Natural referencing (SEO) in full upheaval
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Natural referencing (SEO) in full upheaval

Among the areas of the web and digital marketing that have seen the most significant changes in recent years, the SEO or natural referencing. Each year, Google deploys between 500 and 600 changes in its algorithms… This figure is nothing compared to the approximately 63 searches per second, or 000 million searches per minute recorded on the most powerful search engine in the world. world.

In parallel with this impressive volume of searches on Google, the content offered increases exponentially. Today, there are over a billion blogs on the Internet! For example, a simple query like "what is SEO?" generates 22 results…

On Google, the supply is far greater than the demand. The tone is set.

Google, meanwhile, is continuing its transformation from a search engine to an answer engine. Most brands that continue their SEO efforts as they always have, see their efforts less rewarded than before, with their organic traffic decreasing month after month.

What does this trend mean? Would SEO efforts be useless?

It's time to reconsider SEO and redirect the work done to drive results.

Natural referencing reviewed and corrected

If a website contains a large volume of so-called “SEO-optimized” content, why should the SEO numbers go down? And if the figures are maintained, what is the risk of seeing them plummet in the future? Should we consider increasing marketing budgets by promoting publications and products on social networks to compensate for possible losses in natural referencing? The question arises, quite legitimately, moreover.

Today, Google covers 94% of activity on search engines, well ahead of other engines like Yahoo or Bing for example. Whatever one may say, Google remains the preferred means of research for Internet users. If this trend persists, it is in the way Google is used that we observe big changes.

While some time ago a social network like Instagram was used for discovery and information and Google was visited for online shopping, this is no longer the case today. At present, the trend has radically reversed: Instagram is widely used in the context of sales and purchases of products while Google is mainly consulted as an engine of information and discovery.

Brands are realizing that today, on Google, it is less products or services that should be highlighted, but rather solutions.

  • How to have less greasy hair?
  • How to lose weight? Losing weight ?
  • What are the principles of Feng Shui?
  • How to send an invitation via Outlook?
  • What are the benefits of dry brushing?
  • Etc

Brands that have entered the era of solutions are seeing their numbers explode.

Why?

Quite simply because these brands send Internet users to educational content and then direct them to suitable products and services. These same brands get a high volume of clicks and, as a result, manage to reduce their cost per click significantly and see their conversions skyrocket. Simple, right?

The changing SEO

If we accept the fact that Google is transforming into a discovery and information engine, both for paid publications and natural referencing, other elements must be taken into account.

Google's algorithms no longer work on the simple basis of inbound links, keyword density and other classic SEO indicators. Today, the user experience matters a lot to the search engine.

A website, even if it has thousands of incoming links, will not be correctly referenced if Internet users do not like it.

Internet users use a variety of information sources

Google is not the holy grail of online search. Internet users spend several hours every day on their computers and portable devices that Google does not control. Thus, to decide on the search results to highlight and appeal to Internet users, Google is not only interested in the results that concern it directly. It feeds, thanks to its robots, from social media and uses the figures recorded to improve its own results.

Google loves brands

Companies that benefit from an impactful brand, renowned companies, see their numbers climb on the search engine. This is a reality, even when the name of the brand is misspelled…that is to say!

Google customizes the presentation of results

A simple test consisting of carrying out the same request by two different Internet users at the same time will simply give different lists of results.

The reason is simple to understand: Google tries to personalize the results it presents. According to the data amalgamated by the search engine, the latter manages to understand you better, to know your preferences and to modify the results according to this.

SEO, natural referencing is still relevant. You just have to keep in mind that he is in a state of upheaval. With the changes in Google's algorithms, it is now possible, with quality content, to target the ideal customer through natural referencing as through the SEA referencing.

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