SEO or SEA: what to choose to improve the visibility of your website?

The SEO process is the acronym for “Search Engine Optimization“. It’s the act of making your website or web pages appear in the first pages of results, aiming for the top rankings on the first page. This SEO strategy, although qualified as free of charge, is a long-term work. This is why it is often carried out by SEO agencies during the creation of a website or when a site, already put online, requires optimizations.

The methodology to be followed and explained below, will be based on 3 crucial phases: a diligent search for relevant keywords, the “on-page” SEO and the “off-page” SEO.

It is important to keep in mind that the 3 most used search engines in the world (Google, Yahoo! and Bing) use algorithms that are constantly evolving. Depending on its relevance, your website will rank first and last in the search results. A natural SEO work therefore requires regular optimizations in order to maintain its position in the first results on search engines. Referencing your site requires a continuous optimization work to generate more traffic.

In order to make your website appear in the first Google results, we can accompany and advise you in your SEO strategy thanks to a complete SEO audit.

First, we make a selection of keywords consistent with the offer of your website. Then, a competition analysis is carried out to finally define an efficiency index for each keyword. The objective is to determine the most relevant words that will allow to be in accordance with the rules defined by the search engine algorithms. This selection of keywords is decisive because it is the basis of the SEO strategy and your development strategy. These will be the keywords on which your site will appear in priority in Google results.

After selection, the “On Page” SEO will consist of placing these keywords in strategic areas of the site, for example titles or certain textual content. This will facilitate the analysis of the content made by the algorithm. The internal meshing, which consists in inserting internal links between different pages of your site, is also essential for an effective Google referencing. The “Off Page” SEO will then complement the “On Page” SEO by integrating inbound links, often called “backlinks“. The links to other websites will create the reputation and popularity of yours, so you must be very careful about the quality of their content. In case of low quality, search engines can penalize your website. You must avoid putting external links on your site or the algorithm will penalize you. It is also necessary to pay attention to the loading time of the pages of your website to improve its referencing.

The results of SEO work are often visible in the medium to long term. This is when the SEA strategy comes into play.

The SEA tool stands for “Search Engine Advertising” and is another form of referencing complementary to SEO. This solution is a more accessible approach and the results of which are visible in a shorter term than natural referencing, at a cost to the company.

The most widely used advertising tool is Google Ads, whose payment is based on performance, particularly cost-per-click bids. This means that the payment will only be triggered if the user, who has made a search, clicks on your ad and arrives on your site. Your paid referencing campaigns will be subject to a quality score, depending on the content and relevance of your ad.

Once the campaign has been correctly parameterized and launched, regular optimizations are carried out according to the results of the campaign. Depending on the keywords selected and on which you are positioned and according to a defined zone, Google’s algorithm will place the sponsored links on a certain rank in the search results. The better the setting, the more likely it is that your links will be placed on the first lines of search engines.

Make no mistake, in order to achieve the best possible ranking, ATS can be very expensive in a competitive industry. It is therefore essential to define your business objectives and return on investment goals.

By working with us, who are experts in SEA, you benefit from our know-how to develop the SEA strategy that best suits your budget, your needs and your expected rate of return. We accompany you throughout the process, starting with the study of your project and the creation of a coherent offer. Once the strategy is in place, we follow up with performance analyses and propose optimizations to ensure maximum visibility of your website.

In order to determine the best strategy to adopt among SEO or SEA, Habefast accompanies you to maximize your visibility on the various search engines. According to your sector of activity, your short- or long-term needs, our expertise will allow us to propose you a fully customized offer.