SEO refers to all the techniques (including SEO) that allow a site to be placed in a good position in search engines, mainly Google, for a query (word, expression, sentence, long tail. Google represents 95% of searches carried out on the engines, the rest is shared between Bing/Yahoo and alternative engines (Qwant, Ecosia, Duckduckgo, etc.).
For, Bing and Yahoo, which are the same engine, the exact domain name (or EMD for Exact Match Domain ) and a little content are often enough to be on the 1st page. Even if it is less than 5% of searches, it is interesting to capture them, because it is rather easy (with the right domain).
What are the different interesting positions for receiving visits?
Presence on the first page, which accounts for nearly 80% of visits, is necessary. On the first page of Google results, the distribution of visits is as follows (rounded results):
1st position: 35%
2nd position: 30%
3rd position: 20%
4th position: 15%
5th position: 10%
In 2017, we also saw the arrival of “ position 0 ” which corresponds to a box placed above the results (under advertisements when there are any) chosen by Google to explain the term or expression typed. We often find Wikipedia, but you too can access this position 0.
SEO is, if not an art, at least a craft: in this area, anything that can be automated should be avoided. Even if automation is tempting and sometimes effective in the short term, it turns out to be a losing strategy in the medium and long term, because sooner or later it will be spotted and penalized by Google. A robot can easily recognize the work of another robot.
This is why it is important to contact an SEO expert , a real person with experience and very specific know-how. Knowing the weighting of all the criteria and understanding the evolution of these cursors is a profession in its own right. Finding the harmony and coherence of these factors is typically a human job (unless your name is Google obviously…)
The role of the SEO expert
An SEO expert’s job is to adapt your site as closely as possible to the recommendations of Google and other search engines so that he can best collect, understand, and analyze your content and then classify it in the results (SERP). There is therefore no question of cheating with Google, it is useless and counterproductive, even dangerous. Indeed, Google constantly updates its algorithm (twice a day, plus important updates (like Panda, Penguin or Fred…) to detect over-optimizations and SEO techniques called “Black Hat”, which consist of automating certain tasks, creating links or artificial content, etc. These recommendations are given by Google itself.
Some positioning criteria.
To get an idea, here is a non-exhaustive list of criteria used by Google to rank the results:
Metadata management (title, description, keywords, etc.)
A good domain name: even if Google does not react like Bing at this level, a domain containing the expression to be positioned remains a major asset in the long term (the anchor being present in neutral links). Domaining is a separate SEO discipline.
Quality of content: relevance and interest of the text, richness of vocabulary and syntax, absence of spelling errors, inventiveness and originality of the statement or analysis. Presence of original graphic content (images, graphic charter, videos, etc.).
Site structure (page tree) and technical configuration: sitemap, robots.txt, https…
Formatting of the content: clear structure (divided into small paragraphs with title h1, subtitle h2, h3., words in bold, etc. You must keep in mind that the goal is to answer the questions of the visitor who must find the information very quickly.
Internal linking: how we navigate within the site, the choice of anchors (text on which the link is applied)
Quality and diversity of backlinks: netlinking, or link building, is a major criterion. Quality directories, link exchanges, and partnerships can help you with this.
Presence on social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Google+ in particular
Outgoing links: choose your outgoing links and anchors carefully, and pay attention to dead links that penalize
Clean coding: meeting the W3C standard
Georeferencing criteria: content elements allowing you to position yourself more easily in your city or locality.
