Google SEO, explained simply

Think of Google as a giant librarian who has to organize millions of websites in its head. SEO ('Search Engine Optimization') is simply the practice of helping that librarian understand what your site is about, so it can recommend it to the right people at the right time.

The vast majority of people looking for a service or a non-profit start on Google. If your site doesn't show up in the results, it's like having a shop with no sign on the street: people don't even know you exist.

When someone searches, Google shows a clickable blue title and a short description underneath. These are your 'SEO title' and 'SEO description', which you fill in for every page in the 'SEO' tab of the page editor. Write them like a hook: say clearly what you offer and for whom.

A keyword is simply what someone types into Google to find you (e.g. 'food bank association Lyon'). Use these words naturally in your titles and texts, without repeating them artificially. The simplest approach: write as if you were explaining your activity to a friend.

Google can't really 'see' your images, it reads their description (the alt text). In the media library, fill in this field for every important image, describing simply what it shows, for example: 'Volunteers distributing meals'.

Google favors fast sites that display well on phones. Good news: Nodali automatically optimizes your images and layout, so there's nothing you need to do on that front.

These are two technical files Google uses to explore your site more easily. Nodali generates and updates them automatically (sitemap.xml and robots.txt) - one more thing you don't need to manage yourself.

Generally, expect anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after publishing a page for it to appear in results. SEO is a long-term effort: the more useful, regular, and well filled-in your content is (titles, descriptions, images), the more you'll progress over time.

Go to 'Parameters' > 'Google Visibility': Nodali shows you at a glance which pages are missing a title or description, so you know exactly what to fix.

Right now you have to guess whether your site shows up on Google. Google Search Console gives you the real data: how often your site appears in results, for which keywords, how many clicks, and any indexing errors. It's free and takes 5 minutes: go to search.google.com/search-console, add your site, choose the 'HTML tag' method, copy the code it gives you, then paste it into 'Parameters' > 'Integration' > 'Google Search Console' in Nodali. Republish your site, then click 'Verify' in Search Console.