SEO is the acronym for Search Engine Optimisation, or Optimization for search engines. It is the implementation of all the techniques that will help you obtain better natural positions in search engine results.
An effective SEO strategy is based on 4 pillars, namely: technique, content, netlinking and user experience (UX - User Experience). In this article, socialsky reviews the different pillars that must be activated for good natural search engine optimization of your website.
The technique
From the creation of your website and throughout its life, ensure that you keep it as up to date as possible in line with Google's recommendations.
A few basic recommendations that you should always keep an eye on:
- Unique and attractive titles (title tags), heading tags, and descriptions (meta description). Ideally, these should contain relevant keywords for your activity and with significant search volume.
- Images optimized for the web (max 150 KB for a normal-sized image and max. 500 KB for a large image), with complete alt tags, an explicit name.
- Your site's loading time on both mobile and other devices (tablet or computer). .
- A complete sitemap (site map) submitted to Google Search Console, a robots.txt file including URLs not to be indexed.
- A site without errors (4XX and 5XX) and with effective redirects (3XX)
The content
Central element of your website, your content must be unique (no duplicate content!), written for the user, always with thought for search engine robots that will analyze your content to index it on queries relevant to its subject. Make sure to:
- Have each page contain an explicit title (h1) reflecting what you want to convey. This title must contain the main keyword of your page.
- Use subtitles (h2) throughout your page to space out your content.
- Add relief to your texts by using bullet points, images, bold text.
- Create links to other pages of your website.
- Include calls-to-action.
Netlinking
Netlinking is a technique aimed at obtaining links from other websites. Create inbound links to the pages that are most important to you, offer your partners (suppliers, distributors, influencers, bloggers) to share your unique content. Inbound links strengthen the credibility of your site towards search engines. The more quality inbound links you have, the higher your "score" with Google algorithms. Social media can also be good generators of inbound links. Keep this in mind.
User experience (UX)
User experience takes an increasingly important role in search engine algorithms, which are better able to analyze user behavior when they visit your site. Make sure to:
- Have a website that is perfectly usable on mobile (mobile first!), but also on desktop.
- A site that loads quickly.
- Explicit and practical menus, a user-friendly site structure.
- A unique navigation experience.