ELEKTRONIKPRAXIS column: Part 003: Why your website should definitely "flirt" with Google and co.

Search engines are the guarantors of your success on the Internet. Provided your website is loved by the search engines. However, no emotion means the end of your website and the loss of your investment. This is how you can ensure that Google falls in love with your website!

Imagine that your website is a book - with chapters, text, etc. You have just written a new book and would like the librarian at your local library to add it to his repertoire. He should even recommend it to his visitors if the enquiry matches the book.

Well, what would you tell the librarian? That's right - title of the book, content, form, edition, publication date, subject etc. This is exactly the information you need to pass on to an internet librarian (=search engine) so that they can add your book (=website) to their collection (=search engine index).

In addition, it is worth considering over 65 other criteria to ensure that your book does not end up in the librarian's basement and is never borrowed. This means that if your company is not found in the first 3 hit pages on Google and Co. when a keyword (not your company name!) is entered, then you are virtually non-existent on the Internet! So, make sure that your website is adapted and optimised for this target group.

Practical tip: Collect key terms

Use every contact from today to drive your online business forward. What does that mean? It's simple: from now on, ask everyone you talk to and introduce your company to during small talk what search terms they would use to look for you on the Internet. An ideal basis for a nice conversation. For example, you could start as follows: "Mr ..., your opinion is very important to me. What terms would you use to search for me on the Internet if you didn't know me but needed my services?"

Collect these terms, we will need them urgently at a later date. And - if your counterpart asks you why you are asking this question - simply recommend this column to them - they will thank you for it!