what is seo: Search Engine Optimization

SEO is a concept commonly used in digital marketing but which remains obscure for many entrepreneurs. This article will help you understand what is SEO

What is SEO 

Natural referencing, also called SEO (for Search Engine Optimization) is the mechanism that allows search engines to sort the search results on a query.

So, if you search a search engine for “Nike sneakers” it will evaluate all the websites that might interest you and rank them in order to provide you with the results it considers most relevant to you.

Natural referencing (SEO) is free, you can't pay search engines to influence it. It is thus distinguished from paid referencing (SEA or Search Engine Advertising), which consists of paying the search engine in order to reach the top of the results pages in the form of advertising. In France, the law requires search engines to distinguish paid advertisements from natural results. We, therefore, find the term “Announcement” on the SEA results.

Why optimize your natural referencing

Nearly 7 billion requests are made every day on Google (80,000 per second!), The leader in search engines. Internet users are looking for everything (and anything ...). Search engines are like the door to the internet, everyone walks by, your business needs to be there.

Being well-referenced, that is, at the top of the search results pages on relevant queries, will allow your business to attract more Internet users to your site. To do this, you need to optimize your company's online presence and website for SEO.

SEO optimization involves understanding the criteria used by search engines and tailoring your site and internet presence accordingly.

The criteria of natural referencing

The search engine ranking criteria are kept secret. They only publish good practices which are like rules of good conduct for the internet. Indeed, search engines do not want natural referencing to be manipulated, and that it remains ... natural. These criteria are also constantly evolving. Search engines seek to continuously improve SEO results to deliver better results.

However, internet enthusiasts, through their experiences and experimentation, allow us to learn more about how SEO works. SEO optimization is divided into two parts: internal SEO and external SEO.

Internal SEO

Internal referencing brings together all the SEO optimization actions that can be performed on your website. This is the easiest part to set up because you are in control of your site. But it is also a complex part to understand, in particular, because it contains technical elements optimization of internal referencing consists of

optimizing the structure and technology of your site so that it is of high quality and "readable" by search engines (read our article on SEO friendly site creation);

optimize the content of its site, so that it matches the queries on which you want to appear well placed. This involves in particular the choice of relevant keywords.

External referencing

External referencing consists of optimizing the presence of your site on other websites. The principle of external referencing is that each time a link to your site is created on the internet, your site gains in confidence. Thus, the more people talk about your site, the more quality it will be considered, and the higher it will be placed in the search engines.

To optimize external referencing, we will play on two elements: optimize the links to your

the site, so that they are high quality and numerous;

optimize your presence on social networks, the more people you have following you, the more a search engine can trust you.

To learn more about SEO and understand how to apply it to your business, check out our online guide: SEO for Beginners. If you want to be supported to attract, capture and retain customers, we have created a solution to support you in your natural referencing