You don't need an agency for the SEO basics. You need a few hours, free tools, and the willingness to rework your copy. These ten measures cover what delivers most of the result for small websites – doable without prior knowledge.

1. Set Up Google Search Console

Without Search Console you're flying blind. Create a property, verify your domain, submit your sitemap. From now on you can see which queries you appear for, where you get clicks, and which pages have problems. Free, mandatory, period.

2. Don't Forget Bing

Bing Webmaster Tools imports your Search Console data in a few clicks. Bing also feeds ChatGPT search and Copilot – those ten minutes now pay off twice.

3. Write a Title and Description Per Page

The page title is your shop window in search results. Formula: most important keyword first, benefit after, brand at the end, under 60 characters. The meta description doesn't rank, but it decides the click: 150 characters, concrete benefit, no fluff.

4. Check Search Intent Before You Write

Google your keyword and look at page one: guides? Product pages? Videos? Google shows you which format searchers expect. Writing against intent is the most common reason decent copy doesn't rank.

5. One Page Per Topic

Three half-baked pages on the same topic compete against each other (keyword cannibalization). Better one thorough page that actually answers the question. Merge thin pages instead of creating new ones.

6. Set Internal Links

Link from your copy to your important pages – with descriptive anchor text ("SEO checklist for stores") instead of "click here". Internal links are the most underrated SEO tool, and they cost nothing.

7. Compress and Describe Images

Scale images to display size and compress them before uploading (Squoosh is free). Alt texts describe what's visible – for accessibility and image search.

8. Measure Load Time

PageSpeed Insights shows your page's Core Web Vitals with concrete recommendations. The most common brakes on small sites: uncompressed images, too many scripts, cheap hosting. Measure first, then optimize.

9. Maintain Your Google Business Profile (Local)

For local searches ("barber Bielefeld"), your business profile often matters more than your website: categories, opening hours, photos, answering reviews. Reply to the bad ones too – future customers read those.

10. Measure and Keep Going

SEO works in months, not days. Realistic: first movement after 3 to 6 months. Check Search Console once a month: which queries come in, which pages gain, where rework pays off.

What Not to Do

  • Buy backlinks. My own domain is currently being bombarded by spam link farms – hundreds of worthless links from .shop domains. Exactly these links are what "SEO offers" for $99 sell you. They achieve nothing and can hurt.
  • Keyword stuffing. Copy that contains "SEO agency Bielefeld" eight times per paragraph doesn't rank better. It just reads worse.
  • Mass AI content. Fifty generated articles without your own substance produce thin pages in series. Google recognizes patterns without value – and readers do anyway.

When to Bring In a Professional

Honest boundary: technical problems (crawling, indexing, migrations, Core Web Vitals despite optimization), stagnating rankings in competitive markets, or simply no time. For CMS-specific depth, see the guides on TYPO3, WordPress, and Shopware.