SEO(Search Engine Optimization) is a bit of a mystery to you? We will help you to see more clearly. What makes a site to be in first position on a search engine? The chance? The answer is: no. It is thanks to the referencing!
Search engine optimization on the Internet is to take action to list, reference or mention something. For your website, it consists in acting on different levers to improve your positioning in the search engine results pages. We talk about visibility.
We distinguish two strategies: natural referencing and paid referencing.
We explain you the bases!
SEO, what is it?
We are talking about all the techniques and actions implemented to improve the positioning of a website in the organic results of search engines. A search engine works with an algorithm, it is he who places your site in the results. So you will have understood, understanding the algorithm is the key. But it’s not that simple. SEO is a daily job, since Google for example regularly updates its algorithm. You can lose or gain places in the ranking in a very short time. So you have to be on constant watch.
Natural referencing is based on 3 pillars
Technical: there are many factors to take into account. There are more than 200 technical points to work on your site. For example, its tree structure, i.e. the way it is structured. Robots sent by the search engines wander around the web. They are the ones who will come and examine your site. The clearer and more readable your site will be for these robots, the higher your ranking will be. Other very important factors: the loading time of your site, the responsive design (its ability to adapt to different types of screens, especially on mobile), the Title tags (h1, h2 …), the alt tags (for images) and the meta description.
The content: work on your keywords and on the lexicon that follows. The vocabulary you use is very important and it must be consistent with the research that users do to find you. Search engines want authentic content, they value quality and relevance. Don’t try to copy and paste, Google will penalize you. Create original content! Put forward your added value, that’s how you will seduce search engines and Internet users.
Popularity: beyond seducing, your site must inspire confidence. You can work on this with “netlinking”. In short, the more you are an authority in your field, the more you will be cited via incoming links also called “backlinks. These are hyperlinks that point to a page of a website. It is a strategy that requires time, but Google takes into account your reputation and backlinks have a positive impact on it.
In a hyper-competitive world, it is important to put everything on your side to make the difference and make your place in the search results. SEO takes time, we must be aware of it. You don’t get on the first page of Google overnight. Give yourself time to optimize your site so that it best meets the criteria of the algorithms and also give time for search engines to analyze your site. SEO is the most important source of traffic on a website in the long run, don’t forget it!
What is the SEA ?
Doesn’t that tell you anything?
We are talking about advertising on search engines or Search Engine Advertising(SEA). These are for example the ads proposed in the results pages according to the keywords you have entered. These ads are also called “sponsored links”. Note that Google monopolizes 90% of this market.
The “sponsored” results are mostly located at the top of the page with the mention “ad”. You may know Google Ads (Google Adwords)?
It is a tool that allows you to buy advertising spaces. Like a billboard that you can see on the street. Google Ads works on keyword auctions.
So: I choose keywords I want to bid on, I assign bids to its keywords according to my budget, I create an ad that will be displayed on the search engine. My ad is online. Each time a user writes a request with the keywords I have chosen and clicks on my ad, I pay. This is the principle of cost per click (CPC). I only pay when someone clicks on my ad. Be careful, the goal is to be strategic! The system is quite complex, you must bid intelligently and in a relevant way, because it is a real battlefield. You are directly confronted to companies with big budgets. Even if you pay a lot for a keyword, you will not necessarily win. Focus on the keywords that your customers and prospects might type in! The most effective technique is to put yourself in their shoes. In the SEA levers we also find the affiliation strategy, remarketing or display.
So, are you seeing things more clearly now?
let’s summarize!
SEO is the basis of the referencing of your site. No SEO, no visibility! It needs time and effort, it is not done by snapping your fingers. You have to monitor your site, keep it alive and optimize it throughout its life. Working on your SEO also involves creating blog articles, sending newsletters, communicating on your social networks… Indeed, all this is part of a content strategy and contributes to the optimization of your natural referencing. The more active and engaged you are, the more robots will spot you and the more you will gain positions on search engines!
SEA is advertising on the Internet. It has a short term efficiency, it is almost instantaneous. It allows you to generate traffic quickly on your website, to increase its visibility and thus to work on its notoriety but also to allow you to convert your customers provided that the user path is relevant. Paid search is often used as a complement to SEO, sometimes a Google Ads campaign is used while waiting for SEO to take effect, or during a launch (site, product, event …), or to be able to place on very competitive keywords. In short, there are many reasons to use SEA. Is it accessible? Yes, all companies can do paid search engine optimization as long as they are ready to give it a part of their budget. The better the results, the more you will want to invest.
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