Natural referencing is a mixture of technique and know-how.

Know-how is acquired with experience. the natural search engine optimisation of each site must be approached differently depending on its typology, what it offers, its sector of activity, etc.

The technique, although evolving with changes in search engine algorithms, can be divided into three categories:

  • The choice of keywords to optimize natural referencing and the targeting of your future audience.
  • On-page criteria to optimize the “quality” and “relevance” of your site.
  • Off-page criteria to optimize the "popularity" of your site.

The choice of keywords

Doing a fine study of the keywords to use in its natural referencing strategy is to ensure the positioning of the site on expressions that Internet users are looking for. It is also to make sure not to forget interesting and ultra-targeted expressions.

To find out more, see our page dedicated to the choice of keywords.

On-page criteria

On-page criteria (or on-site referencing) will increase the “quality” and “relevance” of your site. The "quality" and "relevance" of the content of your site are essential criteria taken into account by search engines for the positioning your site. The optimization of these criteria will obviously pass through content writing and optimization. But it will also make it easier for search engines to read all of your content: make the content accessible.

Main On-pages criteria (non-exhaustive list)

  • Optimize menu tree.
  • Optimize page load time.
  • Optimize the semantic structure of your content: use of Hx tags.
  • Optimize page URLs.
  • Respect a good proportion code / text.
  • Write quality, unique and informative content.
  • Write content using keywords intelligently (Notion of keyword density).
  • Use synonyms of the selected expressions.
  • Alternate expression formatting (regular, bold, italic, underline).
  • Insert keywords into image ALT tags.
  • Optimize page Meta-Tags.
  • Optimize the internal linking of the site: contextualized links, linked keywords.
  • Site refresh rate.
  • Optimize the bounce rate (that visitors spend as much time as possible on your site and visit as many pages as possible).

Off-page criteria

Off-page criteria (or off-site referencing) no longer concern your site and its content, but its environment. The goal is to increase the other essential criterion taken into account by search engines: the “popularity” of a site. The principle being: the more we talk about a site, the more it must be worthy of interest.

Main Off-pages criteria (non-exhaustive list)

  • Get as many links to your site as possible (backlinks).
  • Contextualize backlinks.
  • Continuously improve the ranking of the site (PageRank).
  • Set up a LinkBaiting strategy (that bloggers/sites talk about you naturally without calling on them) to increase backlinks.
  • Strengthen your presence in social networks.
  • Work on your E-reputation.

Even if most of the criteria that can influence SEO are known, natural referencing remains a real know-how. Indeed, apart from the definition of keywords, depending on the site and its environment, the same criteria will not be used. In addition, the weighting of the criteria used may be different.

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