The factors that influence your natural referencing on Google

Unfortunately, there is not (yet) a miracle recipe for quickly and efficiently obtaining a good natural referencing in search engines like Google. To achieve this, it is essential to know how these digital tools work, to make regular changes to these platforms and to stay informed about the various updates made by the Web giants. This work requires time and a certain investment on the part of the company which wishes to improve its visibility and reputation online.

In order to help you navigate this constantly changing universe, we have prepared a short guide to the factors that influence the natural referencing of a website on Google. Before we jump into the heart of the matter, it's important to start with the basics.

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How does natural referencing work in Google? 

Like most companies, Google only wants to offer services tailored to the needs of its customers. Being a search engine that helps its users find the information they are looking for, its objective is to offer websites with relevant, reliable and credible content.

From the keywords entered, Google tries to display the links that correspond as closely as possible to the interests and needs of Internet users. To achieve this, Google uses all the information at its disposal to assess the quality of the content of a web page and its match with the keywords. On the other hand, the search engine cannot know with precision the contents of each page or each Internet site. That's why it uses different factors to categorize the millions of platforms currently online.

Search engine optimization is the result of ranking by the Google algorithm. The more reliable, credible and relevant a website appears for the keywords entered in the search bar, the more likely it is to appear among the first links proposed by the algorithm. However, Google does not disclose the exact factors used to rank different digital platforms. Web developers and digital strategists must therefore conduct tests to find the best techniques for a website to appear on the first page of a search.

Luckily for you, the majority of the factors are well known and understood by digital marketing and SEO experts. This is why it is possible to present you with an overview of the main factors that influence the natural referencing of a website.

The main factors influencing the natural referencing of a website

1. Website loading speed: The faster a website loads, the more likely it is to be liked by visitors. That's why it's important to use the best web development techniques to avoid heavy and long-loading pages.
2. Match between keywords and content: If the keywords on a page do not match the rest of the content, Google and other search engines are less likely to present it as a reliable and relevant source for users. It is therefore relevant to include the main keywords of the page in the title, the subtitles and the first lines of the paragraphs. However, care must be taken not to overdo it; the content must remain readable and relevant for Internet users.
3. Website security: HTTPS sites are more popular with search engines because they are safer for users. If you have an online store or accumulate certain visitor data, also be sure to use SSL data encryption.
4. Image relevance: More and more visitors come to a website from the images listed in Google Images. You can easily integrate your keywords into the descriptions of your images in order to increase the number of visits to your website and increase your credibility in the eyes of Google.
5. The number of incoming links: the more there are other sites that integrate links to your website, the more Google will think that your platform is a good reference in its field. You can write articles for other websites and ask them to include links to your platform.
6. The integration of a sitemap: sitemaps allow search engines to easily analyze the general content of a platform. If the sitemap contains a lot of relevant keywords, the more likely it is to appear in the top search results.
7. URLs: Ideally, a company's main keywords should be found in the various URLs of its website. If this is not currently the case, do not modify all of your links, as this could cause you to lose many incoming links essential to your natural referencing. However, you can begin to incorporate this technique when creating new pages on your platform.
8. Accessibility on different devices: If your website is not optimized for mobile devices and tablets, it is less likely to be liked by Google. The majority of Google searches these days are done using a phone. You can thus lose many potential customers if you do not adapt your platform.

• Regularly updating content: Google particularly appreciates platforms that regularly update their content. You don't need to rewrite your entire website, but posting monthly blog posts or updating your about page won't hurt.

Unsurprisingly, we cannot mention all the factors that influence the SEO of a website, because there are hundreds of them. Even digital marketing experts keep discovering them through their testing (and mistakes). Some factors are mostly about content and can easily be changed by people with little knowledge of web development and digital marketing strategies. On the other hand, several factors relate more to the technical aspect of a platform and can be more difficult to master. That's why there are experts like LeadLion to help businesses stand out on the internet and achieve their online goals.

If you have any questions about optimizing your platform or would like to receive assistance in achieving your online goals, do not hesitate to contact one of our experts. It will be our pleasure to accompany you in your conquest of the Web.