SEO 2025 rules for beginners

O

The world of SEO is constantly evolving, but some principles remain valid, and the workings of the AI-based algorithms above reinforce their importance for beginners in 2025:

  • Content quality: relevant, well-written, useful information.
  • This is the foundation of SEO.
  • Google aims to provide users with the best and most relevant content possible.
  • Content should be informative, accurate, well-structured and relevant to user intent.
  • Poor quality, superficial or misleading content will not perform well.
  • E-E-A-T: Expertise, experience, credibility, reliability.
  • Google is putting more and more emphasis on ensuring that the information in its search results comes from trustworthy sources.
  • This is particularly important for “Your Money or Your Life” (YMML) topics (e.g. health, finance). Content should reflect the author’s or website’s expertise and experience in the topic, be based on credible sources and be trustworthy.
  • Mobile-friendly design and fast loading.
  • With the dominance of mobile web browsing, it’s essential that your website looks great and loads fast on all devices (desktop, mobile, tablet).
  • Google also takes mobile-friendly design and page speed into account as a ranking factor.
  • Using structured data.
  • Structured data (schema markup) is code that helps search robots better understand the type of content and the information it contains (e.g. recipe, event, product). This allows Google to display richer snippets, which can increase click-through rates (CTR).
  • Optimizing user experience (UX).
  • As RankBrain shows, Google monitors user interactions.
  • Good user experience (easy navigation, clear layout, attractive design) increases user satisfaction, which has a positive impact on rankings.
  • Integration of visual and multimedia content.
  • In addition to textual content, images, videos, infographics and other multimedia elements can make content more engaging and understandable, improve user experience and increase engagement.
  • Branding and building trust.
  • Google prefers trusted and well-known brands.
  • Strong branding, positive online feedback and a consistent online presence can contribute to better rankings.

Brand presence / Brand Authority

Brand presence and brand authority are becoming increasingly important in Google’s eyes.

The search engine seeks to provide users with information from reliable and authoritative sources.

Well-known and respected brands have an advantage in this respect.


For a detailed explanation:

  • Operating principle: Google takes into account a number of factors when assessing brand authority:
    • Brand Mentions: How many times and where the brand name is mentioned online (not just as a link).
    • Quality and relevance of links: How many quality and relevant websites link to the brand.
    • Online ratings and reviews: How users rate the brand on different platforms.
    • Social media presence and activity: how active and engaged the brand is on social media.
    • Website authority: the quality, content and user experience of your website.
    • Offline presence and reputation: whether the brand is known and recognised offline.
    • Impact on SEO (SEO 2025 perspective).
      • Greater trust from users: users are more likely to click and trust well-known brands.
      • Easier link building: other websites are more likely to link to a recognised brand.
        • Protection against algorithm updates.

      User Experience (UX)

      User Experience (UX) describes how satisfied visitors are when using a website.

      It includes the usability, accessibility, performance and overall impression of the website.


      D

      etailed explanation:

      • Key elements.
        • Accessibility: How usable the site is for everyone, including people with disabilities.
        • Performance: How quickly the site loads and responds to user interactions.
        • Design & Aesthetics: How attractive and professional the site looks.
        • Content: How clear, relevant and useful the content is.
        • Trustworthiness: How much users trust the site and the information on it.
      • Impact on SEO (for SEO 2025): Google is increasingly taking user experience into account in its ranking:
        • Indirect ranking factor: Google does not have a direct “UX score” but does monitor a number of metrics that indicate a poor user experience (e.g. high bounce rate, low time on page).
        • User satisfaction as a goal: Google’s ultimate goal is to satisfy users