The basics of SEO: understanding SEO without unnecessary jargon 🚀

The basics of SEO: understanding SEO without unnecessary jargon 🚀

SEO (Search Engine Optimization), or natural referencing, includes all the techniques that allow a website to better position itself in the results of search engines like Google. The objective is simple: to make a site understandable, accessible and relevant, both for users and for indexing robots.

SEO is based on three fundamental pillars 🧱

Natural referencing is based on three complementary axes:

- The technique: site structure, security, performances

- Authority (netlinking): popularity of the site via external links

- SEO writing: structured and understandable content for engines

In this article, the focus is on technical SEO, which is often underestimated, while it conditions everything else.

A clear site structure above all 🗂️

A well-structured site facilitates both the navigation of users and the work of search engines.

Prioritize content correctly

Each page must respect a logical structure:

- A single H1 title, which defines the main subject

- H2 to structure the main parts

- H3 (and more) to refine if necessary

There should never be a subtitle without a parent title.

This hierarchy helps Google understand the relative importance of information.

Navigation and accessibility

A few key rules:

- Each page must be accessible in a few clicks from the home

- Menus should be clear

- Internal links should guide the user naturally

- Beyond 3 to 4 clicks, a page is considered too deep

This is where semantic cocoons come in, which intelligently group content by theme.

Internal networking: the SEO skeleton 🔗

Internal networking refers to all the links that link the pages of the same site together.

There are three types of internal links: Navigation links (menu, footer, sidebar), contextual links integrated into the content, breadcrumbs

Mistakes you should definitely avoid ❌

- Orphan pages: not linked to the rest of the site

- Broken links: 404 errors and poor user experience

- A good network improves Google's overall understanding of the site and reinforces SEO.

Link anchors: a detail that matters a lot 🎯

An anchor corresponds to the clickable text of a link. It is said to be optimized when it contains the keyword on which the target page wishes to be positioned.

Example: prefer “SEO tips” to “click here.”

When used properly, anchors reinforce the semantic coherence of the site.

Security: HTTPS is no longer an option 🔐

Google clearly favors secure sites. An HTTPS site, via an SSL certificate, guarantees the confidentiality of exchanges between the user and the server.

HTTP sites are penalized.

The lock in the address bar is both a sign of trust and an SEO criterion.

Web performance: speed makes SEO ⚡

A slow site degrades the user experience and its ranking.

Three key indicators are used to assess performance:

- FCP: first display of content

- LCP: loading the largest visible element

- CLS: visual stability during loading

Common optimizations:

- Image compression and resizing

- Optimization of JavaScript and CSS

- Mobile-first approach

- Responsive design or AMP

The duplicate content trap

When several pages offer the same or very similar content, SEO suffers.

The solution is based on canonical tags, which tell Google which version should be considered the reference.

They avoid diluting SEO visibility.

Auditing your SEO: a key step 🔍

An SEO audit is a complete analysis of the public pages of a site in order to identify the obstacles to SEO.

In particular, it makes it possible to identify structural problems, missing metadata, insufficient performance, technical errors

Key things you should know 📘

- Sitemap: file presenting the architecture of the site

- Robots.txt: indexing rules for engines

- Semantic tags: give meaning to HTML

- Semantic cocoons: thematic organization of content

- SMO: visibility via social networks

- Meta tags & Open Graph: display control in Google and networks

In summary ✨

SEO is not a series of magic recipes. It is a fundamental work that starts with solid technical foundations: structure, performance, security and consistency.

Once these foundations are laid, SEO becomes a sustainable lever in the service of visibility and growth.

‍