You have undoubtedly already heard of SEO on Google or “Search Engine Optimization”. But do you really know how SEO works on Google? How does Google analyze queries? How does it position a website when it offers its results to Internet users?
Follow the guide! We explain all the workings of natural referencing on Google.
What is natural referencing?
SEO refers to all the methods used by search engines like Google to rank the results offered to Internet users when they type in a request. More generally, natural referencing on Google refers to all the methods used to optimize a website and thus improve its position in search engine results.
It sounds simple and yet, natural referencing is a complex area that depends in part on developments in the Google algorithm. SEO requires setting up a long-term strategy, it cannot be improvised! Natural referencing is a long-term job. Also, even with all the tools in hand, you won’t get results in a week. On the other hand, natural referencing on Google is a sustainable optimization method.
Natural referencing on Google is opposed to paid referencing or SEA for “Search Engine Advertising”. SEA is a short-term optimization method whose goal is to pay Google Ads to obtain sponsored positioning at the top of the search engine page.
How does Google work?
This a vast question that requires an answer that is both simple and complex!
The basic principle of Google is indeed quite easy to understand: when a user types a query into the search engine, several sites will appear on the results page (SERP). To offer Internet users relevant results, Google relies in particular on the keywords used at the time of the search. It then assigns a rank to your page according to the number of keywords that appear there and that have a link to the search carried out by the Internet user.
But technically, how does it work? Imagine the web as a vast network of threads intertwined with each other: Google traverses this weave from thread to thread and goes from website to website thanks to the links that link the pages together. Each time Google arrives on a site, it analyzes it by taking into account: the words used, the images published, the existence of links on each page, or the date of publication of each content.
After “scanning” a page, Google decides to classify it: we then say that the page is indexed. An indexed page is a page that Google considers interesting. An unindexed page is a page unknown to Google, so it will never appear when a user types in a query.
Attention, an indexed site is not a positioned site! Yes, if your site does not contain the keywords typed by the Internet user, there is little chance that Google will guide it to you! The reason is simple: he does not know the way! When you type a query in the search bar, Google launches “spiders” (or crawlers) that move from link to link depending on the keywords they find on their way. The “spiders” also take into account the placement of keywords in the page they are browsing: this is why it is necessary to include relevant keywords in the title of a page!
But the operation of Google does not stop there. The search engine is constantly improved and updated to respond as closely as possible to Internet users’ requests. Google uses linguistic models, in particular, to identify the intention of the Internet user and offer him the most relevant response possible.
To offer ever more relevant answers, Google constantly updates its algorithm. Panda, Colibri, Rank Brain, Fred, or even Penguin: the search engine has continued to improve since its creation. Each new update is also analyzed at length by natural referencing agencies because certain modifications have a strong impact on the ranking of sites in the SERP!
What is the interest in natural referencing on Google?
Now that you know how Google works, you wonder what is the use of natural referencing on Google? Whether you have a showcase site or an e-commerce site, you need to attract visitors to promote your products or services.
Your site is referenced, but not necessarily well positioned on Google’s SERP, so it can be on the 2nd or 3rd page and therefore be completely invisible to Internet users (whose percentage of visitors to the second page is very low).
For a site to appear on the first page of Google, it must be based on a good natural referencing strategy. SEO is a long-term method, so your site will not appear in the first position in the blink of an eye.
If you use an agency to improve your positioning, it will carry out a complete audit to determine the needs of your site and offer you an appropriate natural referencing strategy. A good SEO agency is based in principle on three strategic axes: content, technical optimization, and netlinking.
What is natural referencing on Google?
For Google to reference and position your site correctly, each of its pages must be optimized. It is not enough to work on the meta descriptions and the content of the first page to be well positioned! All your pages must be optimized by course on different keywords and on a sufficiently rich semantic field.
Your natural referencing agency on Google will therefore monitor the user journey, the design and user experience, the sitemap, and the page loading speed. It will also make sure to position your site by building a netlinking strategy to create bridges between your site and those dealing with the same theme or the same field of activity. On the content side, it will be a question of making good use of tags, regularly publishing original and varied content, but also of developing a keyword strategy.
