Search Engine Optimization Guide for Professionals (2026)
Kirjoittanut Tapio Kauranen
Kirjoitettu: 21.7.2026 - Muokattu: 19.8.2026 Kirjoittanut Tapio Kauranen
Kirjoitettu: 21.7.2026 - Muokattu: 19.8.2026Sisällysluettelo
An SEO guide for professionals. Updated 2026. For when beginner guides no longer cut it and you want to take your skills to the next level
Whoever answers the search engine’s question best appears first. The purpose of search engines like Google is to provide the best possible result for each query.
For this reason, Google only shows results in the top positions that have been optimized for search engines.
SEO techniques can be divided into three areas:
In March 2016 Google revealed that search results are determined by three main factors.
This is why RankBrain was developed — its existence was confirmed in 2015.
RankBrain is an AI that uses machine learning.
Machine learning = you give a machine data and constraints. The machine then draws conclusions from that information.
For example, the framework for a chess-playing AI is the rules of chess. A chess AI simulates billions of moves and picks the ones that work best.
In the past Google read the text on your blog post and tried to infer its topic by counting how often certain words appeared.
Once it guessed the topic, the page was slotted into the relevant search.
That’s history.
The old approach had a problem: for example, a search for “verkkokauppa” could mean
…or something else.
RankBrain solved this by looking at past searches and which links people clicked after searching. If users went as far as the second page of results and clicked a link there, that site would be ranked higher the next time.
Today Google can, in Finnish too, often guess very precisely what you meant by your search — even if the page’s text doesn’t exactly match your query.
FOR EXAMPLE
The technical side is the foundation of SEO. This is where a site’s loading speed and usability are optimized.
Websites need to be technically sound to appear in search engines. In practice that means a site must:
In 2020 Google announced it would adopt a more robust way to measure page speed and user experience.
Rather than relying on simple load time, Google now uses more advanced metrics:
Each of these metrics and how to optimize them are explained below:
Test your site’s loading speed hereIn 2019 Google announced that its indexing bot no longer uses desktop versions of websites.
Chances are most of your visitors use mobile devices too. Worldwide, mobile connection speeds are painfully slow.
So, when you use Google’s PageSpeed test, look only at the mobile tab
Test mobile loading speed here
Log in to Search Console and add your site.
Go to the "Page Experience" section to see how Google has rated your site.
If there are loading problems, you’ll find them there.
Google often also explains how to fix any issues.
Google Search Console
The recommended LCP load time is under 2.5 seconds.
If load time exceeds 4 seconds, it’s quite possible Google won’t show the page in search results at all. The site is simply too slow to be displayed.
How to optimize LCP
Items are explained in more detail below:
Google’s guidance on LCPImages are huge. A photo taken with a phone can be several megabytes, while an image on a website should usually only be a few kilobytes.
Fortunately, shrinking and compressing images is easy with external tools.
Whether you use WordPress or another platform, I recommend using Imagify — automated image compression software.
With Imagify you can compress your WordPress site’s images automatically with one click.
Besides compression, you should also consider image formats.
Modern websites serve images in .avif or .webp formats. These newer formats outperform the familiar JPG, GIF, and PNG formats.
If you enable Imagify in WordPress, the tool will automatically convert images to .webp format.
Embedding videos from a streaming service like YouTube is heavy because the service has to load its own player along with the video.
Usually that means a ton of JavaScript files and a few images are loaded with the video.
The easiest fix is to load videos “lazily” — using lazy loading.
Lazy loading means the browser only loads the video when the user scrolls to it. The video isn’t loaded together with the rest of the page.
If you use WordPress, the easiest way to enable lazy loading is to install WP Rocket on your site.
Especially in poorly coded WordPress themes, these files can be a massive problem. Theme authors often pack in thousands of features, and each feature adds to file size and slows page loading.
On WordPress sites, file optimization is made easy thanks to the WP Rocket plugin.
FID should be under 100 ms.
If FID is over 300 ms, the site receives a failing grade and may not appear in Google (source).
It’s rare for FID to be slow because it’s usually caused by heavy JavaScript tasks, which are uncommon on typical websites.
Fixing FID often requires deep programming expertise, so I won’t cover it in detail here.
Instead, I recommend reading Google’s official guidance on the topic
Read Google’s guide to fixing FID
CLS measures how long it takes for a page to stop shifting and become usable.
CLS should be under 100 ms.
If CLS is over 250 ms, the page receives a failing grade and may not appear in Google (source).
There’s no single guide that fixes every CLS issue — each problem needs to be addressed case by case.
Hire me or another developer if you need help optimizing CLS.
Read Google’s guide to CLSOnce the foundation of the site — the technical side — is in place, you can focus on the most important part of SEO: the text content.
Many sources say the “three-click rule” isn’t actually true, but I think it’s a very useful guideline.
The idea is that any content should be reachable within three clicks.
That said, if you have thousands of pages, you shouldn’t force everything to be within three clicks.
Many large companies have analyzed millions of Google searches and found that longer content tends to perform better in search results.
People like longer texts as long as they’re high quality. After all, people do read books.
300 words is the minimum, but studies have shown that pages that rank well on Google are typically 2,100–2,400 words long.
According to a HubSpot study from 2021, the ideal blog post length for SEO should be 2,100-2,400 words.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ideal-blog-post-length-for-seo/255633/
People read text online differently than they do in books.
Google also understands a page’s topic better when you include the search term directly in the page’s headings.
Headings help keep a reader’s attention longer. Longer visits can improve your visibility in search engines.
URL rules:
Example: www.example.com/keyword-product
Heading rules:
Remember that content quality and user experience come first. SEO is important, but don’t let it reduce your site’s usability or the value of your content for users.
Good alt text helps improve your site’s search visibility and makes it more accessible to a wider range of users.
Using internal links effectively requires a deliberate strategy and a solid site structure.
Make sure you link to relevant content and use descriptive, natural anchor text.
Don’t overdo internal linking, though — avoid harming the user experience.
It’s a good idea to include links from your site to other websites, as long as they’re relevant and useful to your visitors.
Linking to high-quality, authoritative sites can help your SEO because it boosts your site’s credibility and perceived value to search engines.
When adding links, keep these points in mind:
The "dofollow" and "nofollow" link attributes also matter for SEO.
"Dofollow" links tell search engines you trust the linked site and can pass value to it.
"Nofollow" links don’t pass value, but they’re useful when linking to ads or other sites you don’t want to endorse.
Ultimately, remember that SEO’s primary goal is to improve the user experience.
Links shouldn’t be added just to boost search rankings — they should provide real value and helpful information to your visitors.
Writing a meta description matters because it affects how appealing your page looks in search results — which can boost your search ranking and bring more visitors to your site.
When writing a meta description, pay attention to the following:
To add a meta description to an HTML document, include a element in the head like this:
<head>
…
<meta name="description" content="Here is an example meta description that explains the page’s content and purpose.">
…
</head>
Replace the content attribute value with your own meta description.
Links from other websites — backlinks and your site’s reputation.
It’s 2026, and external links still affect a site’s visibility in search.
Once you’ve taken care of all on-site SEO, you can focus on getting links from other sites.
Google, however, advises against manufacturing links; instead it recommends creating content so good people link to it naturally.
That’s the whole point of external links.
Here are five ways I acquire backlinks myself
A good backlink consists of the following
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Image links are worthless
You already appear on Google for your own name
A nofollow link is worthless. All social media links and comment fields include the nofollow tag.
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Read more about WordPress websites.