The SEO or Search engine optimization site configuration is the process of developing sites to suit different search engine requirements such as Google or Bing to appear in the first search results for keywords and terms used by potential corporate, project, and business customers.
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| Google SEO |
What is SEO?
In a broad sense, referencing is the action of referencing something (products in a store, information, files), that is to say, mentioning it in a system. The word referencing has been used on the Internet to describe the process of registering a website with a search engine or directory. The term "internet reference" does not relate only to websites or online pages. Images, papers (.doc, .pdf, .rar...), videos, objects, locations, and even programs may all be referred to.
Referencing necessarily involves an indexing phase, during which a database is created. Referencing therefore also defines the action of writing something in a database so that it can then be found/consulted.
What are the different types of referencing?
On the Internet, there are two distinct types of referencing. Paid or sponsored referencing (SEA) and natural or organic referencing (SEO). These two practices do not follow the same set of rules or fulfill the same requirements.
An SEO strategy for a website can be done only based on SEO natural SEO or can combine both practices if necessary. On the other hand, an SEO strategy that intervenes only on the technique of paid SEO is not viable in the long term. Natural referencing is essential for the success and effectiveness of your website.
We will detail the two types of web referencing by developing in more detail the natural referencing: larger, larger, and more complex.
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| Google SEO |
Google search results
Before diving into the intricacies, it's important to understand how search engine results are displayed to Internet consumers. We'll use Google as an example of the most popular Internet search engine (more than 93 percent market share in France). Learn more about Google by clicking here.
In most cases, this is what a web page will look like after a search. The presence of both types of referencing is very simply noted.
In the box in red, including the first links, we find the results of the paid listing. In the blue box below the sponsored links, you will find the results of the natural referencing. Here, the presence of sponsored links indicates that companies bought these keywords to appear first on the results page. Not all searches necessarily have sponsored links, as some terms are not used by companies at all (lack of interest or return on investment).
Search Engine Results Page (SERPs) can also present much more data than that thanks to particular optimizations (product to buy online, a place to trade, ...). We recommend this excellent infographic from the Telegraph to observe a page of results in all its complexity (the different modules have been gathered on the same image, a page of results will never present all this information at once).
Paid SEOs SEA definition
When we talk about paid or sponsored referencing, we think of sponsored links or Google Ads campaigns (formerly Google Ads). You must purchase keywords at an auction to appear in Google advertisements. The fee is paid with the touch of a button in this method. That is, each time a person clicks on the ad, the site that is hosting it will pay the expected bid.
For example, if I place my bid at €2 for the term "SEO agency" and I am in the average bid for this keyword when a user searches for "SEO, My ad will display in the inserts intended for sponsored links if I include the word "agency." I should pay the sum of €2 if the user clicks on my ad (and only then).
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| Google SEO |
Why use paid SEO?
The price of a keyword can vary from a few cents to several tens of euros for a very competitive term. So it's very important to test and calculate your transformation rate and your return on investment.
Usually, a paid listing strategy is implemented for:
- E-commerce sites
- Position your site very quickly
- Naturally, the introduction of a new site that is still inadequately referenced
- A special period of the year
- Positioning oneself in a highly competitive research
- Compensating for a bad position in natural outcomes
The SEO definition of the SEO
Natural referencing refers to all practices that make your website visible on a search engine (in natural results). Having a good natural referencing requires a lot of time and technical knowledge to be set up. This is the reason why site publishers generally use an SEO agency. Search engines index files according to complex algorithms that determine their relevance, and then retrieve them in a logical order when a user searches. To be effective on the search results page, it is, therefore, necessary to understand how this algorithm works to optimize the site according to its function.
Optimization is done at two levels:
- On-Location Referencing: These are procedures that take place on the referred site itself. It includes technical optimization of the site, optimization of the structure, and optimization of the content...
- Off-Site Referencing: these are practices outside the site to be referenced, but to indirectly promote its referencing. It is mainly referred to as an inbound link strategy, external links, net linking, or backlink acquisition. If sites B, C, and D link to site A, the search engine algorithm will consider site A relevant because other sites mention it. Site A will thus improve its referencing. The more well-known and authoritative the sites making backlinks to your site, the more their links will have a positive impact on site A.
Why use paid SEO?
Unlike paid search and its immediacy, natural search is a background work that ensures long-term positioning in Google search results. It is therefore essential to any website. Setting up the most beautiful shop in the world when no one can find it is useless.
To learn more about natural referencing, read our article dedicated to the importance of natural referencing.
Gain visibility on Google
The notion of SEO referencing cannot be considered autonomously. It is inseparable from a crucial concept: visibility.
If the activity of being referred and therefore existing in a database is defined by the concept of referring, the concept of visibility is defined by the capacity of the referenced entity to be located. This is an important notion to remember while discussing references. Consider a three-story department store where your product is mentioned, but only at the bottom of a third-floor aisle on ground level and in a single copy. You'll agree that the thing's utility is quite restricted. It's another matter if your product is mentioned near the department store's entrance on the front of the gondola.
Google search engine listing works the same way. Three-quarters of the users will not even visit the second page of search results. When you think about SEO, you must therefore think about visibility to be present on the first page of search results for relevant keywords, related to your business and your clientele.