SEO pyramid: you will finally understand how we go about pleasing Google!

We are among ourselves: are you one of those entrepreneurs, bloggers and business owners who launch their website and say: “I don't understand, my site is not on the first page of Google”?

Yet you have well paid the professional or the agency that built your site. However, you do not find it on the first page, nor on the second, nor even on the third page of the search results. Unthinkable! Unacceptable! You are boiling with anger. All that money thrown out the window...

Sure, those who built your site told you that the results wouldn't happen overnight. Nevertheless, you have been consulting the reports for several months and still nothing. Your sales people are worried because the money you have invested in the creation of your site brings them no contact, or very little.

This situation is classic. You are not the only one.

By the way, did your webmaster tell you about the SEO pyramid ? In this pyramid, the answers to your questions are most likely to be found. Tremplin Numérique explains everything to you.

Let's start at the beginning: what is SEO?

Rather than blushing in meetings, know that SEO is simply the abbreviation of Search Engine Optimization. In French, we speak of natural search engine optimisation. SEO is simply the set of processes that consist in increasing the number of visitors to a website by ensuring that this same site appears as high as possible in the results of a search engine. As such, Google is THE reference, since more than nine out of 10 searches are done on this platform.

From the outset, we must clarify something else with you: on the Internet, there are people. Many people, even.

To clear a path, and hope to reach the first page of Google results, you have to work. Work a lot, even.

If an agency or a web professional had the audacity to promise you mountains and wonders, like the first page on Google results, or even the zero position, you were either dealing with Harry Potter's cousin or someone 'one who is very very (very) close to the team of coders at Google. In real life, in a world where web professionals are sincere and transparent, no one will ever promise you that first place. This is at least the case of the team of Tremplin Numérique.

But not promising anything doesn't mean you'll never be on the first page of Google results. Quite the contrary! And this is where a process works by iteration, resembling a pyramid: the SEO pyramid. Do not go ! We explain everything to you.

What is the SEO pyramid? Why is it important for a website?

Imagine the Egyptian pyramids: solid at the base, they become thinner as they rise. Without having architectural talents, it is clear that without this solid base, these pyramids of ancient times would have disappeared a long time ago. This metaphor allows us to present the four main areas that impact the ranking of your website in search engines.

1. Accessibility, Design and content: structure and semantics

It may seem obvious, but ensuring that the user experience is optimal on your website is paramount. And if you find that your site is very well done, let's not mix everything up... Useful content, well-thought-out architecture, intuitive and simple navigation... and of course a site accessible with a smartphone or other mobile device. Because since April 2015, Google has included the accessibility of sites via a laptop in its algorithm.

Also, all search engines are able to have an accurate estimate of the quality of content on your site, by looking at stats, bounce rate, average time on site, and load time of that site. last… among others.

2. Site data: markup and content

The second level of the SEO pyramid concerns your site's content and markup. Elements such as the size of the content, the fact that there is only one theme per page, a minimum of advertising, no over-optimization, one language per page, only one title unique, a hierarchy of titles from H1 to H6, tags, rich extracts, multimedia elements… all these criteria contribute to your referencing on search engines.

In addition, the quality of your content, the choice of long-tail keywords and expressions are essential elements for Google, as for Internet users. Because, let's not forget: it's about attracting visitors, but also converting them into leads, prospects and customers.

To do substantive work and hope to achieve an honorable position in Google's results, it is therefore necessary to work on this second level in depth.

3. The popularity of the site: incoming links

Like a well-known personality, your site will be more famous if it is courted by other web players. In other words, the more inbound links your site receives from other websites, the more likely it is to be placed at the top of search engine results. Watch out, though! Do not fall into the trap of incoming links, knowing that the number, but also the quality of these is of paramount importance in the eyes of search engines. Better is only one very good incoming links coming from a qualitative and respected site, rather than 10 incoming links coming from dubious sites that no one has ever heard of...

4. The social aspect of the site

The tip of the SEO pyramid concerns the social aspect of your website. These include engagement on social media: likes, shares, comments, retweets etc. To do well, it is not enough to post an excerpt from your articles on social networks, pointing to your site and hoping to get more visitors… Social media is a real tool for dialogue and must be used for this purpose. Social media, like creating a website or optimizing it, is a separate business and is the subject of an overall strategy.