SEO — Basics

You have surely heard about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). But concretely, what does this mean? What is an SEO strategy? What does on page optimization mean? And how can you gain more visibility on search engines?

Our approach — SEO strategy

At Lux Inbound, we are true aficionados of online marketing, and in particular SEO. In fact, it's not just our work, it's our passion. Search Engine Optimization is an important part of our digital marketing strategy. As a result, we are constantly thinking about new SEO practices and how to anticipate and adapt them to our SEO strategy.

In the first place, it is important to know how to take a step back to consider Search Engine Optimization from the point of view of a small business owner. Although he knows his industry, his target market, and his competitors perfectly, he is certainly not an expert in SEO. On the other hand, we have a deep understanding of the ins and outs of SEO. Hence, our approach is based on an open communication with our customers. In the end, our goal is to answer the following question: How can we adjust the various SEO strategies to ensure the best results for our customers?

Above all, we like to educate our customers about the intricacies of online marketing. Consequently, this article describes the basic principles of Search Engine Optimization in order to answer a question we often receive: "What is SEO?"

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Wikipedia defines SEO as "the process of affecting the online visibility of a website or a web page in web search engines unpaid results". In fact, Search Engine Optimization encompasses different techniques that can affect the visibility of a website in non-paying search engines results. Of course, it is still possible to pay to appear on the first page of Google results. However, this is not always the best solution, especially since Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Google Adwords can quickly become expensive. So the main objective of SEO is to increase your visibility among natural or "organic" search results. The two main components of Search Engine Optimization are:

• On page optimization. This consists of optimizing the different SEO settings as well as the content of your website. The goal of on-page optimization is to make it more attractive to Google robots (called "Crawler") that index your site. In other words, Google must not only be able to find your web pages, but also the content must be relevant, detailed and useful to your target audience.
• Off page optimization. This includes distributing information and obtaining links from other sites to yours so that robots can find your site more easily. Links to other sites that redirect to yours also called "Backlinks" allow Google to index and reference your site. To get the best results, these sites must be authoritative in your target sector. Thus, the more backlinks you have (the more your website is cited), the more Google considers your site to be relevant and gives it a better position in the search results.

Ranking on search engines

SEO-friendly web design

It is important to have good basics in Search Engine Optimization to increase the visibility and authority of your website on search engines. In particular, these include building an "SEO-friendly" website which facilitates on page optimization. Our web development team is very familiar with the components that enable your site to include SEO best practices. For example, these are analytic integration, a meta-information area, an indexable site structure, smart URLs, and relevant and easily indexable content (including images).

On page optimization

Once the structure of your website is SEO friendly, it's time to look at the content strategy. In particular, your content must be unique, original, relevant and structured according to an intelligent keyword strategy. In addition, you must avoid stagnation. Indeed, smart SEO strategies involve optimizing your site continually to bring freshness and capitalize on new keywords and trends of the moment.

Content Marketing

Blog posts, social networks, email marketing, infographics, white papers, online press releases ... All these elements combine to form the content marketing part of your SEO strategy. Once you know how to write, use and publish content in an SEO-friendly manner, you will be able to strengthen your online presence in a perceptible way.

Off page optimization

The next step is to set up a strategy for acquiring external links (backlinks) that point to your website. In fact, this step is crucial to increase the popularity and visibility of your website on search engines.

Local marketing

It is important to promote your business through local online marketing channels. Indeed, to generate local and targeted results, you must have a consistent base of online marketing ads. In addition, local marketing includes listing your business on local directories, lists, and maps. In the end, this local focus will allow you to establish your presence on the search engines and reach your target audience more easily.

Social media

Marketing on social networks is an important part of any effective SEO strategy, as more and more consumers are using their smartphones and tablets to browse the Internet and make purchasing decisions. Social and mobile marketing allows your small business to reach potential customers in a natural and authentic way, and to build loyalty in your target market.

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