How to be referenced for free on Google?

Contrary to what one might think, SEO services do have a cost. So right off the bat, you have to rule out any possibility of free SEO. In other words, free SEO on Google is nothing but a myth, unless you were born with a solid knowledge of SEO, that you don’t need software and even less the support of professionals. As you will have understood, this perspective is illusory to say the least…

What is free SEO?

Free SEO is the term used to describe the indexing of a site by Google. Indeed, having your website indexed by the search engine does not imply any cost, all you will have to do is to make it known to Google via the Search Console, an XML Sitemap or by a link from an external site pointing to yours. But be careful, indexing is not positioning. The two concepts are very different. In other words, your website can very well be indexed and appear on page 20 or 30 of the SERPs. Improving your ranking necessarily involves real positioning work. We’re here for just that!

The trap of automatic free SEO

You must have come across offers on Google that promise to get you to the top of the search results quickly and sustainably, upon simple automatic submission of your site to a directory. The technique consists in getting several backlinks from different directories by filling a form. But be careful, nuance: the offers in question speak of “submission”. In other words, it is to make your website known to Google, which is similar to indexing, not positioning. The latter is very different, as it involves working on your natural SEO to improve your ranking in Google’s search results.

The importance of links in SEO

This element is crucial in distinguishing the real from the fake in SEO. Free SEO offers, until proven otherwise, do not provide links that point to your website, a key relevancy factor for Google’s algorithm. Indeed, for your site to rank in the SERPs, it is absolutely essential that it has inbound links (backlinks), but not just any links. These must be of good quality, for example coming from an authority site with a common theme. 

Also, it is not enough to have inbound links, you must have the necessary know-how and skills to use them wisely. For example, it is important to avoid link peaks because the rapid acquisition of links in a short period of time can appear suspicious to the search engine. As you can see, links from directories are far from meeting these criteria. In addition, the massive and rapid link acquisition that characterizes this type of offer is not natural for Google, which may then punish you.