What does SEO mean?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It covers all measures that ensure search engines can find and understand a website and show it near the top of the organic search results for relevant queries. Organic means that the ranking cannot be bought. Paid ads above and below the results belong to search engine advertising (SEA). Together, SEO and SEA make up search engine marketing (SEM).
SEO matters to businesses because people actively search for solutions. If you are visible for these searches, you reach potential customers at the very moment they have a need, and you do not pay for each individual visit.
How search engines find and evaluate websites
According to Google, a page goes through three stages before it can appear in the search results:
- Crawling: Programs known as crawlers visit pages and follow links to further pages.
- Indexing: Google analyses the text, images and videos on a page and stores the information in the Google index. Find out more in our article on indexing.
- Serving search results: When someone searches, Google selects the most suitable pages from the index and puts them in order.
Not every page goes through all three stages. Technical errors, duplicate content or a deliberate noindex instruction can prevent a page from being indexed at all. Search engine optimisation therefore starts with the question of whether a page can be found and indexed, and only then with the question of how well it ranks.
The three areas of search engine optimisation
In practice, there are three interlocking areas of work.
Technical SEO
This is the foundation: search engines must be able to crawl and process a website without problems. It includes
- a clean site structure and correct status codes,
- unique URLs with canonical tags to avoid duplicate content,
- fast loading times and good usability on smartphones,
- structured data, so that search engines can better classify content such as products, events or FAQs.
For loading speed and usability, Google refers to the Core Web Vitals. They measure how quickly the main content loads (LCP), how quickly the page responds to input (INP) and how stable the layout remains while loading (CLS).
Content and on-page optimisation
The second area concerns the content itself. A page should answer a specific question better than other results. Important points are
- targeting suitable search terms, identified through keyword analysis,
- meaningful title tags and meta descriptions for how the page appears in the search results,
- a clear structure with headings,
- well-planned internal linking,
- original texts instead of duplicate content.
In its guidelines, Google stresses that content should be written primarily for people, not for search engines. A specific keyword density plays no role in this.
Off-page SEO and trust
The third area lies outside your own website. Links from other sites, known as backlinks, count as recommendations and strengthen the authority of a domain. Quality is what matters: a link from a relevant, trustworthy site carries more weight than many links from directories. Buying links violates Google’s guidelines. Besides links, brand mentions, reviews and the visible expertise of the people behind the content also count.
Search intent: why the right answer matters
Every search query has an intention behind it. Google tries to show the pages that best fulfil this intention. There are four types:
| Search intent | Example | Suitable page |
|---|---|---|
| Informational | “what is seo” | Guide or glossary article |
| Navigational | “rheinwunder contact” | A specific website or subpage |
| Commercial | “seo agency comparison” | Comparison or service overview |
| Transactional | “order seo audit” | Offer or enquiry page |
If you want to optimise a page for a search query, look at the current search results first. If Google mainly shows guides there, an offer page hardly stands a chance, and vice versa. If several pages on the same website compete for the same query, this is called cannibalisation.
SEO, SEA and GEO compared
Alongside the classic search results, search engines and AI assistants increasingly provide direct answers, for example AI Overviews and AI Mode in Google Search or search in ChatGPT. Optimising for these answers is called generative engine optimisation, or GEO for short.
| SEO | SEA | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Ranking in the organic search results | Ads above and below the search results | Mentions and citations in AI answers |
| Costs | No price per click, but effort for technology and content | Payment per click | No price per mention, effort for content and brand |
| Effect | Builds up over months and lasts | Immediate, ends with the budget | Builds up, depends heavily on sources and brand |
| Measurability | Search Console and web analytics | Ad account, for example Google Ads | Still limited, own approaches needed |
One statement from Google is important for website owners: there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. The fundamentals of search engine optimisation apply there in the same way. A technically sound website with clear, well-sourced content is therefore the basis for both.
Which metrics show success
Whether SEO is working can be seen from a few metrics. The most important source is the free Google Search Console:
- Impressions: how often a page was shown in the search results,
- clicks and click-through rate (CTR): how many users clicked on the result,
- average position: the rank at which the page appears on average.
In addition, visibility indices from SEO tools show how a domain’s presence develops across many search terms. In the end, however, what counts is whether visits from organic search turn into enquiries, orders or other conversions. Web analytics measures this.
Common misconceptions about SEO
- “SEO is a one-off job.” Search engines, competitors and search behaviour change constantly. Content becomes outdated, and technology needs maintenance.
- “You can pay Google for better rankings.” Only ads can be paid for. The organic results cannot be bought.
- “A keyword should appear in the text as often as possible.” Excessive repetition tends to do harm. What matters is whether the text fully answers the question.
- “More pages bring more rankings.” Many thin or very similar pages dilute a website and compete with each other. A few strong pages are often more effective.
- “AI search makes SEO obsolete.” AI answers draw on content from the web. If your content is easy to find there, you also have better chances in AI answers.
SEO with Rheinwunder
Would you like to know where your website stands today and which measures are worthwhile? As an SEO agency from Bonn, we analyse technology, content and competition and implement the optimisation together with you. If you want to build up the knowledge in your own team, you will find suitable formats in our SEO seminars.
