SEO - Basic notions and general settings

Having good or favorable SEO means that your web app comes up as one of the first results returned by search engines when someone types the keywords you're aiming to be positioned around. 

When search engines turn up results, they are based on 2 elements :
- their indexing
- their algorithms 

To make up their index, search engines use indexation robots. These robots (bots) browse the web and collect information about the websites visited (content, links, activity, etc.). 
Information saved in the index is then used by algorithms. For each request they calculate and return the list of the most pertinent sites. There are many settings taken into account in judging the level of pertinence. Certain ones are of a technical nature, others are editorial, and some are related to various links that link sites together. 

When optimizing SEO, there are 3 aspects to consider : 

1/ Technical: The Progressive Web App (PWA) must be correctly indexed by robots

This is a top priority at GoodBarber. We provide you with the tools that will allow you to facilitate the indexation of your content.
There are various options when used correctly, provide you with all you need to be perfectly indexed. Read about how they work in the following online helps: Your PWA's Tags, Declaring a PWA on Google, Slug.
 
2/ Editorial: Regularly updated content

Content freshness is an important criteria for search engines when determining pertinence. You should regularly write and make as many articles as possible publicly visible (accessible to search engines), using keywords around which you want to be positioned. Remember that robots give priority to the first 100 characters in an article. 
But be careful—keep in mind that you're writing for visitors and not for robots. Don't make the mistake of writing sentences that are difficult to understand or unpleasant to read just to get in as many keywords as possible.

3/ Link acquisition: incoming links coming from similar sites 

Try to obtain as many links from other sites as you can. If other sites point towards yours, this is a very good indicator for search engines that you have pertinent content.
Links coming from websites of the same activity sector are preferable. 

Good to know :
a) The 3 aspects noted above are listed in order of importance. That being said, technical aspects are not everything. To differentiate yourself from competitors, originality and high quality content must be produced to capture an audience. If the content is pertinent, your audience will naturally make links to your PWA.

b) SEO takes time—it's not an overnight process. It will take a few weeks before you start to appear as a result in primary search engines. Seniority of a PWA also plays a role in algorithms, which means priority is given to older PWA.

c) Be wary of tempting offers that promise you first position in Google. These techniques that aim to trick search engines (black hat SEO) are severely punishable and can eventually lead to total index exclusion. You should avoid being part of directories, content farms, etc. 

In the menu Sale channels > PWA > SEO , under the General Parameters tab you can choose whether or not to allow for indexation of your PWA by search engines, and manage the basic options.

General Parameters Tab :

1/ Title Tag
The information provided here allows you to fill in the browser title. The content in this tag is taken in the search results—it's the name of your site. Choose a title that's less than 70 characters so that it's not truncated in the results.

2/ Meta Description Tag
The purpose of this content is to provide a description of your PWA. The content in this tag describes your PWA in the search results. If the description is less than 150 characters, it won't be truncated. 

Google search results:

3/ Keywords
It is recommended not to go over 20 words, separated by commas. Yahoo is the only one still using this information. It has very little impact on your SEO.

Choose the browser title content, the description, and the keywords very carefully, as they define your PWA's activity. Avoid clichés and word repetition.