There’s hardly anything worse for a company than simply not being found. “Those who don’t advertise, die” – I can definitely sign up to that old saying. Because advertising your own company is important. What’s even more important, though, is that this advertising reaches the right people and, above all, is found.
It used to be quite different in some ways. I remember those delivery vans completely covered in ads from businesses around town. Ten, twenty or even more company logos and phone numbers on one vehicle driving around. Sure, at some point you might have recognized a logo. But detailed services, specific offers or the question of whether this company actually offers exactly what I’m looking for could hardly be conveyed on a vehicle like that.
Today, people search differently. When I need something, I go to Google. And increasingly, people no longer just search the classic way, but also via AI search systems. That’s exactly why, alongside my photography and my graphic work, I now also work intensively on SEO and GEO.
What is my client actually searching for?
For me, one of the most important questions in SEO is therefore not: “Which technical terms would I like to have on my website?” But: “What does my client actually type into Google or an AI?” And it’s fine to think quite simply here.
Because the client may not know my technical terms at all. They may not know what my service is correctly called. Instead, they search for very simple, sometimes even somewhat “clumsy” terms. But it’s exactly these terms that matter.
So I try to put myself in my client’s shoes. What would someone type in who has no idea about my industry? Sometimes a very simple method even helps: ask grandma, grandpa, younger people or someone who has nothing to do with the topic. “What would you type into Google if you were looking for this?” The answers can be surprisingly valuable.
Keywords don’t just belong on the homepage
Once I know these search terms, they should also show up on the website in a meaningful way. Not just stuffed in somewhere, but structured and matching the respective topic. That can mean, for example:
- clear headings with relevant search terms
- separate subpages for important services
- understandable texts about individual services
- suitable image descriptions and alt texts
- frequently asked questions (FAQs)
- blog posts on specific client topics
- local and thematically relevant content
Over time, this creates a website that doesn’t just look good, but also describes more and more precisely what I offer and for whom my services are interesting.
Reviews are part of the overall picture, too
Another point I find important is customer reviews. If a client was happy with my work, I can of course kindly ask them to leave a review on Google. This isn’t about dictating texts to clients. Real, authentic experiences are far more important. If these reviews then naturally describe which service was used or what I helped with, it creates an additional signal for people who are looking for exactly these services.
Consistency is incredibly important
Another point is often underestimated, in my opinion: all information about a company should match.
- The address on the website should be written exactly as it is in other profiles.
- The phone number should be given consistently.
- The company name should be the same everywhere.
- Services, company description and other important information shouldn’t read completely differently on every platform, either.
This applies, for example, to your own website, Google Business Profiles, LinkedIn and other relevant platforms. The more consistent this information is, the clearer the overall picture of a company.
SEO meets GEO
And this is where it gets especially exciting for me now. Because in addition to classic Google search, searching via AI systems is becoming more and more important. That’s why I no longer just deal with the question: “How does my website get to the top on Google?” But also: “How does content have to be structured so that modern search and AI systems can understand my company, my services and my content?”
Various AI tools help me with this now. For example, I can use them to systematically analyze and structure topics, search terms, page structures, FAQs and content. This results in concrete text and page concepts, which I then discuss with the client. The decisive point for me, though, is: AI doesn’t replace the client, nor the individual design. The content is checked, adapted and matched against the company’s actual services. Only then does it go into the website.
The website still has to stay authentic
Because, for me, a website doesn’t just consist of text. On the contrary: for a high-quality web presence in particular, I want to show real people, real spaces, real products and real work. That’s why authentic photos and a professional business shoot are part of it for me, too.
Add to that custom web design: custom colors, custom fonts, custom buttons, custom sections and a design that actually fits the company. The structured content is only one part of the whole. In the end, the result is a combination of authentic pictures, custom design, understandable content, a clean structure, technical foundations and a well-thought-out search strategy. And it’s exactly this combination that makes a high-quality website for me.
A lot happens technically in the background, too
Part of the work, which you don’t even see as a visitor to a website, takes place in the background. This includes, for example, technical structures and additional files or information on the server that can help search engines and modern AI systems better understand and classify a website’s content. None of this happens at the push of a single button. It’s rather the interplay of many small building blocks – and it’s exactly this symbiosis that I find exciting.
SEO takes patience
With all of this, there’s one thing you mustn’t forget: SEO doesn’t work overnight. On my own website, I noticed that some rather specialized or so-called niche keywords bring first results relatively quickly. For some terms, I was able to land on the first page comparatively early. For more important and more competitive search terms, on the other hand, it takes much more patience.
So I wouldn’t expect a new website to go online today and be at the top of Google tomorrow. For many search terms in particular, you should think in months rather than days. Three months or more can be a realistic time frame before bigger changes show up in the search results. And even after that, SEO isn’t a one-time task: a website should be developed further, expanded with new content and checked again and again.
Today, a website is more than just a digital business card
That’s exactly why I no longer see a website as just a digital business card. Rather, it’s a central part of a company’s communication. It should look good. It should show the company’s personality. It should explain clearly what is on offer. It should be helpful for real people. And it should be built so that search engines and modern AI systems can understand the content as well as possible.
For me, SEO, GEO, authentic photography, custom web design and a clean technical structure therefore belong together. And when these things work together properly, the result is a website that doesn’t just look good but can actually be found.
Would you like to be found more easily, too?
If you feel that your website looks nice but hardly anyone notices it on Google, we can take a look at it together. I analyze which search terms could be interesting for your company, how your content can be structured and what options there are to set up your website better for classic search engines and modern AI search.
I combine custom web design, authentic business photography, structured content and modern SEO/GEO approaches into one complete package. How that works in practice is on the SEO in Dresden page. If you’d like to know what I can do for your company, just get in touch and ask for a no-obligation quote.