FAQ

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the work of improving a website so that it appears higher in the organic results on Google and other search engines. It involves making the site technically fast and clear, creating relevant content, building a logical structure and strengthening the site’s credibility with links from other websites.

The goal is to attract more relevant visitors without paying for ads, precisely when they are searching for information, products or services.

AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization. It is the process of adapting content so that it can easily be used as a direct answer by search engines and AI services.

Unlike traditional SEO, where the goal is often to get the user to click through to a website, AEO focuses on providing clear, accurate and well structured answers to specific questions.

This includes writing clear definitions, using relevant headings, answering common follow up questions and presenting information in a way that makes it easy for Google, ChatGPT and other answer engines to understand and reproduce it.

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It is the process of adapting content so that it can be understood, evaluated and used by generative AI services such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.

The goal is to increase the chance that a company, website or expert is mentioned as a source or recommendation in AI generated answers.

This requires clear, credible and well structured content, strong topical connections, accurate facts and a clear author or publisher so that AI systems can understand who is behind the information and what expertise they have.

Search engine optimization works by making a website easier for Google to understand, evaluate and show for the right searches. To rank well, a page needs to answer the search clearly, use relevant keywords, have a logical structure and work quickly and smoothly on mobile devices.

Google also considers external signals such as links from other websites and signs of credibility. SEO is therefore long term work involving technology, content and authority that can gradually improve visibility and bring more relevant traffic.

On page SEO includes everything you do on your own website to improve visibility. This includes clear headings, relevant keywords, optimized images, fast loading, mobile usability, internal links, meta tags and good structure.

Off page SEO happens outside your website and mainly involves strengthening credibility through links, brand mentions and other external signals. On page SEO makes the page easier to understand and use, while off page SEO provides signals that other people and websites trust it.

Together they influence how well a website ranks in search results.

SEO takes time and rarely produces immediate results. Clear effects are often visible after three to six months, but the time depends on competition, the history of the website, its technical condition, content and links.

A new site usually takes longer because it has little existing authority. An older site can sometimes improve faster if it already has visibility. Technical improvements can have a quicker effect, while content and links generally require more sustained work.

The best results usually come when SEO is handled continuously and methodically.

SEO can cost anything from a few thousand SEK per month for relatively simple help to tens of thousands or more for larger agency projects.

The price depends on competition, the number of pages, technical problems, content requirements, link building and how advanced the strategy needs to be.

You can do SEO yourself, but that requires time and knowledge. For a company, SEO should primarily be viewed as an investment where the value is measured in increased visibility, relevant traffic and more business over time.

A meta title is the title that can appear in Google’s search results and in the browser tab. It helps both users and search engines understand what the page is about and should normally contain the page’s most important keyword or topic.

A good meta title is clear and relevant and can improve the click through rate from search results. It should usually be short enough not to be truncated, often around 60 characters, and should be optimized individually for each important page.

A meta description is the short text that is often displayed below the title in Google’s search results. It summarizes the content of the page and helps users decide whether the result is relevant.

The meta description does not directly affect rankings, but it can improve click through rate if it is clear and persuasive. It should be unique for each page, use important keywords naturally and generally stay around 150 to 160 characters to reduce the risk of being truncated.

1. Understand your audience

Start by finding out what your customers actually search for. Think about the questions they ask, the problems they want to solve and the words they use themselves.

2. Collect keyword ideas

List words and phrases that describe your products, services or topics. Think broadly as well as specifically, including main keywords, questions and longer search phrases.

3. Check search volume and competition

Use Google Keyword Planner or another keyword tool to see how many people search for the terms and which related searches exist.

4. Choose relevant long tail keywords

Do not focus only on the largest keywords. More specific search phrases often have lower competition and attract visitors who already know more clearly what they are looking for.

5. Match the keyword to the right page

Every keyword should fit the content of the page. There needs to be a clear connection between the search phrase, headings, copy and what the user expects to find.

6. Create content that answers the search

Do not simply insert the keyword into the text. Build the page so that it genuinely helps the user and gives a clear answer to the search.

Search intent is the purpose behind a search, meaning what the user wants to know, do, buy or find.

In SEO it is important to match both the keyword and the need behind it. A user can have informational intent, commercial or comparison intent, transactional intent where the goal is to buy or book something, navigational intent where the user wants a particular website, or local intent where the goal is to visit a physical place.

The right content depends on the intent. Someone searching for a recipe wants instructions. Someone searching for the best mobile phone will often want comparisons. Someone searching for a specific product may already be ready to buy.

Google tries to show results that best match the user’s purpose, which makes search intent important for visibility, traffic and conversions.

Organic traffic comes from the normal search engine results, meaning links that are not marked as ads. You earn that traffic by ranking highly in Google’s search results based on content, relevance and authority.

Paid traffic comes from advertising such as Google Ads. You pay to have your page displayed above or alongside organic results and normally pay each time somebody clicks the ad.

The main difference is how the traffic is generated. Organic traffic requires an investment in content and optimization but has no direct cost for each click. Paid traffic can produce results quickly, but you continue paying for the traffic you receive.

Google’s algorithm is not one single formula. It consists of multiple automated ranking systems that determine which pages should appear for a search and in what order.

The foundation goes back to Google’s early PageRank research, where Larry Page and Sergey Brin described how links could be used as signals to estimate the importance of a page. A link worked roughly like a recommendation, although not every link carried the same weight.

Google’s systems are now much more complex than PageRank. They analyze many different signals to find relevant and useful results. Important areas include the meaning of the search, relevance and quality of the content, usability and the user’s context.

A page therefore needs to get several things right. It should answer the search intent, cover the relevant concepts naturally and be clearly structured. It should also be technically accessible, fast enough, mobile friendly and easy to use.

SEO therefore needs to address the whole website. Good rankings are rarely the result of simply inserting the right keyword or acquiring a few links. Technology, structure, content, user experience and authority need to work together.

Google updates its search systems continuously. This includes both large algorithm updates and thousands of smaller changes.

Google reported that it made 4,500 improvements to Search during 2020, which works out to more than twelve changes per day on average. Most of these are small changes that individual websites will never clearly notice.

Google also releases larger updates several times per year. The most important are known as core updates and affect Google’s broad ranking systems. A core update normally does not target one particular website or one specific mistake. Instead, Google changes how content is evaluated more broadly.

For SEO, this means you cannot build a strategy around reacting to individual updates. The work needs to be based on stable quality over time.

A sitemap is a file that lists important pages on a website and helps Google find, understand and index the content.

SEO primarily uses XML sitemaps, while HTML sitemaps are designed more for visitors. A sitemap can show which pages exist and when they were last updated, but inclusion in a sitemap does not guarantee indexing.

Sitemaps are particularly useful for large websites, new pages with few links and content that is difficult to reach through normal navigation.

Robots.txt is a text file located in the root directory of a website. It gives instructions to search engine crawlers about which areas of the site they may or may not crawl.

You can use robots.txt to block sections that are not useful in search results, such as certain internal search functions, administrative areas or testing environments.

The file uses a simple rule based format where you specify which user agents are affected and which paths should be blocked.

Robots.txt should be used carefully. Blocking the wrong area can prevent important content from being crawled. The file should therefore be checked after major changes to the website.

Internal linking means linking between pages on the same website. It helps users continue to relevant content and helps Google discover, crawl and understand important pages.

A good internal link structure shows which pages are most important. Important categories, guides, products and service pages should therefore receive links from relevant parts of the site, such as menus, breadcrumbs, categories, articles and related pages.

Anchor text should be short, clear and relevant. Instead of using generic wording such as “read more”, it is often better to use descriptive text that explains what the linked page is about.

Internal linking should not be exaggerated. Too many links can make content difficult to use. The most important principle is that the links should genuinely help the reader reach something relevant.

A canonical tag tells Google which URL should be treated as the primary version when several pages contain the same or very similar content.

It is commonly used for filters, sorting, URL parameters and situations where several URLs display the same product or article.

The tag is placed in the page’s head and helps search engines consolidate signals to the correct URL instead of allowing similar pages to compete with one another.

<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.example.com/category/product/” />

Duplicate content means that the same or very similar content exists on several URLs, either on the same website or across different websites.

Examples include copied text, reused product descriptions and technical duplicates created by filters, parameters, HTTP and HTTPS versions or WWW variations.

Google does not normally penalize duplicate content simply because it exists, but duplicates can make it more difficult for Google to decide which page to show and which URL should receive the accumulated link signals.

Common solutions include canonical tags, controlling indexation and creating unique content where it is actually needed.

Page speed is important for both user experience and search engine optimization. If a page loads slowly, users are more likely to leave before the content has even appeared.

Speed is particularly important on mobile devices, where users expect pages to respond quickly. A slow website can lose out to competitors offering similar content with better performance.

Google also measures aspects of page experience through Core Web Vitals. To improve speed you can optimize images, reduce unnecessary code, use caching and load resources more efficiently.

You can test a page using PageSpeed Insights.

Core Web Vitals are measurements designed to describe important technical aspects of the user experience on a web page.

Largest Contentful Paint, LCP, measures how long it takes for the largest content element to become visible.

First Input Delay, FID, measures how quickly the page responds to the user’s first interaction.

Cumulative Layout Shift, CLS, measures how much content moves unexpectedly while the page is loading.

These measurements matter because a page should not only contain relevant information. It should also load quickly, respond properly and remain visually stable.

JavaScript can affect SEO because parts of a page may only be created after code runs in the visitor’s browser. This can include menus, product lists, filters, text, links and reviews.

Google can read and render JavaScript, or at least that is the claim and it is true to a degree, but that does not mean every JavaScript implementation is problem free for SEO.

If important content, internal links or metadata only exist after scripts have run, it can become more difficult for Google to discover, understand and index them.

The central content of a page should ideally be available in the HTML Google receives, or the JavaScript implementation should be built so Google can render it reliably.

Common problems include products or articles that do not exist without JavaScript, internal navigation that does not use real links, filters that generate large numbers of weak URLs, metadata that changes too late and lazy loading that prevents content from being discovered.

A useful rule is that Google should be able to understand the purpose of the page even before every interactive feature has loaded.

Yes. Mobile optimization is very important for SEO. Google uses mobile first indexing, which means the mobile version of a website is the primary version used when evaluating and indexing the site.

If a website works badly on mobile devices, you risk losing both rankings and visitors. Pages that are difficult to read, slow to load or require horizontal scrolling create a poor experience.

Mobile optimization is not only about making the layout fit a smaller screen. Text size, button size, navigation and loading time also need to work properly.

Technical SEO is the work of optimizing the foundation of a website so that search engines can find, read, understand and index its content correctly.

It includes areas such as loading speed, mobile usability, indexing, URL structure, sitemaps, robots.txt, redirects, canonical tags and structured data.

It also involves avoiding problems such as duplicate content, broken links and incorrect HTTP status codes. Even excellent content can struggle to rank if the technical foundation is poor.

Domain Authority is a measurement intended to estimate how strong or authoritative a website is. It is not an official Google ranking factor, although it is widely used in SEO to estimate a site’s potential to rank.

Unfortunately, it is rarely a very good measurement of how your site will actually perform in search results.

The concept has been popularized by tools such as Moz, Ahrefs and Semrush, which each use their own models. These measurements are usually heavily influenced by the quantity and quality of links pointing to a domain.

Backlinks are links from other websites to your own. They can act as recommendations and strengthen a website’s credibility in Google’s eyes.

A link from a relevant and trustworthy website can carry more value than many weak links from irrelevant sites. Backlinks are an important part of SEO, and quality and relevance are generally more important than sheer quantity.

A nofollow link contains a special HTML attribute associated with how search engines should treat the link. The attribute looks like this: rel="nofollow".

Nofollow is commonly used when a link is not a normal editorial recommendation, for example in comments, advertisements, sponsored content or other user generated content.

Google now treats nofollow as a hint rather than an absolute instruction, which means it may interpret the link differently depending on the context.

Dofollow is an informal SEO term for a normal link that search engines can follow and that can pass PageRank from one page to another.

You do not need to add a special dofollow attribute in the HTML. A normal link is the default.

Black hat SEO refers to methods intended to manipulate search engine algorithms in ways that violate their guidelines.

Examples include unnatural keyword repetition, hiding text from users while showing it to search engines, buying large quantities of irrelevant links or creating networks of websites that exist mainly to link to one another.

These methods can sometimes produce fast results, but they also involve substantial risk. A website can lose rankings or even disappear from search results if manipulation is detected.

Black hat SEO is generally contrasted with white hat SEO, which focuses on sustainable quality, usability and relevant content.

White hat SEO is a broad term for search engine optimization that follows search engine guidelines and focuses on long term quality.

Instead of trying to trick the algorithm, white hat SEO focuses on relevant content, natural links and good technical foundations. This includes answering users’ questions, improving page speed, making the site work properly on mobile devices and using metadata correctly.

Other common elements include internal linking, good user experience and clear heading structures.

Yes, SEO can be very valuable for small businesses. It allows a company to appear when potential customers search for products or services without paying for every click.

For smaller companies with limited marketing budgets, SEO can also provide ways to compete with larger businesses by focusing on local searches, narrower niches and specific questions.

Organic visibility can also contribute to credibility because users often treat prominent organic results as signs of authority and trust.

Start by measuring the business value. The most important question is how many leads, purchases, quote requests, bookings or other conversions come from organic traffic. SEO should not simply create more visitors. It should contribute to the business.

You can then measure organic traffic in Google Analytics, impressions and clicks in Google Search Console and rankings for important keywords.

Search Console shows which searches generate impressions and clicks, while Analytics helps you understand what visitors do after reaching the site.

Google Search Console, previously called Google Webmaster Tools, is a free service that shows how your website performs in Google’s search results.

You can see which searches and pages generate impressions, clicks, positions and click through rate. It can also show indexing problems, security warnings and technical issues that may affect SEO.

You can submit a sitemap, request indexing and inspect how Google sees individual URLs.

Open Google Search Console.

Google Analytics shows how visitors find and use your website.

For SEO, you can use it to see how much traffic comes from organic search, which pages receive visits and whether those visits result in purchases, forms, bookings or other goals.

Google Analytics does not tell you where a page ranks in Google, but it helps you understand what happens after the click and which pages actually create value.

Read about Google Analytics.

An SEO audit is a review of a website designed to identify strengths, problems and opportunities for improvement.

It can cover technical issues, indexing, loading speed, mobile usability, broken links, canonical tags, content, meta titles, internal links and external links.

Tools such as Google Search Console, Screaming Frog and Semrush are often used. The result should be a prioritized picture of what works, what needs to be fixed and which actions are most likely to improve visibility, traffic and business value.

A keyword tool helps you find and analyze the words and phrases people use in Google.

Depending on the tool, it may show search volume, competition, related terms, trends and cost per click data.

Keyword tools are used to plan new content, improve existing pages and find relevant long tail keywords. Examples include Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Semrush, Ubersuggest and KWFinder.

Search volume shows how many times a keyword is searched during a particular period, usually per month.

It can be used to estimate traffic potential and prioritize content, but high search volume is not automatically better. The keyword also needs to match the right search intent, have realistic competition and offer potential business value.

Long tail keywords are longer and more specific search phrases. For example, “best running shoes for wide feet” is more specific than simply “running shoes”.

They often have lower search volume, but they can also have lower competition and higher relevance. They can attract visitors with a more specific need and a greater likelihood of taking action.

The expression comes from Chris Anderson’s book The Long Tail, which is worth reading for aspiring search engine optimizers.

Featured snippets are selected answer boxes that can appear near the top of Google’s search results.

They provide a quick answer directly in the results and are taken from a page that Google considers relevant. The content can appear as text, a list, a table or video and is common for clear informational searches.

Clear headings, concise answers and good structure can improve the chance that content is suitable for a featured snippet, although Google chooses what is displayed automatically.

Rich snippets are additional pieces of information that can appear in Google’s search results, such as ratings, prices, cooking times, stock availability or event information.

The information is usually provided through structured data that helps Google understand the content. Rich snippets do not directly improve rankings, but they can make a search result more visible and potentially improve click through rate.

Google decides whether the additional information is actually displayed.

AI Overviews are AI generated answers that can appear at the top of Google’s search results. They summarize information from multiple sources and often include links where users can read more.

For SEO, AI Overviews mean that visibility is no longer only about ranking among traditional search results. A page can also be cited or used as a source in an AI generated answer.

Content that is clear, factual, well structured and directly addresses search intent may be easier for Google to use. Strong topical relevance, a credible source and information that is easy to interpret also matter.

AI Overviews can create additional visibility, but they can also reduce clicks if the user receives enough of the answer directly in the search results.

Structured data is code that labels information on a web page so that Google can more easily understand what different elements represent.

A page can for example describe an article, product, recipe, event, organization, person or breadcrumb structure.

The most common vocabulary is Schema.org. Google generally recommends JSON LD because it is easier to add and maintain at scale than formats such as Microdata and RDFa.

Structured data does not automatically improve rankings and does not guarantee that Google will display a rich result. It can, however, make a page eligible for additional search result features.

The structured data should always describe information that genuinely exists on the visible page.

Schema markup is code used to add structured data to a web page. It is based on Schema.org and helps Google understand what the content represents.

For example, markup can indicate that a particular number is a product price, that a date is the start date of an event or that a particular person is the author of an article.

Schema markup is commonly used to make pages eligible for rich results. Products can provide prices, ratings and availability. Recipes can provide cooking times and images. Articles can provide headings, dates, authors and images.

JSON LD is the most common format and is generally easier to maintain than Microdata or RDFa.

Image SEO means making images clear, fast and understandable for both search engines and users.

Start with a descriptive filename. Instead of uploading IMG_1234.jpg, use a filename that explains what the image actually shows.

Alt text is also important. It provides an alternative description for screen readers and when an image cannot be displayed. A good alt text describes the image briefly and naturally.

Image dimensions and formats affect loading speed, so images should be compressed without unnecessary loss of quality and modern formats can be useful.

Context matters too. An image that genuinely supports the subject of the page is more useful than an unrelated decorative image.

Social media do not directly improve positions in Google’s organic search results, but they can still contribute to a broader visibility strategy.

Shares and exposure on social platforms can increase the reach of content, which may lead to more traffic, backlinks and brand awareness.

Traffic from social media does not in itself raise rankings, but social distribution can help more people discover content that later earns links or other external signals.

E E A T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Google added Experience to its Search Quality Rater Guidelines in 2022.

The idea is that quality is not only about formal expertise. First hand experience can also be valuable, such as a product review written by somebody who has actually tested the product.

E E A T is used in Google’s quality rater guidelines, but it is not one individual ranking factor that can simply be optimized directly.

Trust is particularly important. A page can demonstrate experience, expertise and authority, but if it is inaccurate, misleading or lacks transparency the overall trust is weak.

In practice, E E A T can be supported through clear authorship, relevant author profiles, fact checking, sources, updated content and evidence of real knowledge or experience.

YMYL stands for Your Money or Your Life. Google uses the concept for topics that can significantly affect a person’s health, finances, safety or wellbeing.

Examples include medical advice, legal information, financial decisions and reporting on important public issues.

Because incorrect information in these areas can have serious consequences, Google places particularly high expectations on quality and trustworthiness. It is especially important that YMYL content is accurate, updated and connected to relevant expertise.

Local SEO is the process of making a website and business visible for searches with a geographical connection.

It is particularly important for restaurants, hairdressers, dentists, car repair shops, stores, estate agents, tradespeople and other businesses that serve customers in a specific area.

A local search can explicitly contain a place name, such as “pizzeria in Malmö”, or it can imply location, such as “hairdresser near me”.

Google considers factors including relevance, distance and prominence when determining local results.

A complete and accurate Google Business Profile is therefore important. Business category, address, opening hours, telephone number, website, services, images and reviews should all be correct.

Google Business Profile, previously called Google My Business, is a free service that allows businesses to appear in Google Search and Google Maps.

You can provide an address, phone number, opening hours, website, images, posts and other business information.

The profile is important for local SEO because Google uses this information when determining which companies are relevant for local searches.

An updated profile with the right category, clear information, good images and positive reviews can increase the chance of being seen and attracting local customers.

Negative SEO refers to attempts to damage another website’s rankings using unethical methods.

This can include spammy links, copied content, false copyright complaints, hacking or fake reviews.

Google attempts to ignore obvious attacks, but it is still useful to monitor backlinks, security and technical health through tools such as Google Search Console.

Negative SEO is relatively unusual, but it can occur in highly competitive industries.

Protection from negative SEO mainly involves monitoring links, technical security and reviews.

Review the backlink profile regularly using Google Search Console, Ahrefs or Semrush and investigate sudden increases in irrelevant or spammy links.

Keep the CMS, plugins and other software updated to reduce the risk of hacking or manipulated content.

Local businesses should also monitor their Google Business Profile and report suspicious fake reviews.

A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from an old URL to a new one.

It sends both users and search engines to the new location and is commonly used when a page moves, is removed, changes URL or when a website changes domain.

For SEO, a 301 redirect can help preserve link signals, visibility and user experience while reducing broken links.

A 404 error means that the server is working but the page at the requested URL does not exist.

An occasional 404 is not a major SEO problem, but large numbers of broken links or 404 errors on important pages can create a poor user experience and waste valuable links.

Important errors can be handled by restoring the page, redirecting the URL to a genuinely relevant replacement or providing a useful 404 page that helps visitors continue elsewhere on the site.

Bounce rate describes the proportion of visits that end without the visitor continuing or interacting in the way measured by the analytics system.

A high bounce rate can occur because the content does not meet expectations, because the page is slow or simply because the visitor immediately found the answer they needed.

It is not a direct ranking factor, but it can be useful when evaluating how people use a website.

Dwell time is the amount of time a user remains on a page after clicking it from Google before returning to the search results.

A longer dwell time can indicate that a page was relevant and engaging, while a very short visit can indicate that it did not satisfy the search.

Google does not say that dwell time is a direct ranking factor, but it can still be a useful concept when evaluating content.

Yes. Google has confirmed HTTPS as a positive ranking signal, although it is relatively weak compared with major factors such as content and links.

HTTPS encrypts information sent between the user’s browser and the server. It is particularly important for sites handling sensitive information, but secure connections are now expected on ordinary websites and blogs as well.

When moving to HTTPS, HTTP URLs should normally redirect permanently to their HTTPS versions and internal links should be updated.

An SEO plugin is an extension, commonly used in WordPress, that helps manage SEO settings without writing code.

It can handle meta titles, meta descriptions, sitemaps, indexation, schema markup and basic content analysis.

Common examples include Yoast SEO, Rank Math and All in One SEO.

The recommendations from an SEO plugin should not be treated as absolute truth. A plugin cannot fully understand search intent, business goals or context. It is a useful tool, but it does not replace strategy, good content, links and technical SEO.

SEO in WordPress involves optimizing content, structure and technical settings so that a website is easy for both users and search engines to understand.

WordPress provides a good foundation for SEO, but good results still require deliberate choices.

Many websites use an SEO plugin such as Yoast SEO or Rank Math to manage meta titles, meta descriptions, indexation, sitemaps and schema markup.

Rank tracking means monitoring how a website ranks for selected keywords over time.

It can show whether SEO work is producing results, which pages are gaining or losing positions and how visibility changes in response to competitors or algorithm updates.

Tools such as Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, Wincher and SERPWatcher can track positions across different devices, countries and regions.

SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page. It is the page you see after performing a search on Google or another search engine.

A SERP usually contains organic results and paid advertisements. It can also contain images, maps, videos, featured snippets, shopping results and other search features.

CTR stands for Click Through Rate. It measures the proportion of people who see a search result and then click it.

If a page is shown 1,000 times and receives 100 clicks, the CTR is 10 percent.

CTR matters because it shows how effectively your search result attracts visitors. A page can rank highly but still receive little traffic if users do not click it.

Google has not confirmed CTR as a simple direct ranking factor, although click behaviour is frequently discussed in SEO.

Voice search optimization means adapting content to the way people speak rather than only to the way they type.

Voice searches are often phrased as complete questions and use more natural language. It is therefore useful to understand the user’s intent and provide direct, concise answers.

Natural questions beginning with words such as what, how, when and why can be useful in headings and content.

Voice search is also closely connected to mobile devices and smart speakers, which makes mobile usability and fast loading important.

The difference is primarily about how a website works on different devices.

Mobile SEO requires fast pages, readable text, clear navigation and buttons that are easy to use on a small screen. Because Google uses mobile first indexing, the mobile version is particularly important.

Desktop use is still important for longer research sessions, comparisons, tables and more extensive content. A good SEO strategy should work properly across mobile devices, tablets and desktop computers.

Keyword cannibalization occurs when several pages on the same website target the same or very similar keywords and begin competing with one another in search results.

This can make it unclear to Google which page is most relevant. It may lead to weak rankings, the wrong page appearing or rankings fluctuating between several URLs.

Cannibalization often occurs when several articles cover almost the same topic without a clear purpose for each page.

Keyword stuffing means excessively repeating a keyword in an attempt to manipulate rankings.

The repetition can appear in body text, headings, metadata, alt text or links.

For example: “Cheap shoes for people who want to buy cheap shoes online. Our cheap shoes are the best cheap shoes.”

This makes the text worse for readers and can damage search visibility. Keywords should be used where they fit naturally rather than forced into the content.

Keyword density measures how often a particular keyword appears relative to the total number of words on a page.

If a word appears ten times in a text containing one thousand words, its keyword density is one percent.

Historically, many SEOs believed there was an ideal keyword density, perhaps between one and three percent. That view is outdated. Search engines now focus much more on context, quality and intent than on reaching a particular percentage.

How often content should be updated depends on the subject and competition.

Guides involving prices, laws, technology, health or finance may need to be reviewed several times per year, while stable evergreen pages may only need an annual review.

Older articles that still receive traffic can often be improved rather than replaced so that their history and accumulated authority are preserved.

Regular content audits can help identify pages that have lost visibility and prioritize updates with the greatest potential impact.

Keyword research is the process of discovering which words and phrases people use when searching for the things you offer.

The analysis considers search volume, competition, search intent and which searches can potentially lead to traffic, leads or sales.

You normally collect relevant keywords, group them by topic and intent and then decide which pages should target which searches.

The goal is to create the right content for real searches rather than guessing what the audience might search for.

Latent semantic indexing, often abbreviated LSI, is an older method for understanding relationships between words and concepts.

In SEO, the term is often used more loosely for the idea that search engines understand context through related words and concepts.

Modern Google uses much more advanced language understanding than classic LSI. The practical lesson is to write naturally, use relevant concepts and cover the topic clearly instead of repeatedly using the same keyword.

Google Panda was an algorithm update launched in 2011 to improve the quality of Google’s search results.

It targeted thin, duplicated, over optimized or mass produced content with low user value, including many so called content farms.

Panda made content quality more important in SEO and later became integrated into Google’s broader ranking systems.

Google Penguin was an algorithm update launched in 2012 that targeted manipulative and unnatural linking practices such as paid links, link spam and irrelevant link networks.

The purpose was to reduce the visibility of sites attempting to manipulate rankings through prohibited link strategies.

Penguin was later integrated into Google’s broader ranking systems and now operates more continuously.

Google Hummingbird was a major algorithm change introduced in 2013 that improved Google’s ability to understand complete search queries rather than simply matching individual words.

It improved Google’s handling of search intent, context and semantics, particularly for longer and more naturally phrased searches.

For SEO, it represented part of the shift away from simple keyword optimization toward content that clearly covers a subject and answers the user’s actual need.

Google BERT is a language processing technology introduced into Google Search in 2019 to improve the understanding of natural language.

It helps Google interpret context, word order and nuances in search queries, particularly longer or conversational searches.

For SEO, the practical implication is that content should be clear, natural and written to answer the user’s real question rather than filled with repeated keywords.

Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells Google which language and regional audience a particular page is intended for.

It is used on websites with several language versions or regional versions of similar content.

For example, a site might have one page in Swedish for Sweden and another in English for the United States.

<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”sv-se” href=”https://example.com/sv/” />

<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en-us” href=”https://example.com/en/” />

Correct hreflang implementation helps Google show the appropriate language version to the appropriate audience and reduces the chance that the wrong version appears in search results.

An SEO agency helps companies and organizations improve their visibility in organic search results.

By combining technical expertise, content strategy and link building, the agency works to increase relevant traffic to the client’s website and contribute to business goals.

The work often begins with an analysis of the website, market and competitors to identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. Based on that analysis, the agency develops an SEO strategy suited to the client’s needs and resources.

The work can include technical optimization, improvements to speed and crawlability, content production and optimization, and link building.

Hiring an SEO agency gives a company access to specialist knowledge and resources that can be difficult to build internally.

Yes. You can do SEO yourself, particularly on smaller websites.

It requires time and knowledge of areas such as keyword research, meta tags, internal linking, loading speed, mobile optimization and measurement through Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

For larger or highly competitive projects it can make sense to combine internal work with expert support for areas such as technical SEO, strategy or links.

Google Core Updates are major updates to Google’s broad ranking systems. They are intended to improve the quality of search results and can affect large numbers of websites at the same time.

Unlike smaller targeted updates, a core update does not normally focus on one particular issue. It changes how Google evaluates factors such as relevance, quality, usefulness and trust across its broader systems.

The latest core update on the Swedish source page was the May 2026 core update, which started on May 21, 2026 and finished rolling out on June 2, 2026. The page also notes that there was no separate June 2026 Core Update in Google’s Search Status Dashboard, although a June 2026 spam update ran later that month.

For SEO, core updates mean that changes should be analyzed over time rather than reacted to immediately. If a site loses visibility, the answer is rarely one simple technical fix. Content quality, search intent, expertise, structure, user experience and trust all need to be reviewed.