To understand the usefulness of SEO for a website, you must first understand how the internet works. The Internet is a gigantic network of interconnected content, a bit like the threads of a spider’s web. At the end of 2020, there were more than 1.8 billion sites around the world. That makes it content!
In this article, we’ll tell you why doing SEO is so important and what are the key methods to apply. We will then tell you about a very good way for you to do natural referencing in the long term: the business blog.
How do users relate to all of this content?
The users are divided. Some want to be able to find their own site in the blink of an eye while others want to find the site that meets their request / need.
The unique solution: search engines!
In 2021, five search engines dominate according to Net Applications:
Google, which remains the undisputed world leader with more than 88% of the desktop market share, followed by Bing with 4.15% and Yahoo with 3.55%. As for Baidu and Yandex , the leaders in their respective markets (China and Russia) have not yet reached 1% of market share.
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How does a search engine work?
The search engine is a tool that allows you to find web pages, videos, images, using keywords.
It is made up of robots that scour the web in search of new addresses and new content which they then index in a database. It is this same database which is consulted by Internet users via the search engine.
The objective of the search engine is therefore to offer the most relevant result to the requests it receives . In the case of Google, it ranks its searches in order of concordance thanks to a complex algorithm comprising more than 200 factors: Penguin.
The consequence of this prioritization is the emergence of an endless battle for website managers aiming to make their site appear among the first results cited by the search engine. Because if it is there, it will attract many more visits.
How to appear on the first page of search engine results?
A website can be found on the first result page in many forms. The pay and natural methods of SEO are the most important:
the Search Engine Advertising (SEA) translated into French by referencing fee;
The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) , French, SEO
Natural referencing is a set of techniques which aim to optimize the visibility of a website in the results of a search engine . We distinguish two categories of natural referencing:
SEO says ” on site ” which includes factors inherent to the site: its structure, performance, content, use of meta descriptions and keywords, use of specific files (sitemap.xml, robot.txt), regular updating of content, etc.
Referencing says “offsite” which therefore includes factors external to the site such as presence on social networks, net linking (the number of links on other sites that refer to yours), etc. If these practices occur most of the time without your participation, they nevertheless improve your SEO.
Why use SEO in your business?
SEO must occupy an important place in the online marketing strategy, especially if you do not have the necessary budget to invest in AdWords-type campaigns. Why? Because a website that has worked on its SEO will appear among the first links on the results page of a search engine . This will generate not only more traffic, but above all optimized and targeted traffic, in other words the presence on your site of Internet users interested in your services. Without SEO, your site will not be crawled by search engines, you will rank poorly on the results page and you will get less traffic
All of this becomes even more important if you operate in a competitive industry. If optimizing your SEO requires an investment of time and money, it will quickly bring you independence and cost you less than acquisition channels like Google AdWords with, in addition, a better return on investment.
How to set up a relevant SEO strategy?
After having clarified the issues of natural referencing for a website, we can now analyze the practical aspect of the method. Setting up a relevant SEO strategy is not as easy as it seems. In general, it consists of 5 primary points.
1. Choose the right keywords
It is a long job that requires time and precision. You have to choose your keywords intelligently so that they hit the mark and bring traffic to your site. Here are the questions to ask yourself:
- What keywords to choose for each page?
- What keywords are encoded by Internet users in search engines?
- What traffic will it generate on my site?
- Are the Internet users who introduce these keywords part of my target?
- What are the sources?
- Etc.
It is advisable to offer only one product / service per page in order to avoid ending up with too different keywords on the same page.
2. The content of the pages of your site
This is a very important variable for your SEO because it tells search engines what your page is about. The problem when writing your website is that you can forget that you are not writing content just for the robot that analyzes the pages, but also for the public.
You have to find the right balance to meet the SEO imperatives but also the expectations of your target audience . You have to know how to be relevant, precise and complete and respond to Internet users’ requests. Keep in mind that the goal is to generate quality, targeted traffic !
3. HTML code and technical rules
You might not know it, but search engines don’t read content on a site like a person. It is the HTML code that helps them read and analyze pages. You must therefore optimize several elements such as:
- Urls
- The title tag
- The meta description tag
- The use of H1, H2 or H3 titles
- Redirects
- The internal mesh
- The charset
- Etc.
However, it should be kept in mind that these elements must always be in accordance with the predefined keywords according to point 1.
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4. The link strategy
Also called linking, this step concerns the popularity of your site. Search engines crawl all sites and judge your popularity based on what they say about you. They take into account:
The number of sites that talk about you . However, focus on quality over quantity.
The popularity of sites that talk about you . Just like you, their popularity is also analyzed.
Do the contents of these sites have a subject in common with you? If so, that’s a positive point for you. Otherwise, it won’t improve your popularity.
5. SEO update
A certain time after the implementation of a strategy, it is necessary to carry out an analysis and an assessment in order to identify the actions which worked and those which need to be reviewed. The same goes for SEO strategy. This is all the more true as the algorithms of search engines are constantly evolving by integrating new criteria.
Your SEO must therefore always be up to date and be readjusted from time to time.
This analysis is carried out on two axes:
The first axis is technical. We check that there are no omissions, errors in the HTML coding, that no tags are missing, that the redirection pages are activated, etc. Usually, this readjustment is only done once.
The second axis is more diffuse and must be revised throughout the existence of the website. The points to be revised are:
The positioning of the keywords you are working with.
The keywords that bring traffic.
The progression of your traffic thanks to SEO.
While this last axis may require time and investment, it is necessary in order to maintain optimal referencing.
Conclusion
In summary, existing on search engines has become a major issue for a company. The benefit of this is an increase in traffic to your site, sales and turnover.
A good natural referencing should guarantee you a place among the first five results of the search engines . If you respect the different stages of natural referencing, that is to say the choice of strategic keywords, the writing of relevant content, the use of HTML codes and tags and the linking of your site, your site should rank well .
However, remember that if search engine bots are indexing you, your website needs to be readable for users. One of the essential tools for SEO optimization is the business blog. In addition to offering free content to Internet users, it creates sharing, improves your visibility as well as your notoriety and generates traffic on your website. But be careful not to fall into the blog trap: it requires attention and time because it needs to be regularly updated.
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