Best practices for creating a VTC business website
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Ensure your business’s presence on Google Shopping: 10 key steps
25/07/2024
There are approximately 2.1 billion people who shop online. And the overwhelming majority use the Google search engine. Therefore, optimizing a website for Google has become a necessity for businesses to reach as many customers as possible and earn more profit.
Not only because this presence offers increased visibility for a brand, but it is also a sign that a company is serious and trustworthy. This results in heightened awareness. And thanks to high-quality content, well-targeted keywords for each webpage, and effective promotion, a business can be perceived as more interesting to customers.
A good natural SEO indeed allows attracting more traffic and increasing conversions. One of the most obvious reasons for the importance of having an online presence is the profitability of advertising. By opting for the right strategies, a company can reach a maximum number of prospects or internet users and convert them into customers. It is essential to use effective SEO strategies.
What is SEO and what role does it play in online visibility?
Thus, any business aspiring to develop in this highly competitive digital environment cannot overlook SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This system allows a website to be propelled for free into Google’s best results.
Because if you are not on the first page, you are as if you don’t exist. Therefore, SEO is necessary to attract quality traffic, but also to rank well in Google’s search results. The goal of SEO is to optimize the visibility and indexing of a website online. Here, we will see how SEO works, what tools or techniques to use to leverage it. We will also address various SEO services and examine whether a business should choose an agency or an expert.
Understanding how Google search works
To fully grasp Google’s SEO, it is essential to understand how its algorithm works. Then, one must assist themselves with the selection of keywords. It is crucial to understand why high-quality content is paramount for SEO and how links contribute to enhancing a site’s authoritative standing.
Overview of how Google’s algorithm works
The Google algorithms work in such a way as to display the most relevant results for a given query. Only the pages deemed most suitable will be visible on the first pages of Google. To achieve this, Google relies on three main elements. Firstly, there is what is called “Crawl.” At this stage, the search engine will traverse the web. To do this, it has created its robots or spiders, also known as crawlers. These will follow all the links they come across and discover thousands of pages. The data found will now be indexed using tags, text, images… The search engine later stores all the encountered data in the Google index.
Only afterward does the ranking phase for a given query come into play. When a user enters keywords, Google sorts through its index the pages and articles that will be displayed first in the SERP. The ranking criteria are based on many specifics. Although the algorithm is kept secret by Google, tests and analyses have allowed the identification of certain elements influencing this ranking. For example, we can mention TITLE or Hn tags. It has been found that the quality and richness of the content also play an important role. Among other things, to maximize chances, it is paramount to pay attention to the loading speed of the pages.
Importance of keyword selection and the role of quality content in SEO
The importance of keywords comes from the fact that they are the first element Google relies on to display results. The selection and targeting of these must therefore be done carefully to obtain the most meaningful outcomes. For effective SEO, they must be incorporated harmoniously into professional content and accurately targeted.
As mentioned earlier, crawling is one of the main steps that Google takes to rank search results. Here, it evaluates the quality of content and what is present on a page. In addition to keywords, factors such as relevance and user experience determine the ranking of a web page or website.
Not only must the content be of high quality, but it also needs to be engaging. The writer must pay particular attention to the fluidity of their text to retain the reader. What is offered on a page must provide value to the audience. Moreover, the content in question must be informative and well-crafted. It should be engaging and shareable on other platforms such as social media. This way, the relevant page can attract organic traffic and improve its ranking on search engines.
Beyond textual content, it is also important to add media files and videos. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” The same applies here. Media files help make your content more engaging. It is also important to think about regularly updating the content and structure for better readability and to provide a better user experience.
Techniques and tools for optimizing your site on Google
Natural SEO
Natural SEO encompasses all techniques that allow positioning a website for specific keywords or queries. The site can then be indexed on all search engines to be visible to all internet users. This process involves the selection of strategic keywords that represent a specific area of activity or expertise. But it is not always easy to rank a site among the top results of organic searches. This process takes time, dedication, and technique. That is why some companies turn to paid search for quicker results.
Paid Search
Paid search or SEA encompasses all the necessary efforts to disseminate targeted advertisements on search engines. The website in question can then be displayed above or on the sides of search engine results pages. This involves utilizing paid advertisements that allow advertisers to gain visibility by carefully selecting keywords. This is about bidding on keywords or through other advertising networks. When a client enters a query with the keywords purchased by the advertiser, the ad appears in two designated areas.
Tools for finding relevant keywords
- Google Keywords Manager
One of the most used tools for keyword research is Google Keyword Planner. It can serve to study the relevance of a group or a keyword. This tool can be used on Google Ads for planning keywords. By entering the main keyword, ideas for related keywords can be searched. One can obtain a list of associated keywords, along with their search volume, competitiveness, and cost per click. - UberSuggest
UberSuggest was created to provide a selection of keywords based on input terms. It is also very useful for providing keywords for other platforms such as YouTube, Google Images. Its major advantage lies in its ability to work in multiple languages. - Semrush
Semrush is one of the most popular tools when it comes to keyword research. It is perfect for natural SEO and therefore to improve a site’s ranking. - Keyword Tool
Keyword Tool is preferred for long-tail keywords. It is a real asset for natural SEO because it helps find popular phrases on the most renowned platforms like Google, YouTube, Bing, the Apple Store, or Amazon. - Answer the Public
Answer the Public allows us to discover what users are searching for, regardless of the topic. On this platform, one can find virtually everything. Additionally, answers are meticulously presented in a mindmap format.
The necessity of a backlink strategy
What needs to be understood about backlinks is that they greatly influence how Google perceives a site. Indeed, it is often thought that they are votes coming from other websites that validate your content in the eyes of search engines. A maximum number of votes is necessary to gain Google’s endorsement and thus find yourself at the top of the results list. What needs to be understood is that a backlink, meaning an outgoing link to your website, is like a key signal of trust.
Some effective SEO tools
For even more effective natural SEO, one can equip themselves with tools dedicated to SEO optimization. Indeed, it is important to use certain software to accurately track positioning, find good keywords, or check the technical features of various pages. We have already seen keyword tools earlier. To be even more effective, they should be combined with technical audit tools.
No need to look far, as Google already offers a specific program for this type of verification. One can thus use Google Search Console, which is free for the SEO audit of a website. There are also other equally suitable, but paid sites, like Screaming Frog or DeepCrawl to assist you in this task.
Choosing the services of an expert to optimize your site on Google
Hiring an SEO expert
For optimal referencing on Google, one can call upon an expert or a digital SEO agency. They save time because they already have a team ready to manage a project. However, it must be understood that the SEO process is slow and continuous. It requires several hours of work and research. Outsourcing allows one to take advantage of the expertise of knowledgeable personnel in the field.
Criteria for choosing a good SEO agency
To find a good SEO agency, one must first know what they are willing to invest in their SEO efforts. Depending on the budget allocated to the project, it is possible to turn to different types of SEO agencies. These should be able to meet each expectation and schedule as well as the SEO strategies to be implemented. Overall, one can refer to the overall reputation of the agency and its rates. If possible, refer to its reputation, expertise, experience, and especially its customer service. Finally, ask for examples of successful projects to see what to expect from the agency and if it meets your expectations.
Strengths of an agency’s services
SEO agencies are able to provide various important services for optimizing a website. They can conduct an in-depth audit by performing a technical study to obtain a comprehensive SEO assessment. In this case, agencies will check compliance with current regulations, the cleanliness of the source code, the quality of content, title and meta tags, site structure, and page architecture. A good agency should analyze your keywords and study their position in Google. This will allow for the implementation and execution of an appropriate strategy to get a website back on track.
How to monitor and constantly improve your SEO on Google?
Overview of Google Analytics
Google Analytics is an important tool for analyzing a website’s data. It provides insights into how visitors interact with a site. To that end, this tool comes with several measurement features, such as demographic data and traffic sources of a website.
It is a powerful tool widely used to better understand a website’s effectiveness. It provides valuable insights into marketing performance and the quality of user engagement. Google offers a tool here that sorts and verifies each data point to transform it into useful information.
The importance of constant analysis and updating
There are many reasons that may drive a company to analyze its SEO performance. This process helps to understand the profile, behavior, source, and interests of visitors. This approach also allows for the verification of conversions and visitor satisfaction. This information is important because having all these data allows one to identify weakness that needs improvement and strengths that should be exploited. That is why utilizing free and official services such as Google Analytics is important. This tool is accessible to everyone and compatible with other Google tools.
During the analysis, one may find that there are contents that need to be updated because they are no longer relevant or lack important information on the subject they address. To maintain quality content, it is essential to regularly update it. This process ensures the relevance of search results. It is therefore critical to measure results or performances using Google Analytics.
Natural SEO requires time, effort, and adaptation to achieve sustainable and effective results. Adopting a long-term approach is therefore important, as this process allows for maintaining good positioning on Google. Indeed, algorithms change over time as do user needs. Therefore, it is essential to monitor every element that could influence the performance of a firmly established SEO strategy.
Furthermore, competition on the web is fierce. Those who do not adopt long-term SEO strategies will quickly fall behind. There is no shortage of competition for each keyword typed into a search engine. Only up-to-date and relevant content is displayed at the top of the SERP results.
Final thoughts
Optimizing your website on Google is essential to ensure good online visibility and attract more qualified traffic. There are two SEO techniques: SEO and SEA. Each has its advantages and disadvantages but each responds to specific needs. There are various steps to follow for good SEO of your site on Google. One of these steps involves conducting an SEO audit to reveal the gaps and strengths in an already established SEO strategy.
It will then be possible to make adjustments based on the findings. For this, it is possible to call on SEO agencies. These will know how to implement different steps to improve a website’s SEO. Whichever method is chosen, SEO must be approached in the long run, following the evolutions of algorithms and user expectations. Regular performance analysis allows for adjusting strategy to maintain visibility on Google and other search engines.
