the basics are missing, because you would be building on bad foundations.
Why does SEO cost more when I paid very little for the website itself?
Because cheap websites usually skip the SEO groundwork entirely. They often have no predefined fields for titles, descriptions or keywords, and the basic structure search engines rely on simply is not there. So before anyone can actually optimize the site, that missing foundation has to be built from scratch, and that takes extra work. Whoever saved money on the website itself ends up paying for it later when SEO comes around. It is the old rule: as much money, so much music.
Is a WordPress or Joomla site bad for SEO?
Not automatically, but it depends on what you want. WordPress is fine for a simple presentation site that will stay simple. The problems start with advanced projects meant to grow over time. These platforms are quick to build from ready-made templates, but they leave little room for real upgrades, and they tend to pile up unnecessary plugins that slow the site down. A WordPress shop with WooCommerce is the most common choice and the cheapest one at the start, but cheapest and best are rarely the same thing.
What is the worst possible setup for SEO?
Single page websites, where all the content sits on one single page. They really do exist, and they are an SEO disaster. Search engines have very little structure to work with, no separate pages to index, and almost no room for the heading hierarchy and individual page titles that good SEO depends on. If you care about ranking, avoid cramming everything onto one page.
Does paid internet marketing replace SEO?
No, it works alongside it. Paid marketing gives you instant results early on while the site is still being raised in the rankings. As the SEO work takes hold over time, the share of paid marketing keeps shrinking until at some point you do not need it at all. Think of it as a bridge that carries you until the organic side is strong enough to stand on its own.
If my SEO is done well, is that enough to get results?
No, and this is the part people forget. All the SEO in the world will not help if the site does not regularly get the one thing that matters most: content. Quality, unique content tied closely to your products or services, full of real facts and detail, is the actual point of well-done SEO. That is exactly why even we keep writing a blog.
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