For most businesses the answer is 100% YES. However, it needs to be done with an understanding that the best results will come over a longer period of time. If you need short term results then you need to look into PPC like AdWords, Yahoo, or Bing ads. Good SEO will last regardless of Google updates because it will focus on useful content for your users. You will gain trust, authority, and more customers.
To put a number to your investment make sure you have a plan to track conversions. Even if you break even over the first couple months with your total cost of your SEO investment then you will more than likely be building invaluable assets on the web for the future of your business. As we saw in the graphic above organic search results can have a monetary value based on what your competitor are paying to have their ads in the same results.
First and foremost we want our clients to see results from our SEO services. How do we measure results?
Cost - $500
Time - 2 days
This package includes a website audit and 3 hours of work towards top priorities from the audit. Our first task is to do an audit that includes an analysis of:
We don't think you should pay unless our SEO services it brings you more business! After the the initial on-site audit and optimization we work with you to come up with a plan where we get paid based on the amount of business we bring to you. Therefore there are NO monthly retainers or fees are collected.
In order to make this work we have to set up and track online and off-line conversions. We are able to do this using Google Analytics and Call Tracking methods. For example lets say that you have a form on your website that collects high quality leads. Every time this form is submitted we can track that as a conversion and monitor it through your goals in Google Analytics.
The benefits of good search engine rankings can be the catalyst for your business. The key is to provide high quality content that is a resource for the user's search query. When Google recognizes your authority for specific topics then you will begin to see traffic increase.
About a year ago one of our online businesses had average search engine rankings for our target audience. So for the past year we put our energy and focus into quality content and user friendliness. The graph below shows the number of keywords that are ranked for our important keywords. Notice the increase when started to publishing more higher quality content.
Notice: The value of the organic rankings is $879 per month.
These rankings have translated into a huge growth in traffic. The analytics chart below shows a comparison over the same month from the previous year. User sessions alone are up over 150%.
Tracking your rankings are important so you can see what is working and what is not. We use semrush.com to do the following:
It is a good practice to do a website audit at least once per month if you site is regularly updated or has a lot of content published on a regular basis. It is easy to overlook things like long meta titles, duplicate page titles, bad links, etc... A website audit once per month can help you stay on top of it.
A lot of websites will be ranking well for keywords that website owners are completely unaware of. These are considered the "low hanging fruit". If a website is ranking on the first couple of pages then it is a sign that Google views these pages as an authority for these keywords. We then use our rank tracking software to find pages that we can optimize to bring in additional monthly traffic. The process is as follows:
Internal linking can be helpful for users so you can link to other important and relevant pages on your website. it can also be a signal to search engines about which pages are the most important on your website. A good internal linking strategy will keep your site organized in a logical manner.
If you want to rank well for your important keywords you must become an authority by building content that is helpful for users. Think of good quality content as an asset to your company. Good search engine rankings can be worth 1000's of dollars in paid traffic every month.
When planning a content campaign we aim for a lot of deep content. Deep content is long content specific to one subject. Typically we aim for 1000 - 2000 words depending on the competition of the search keywords or industry you are targeting.
There are a lot of elements to a well optimized web page. For an idea of what we aim to do, view this detailed informational graphic of a well optimized web page.
An easy to navigate website is much more user friendly for users. It will reduce bounce rates and increase pages per visit. Every piece of content should be accessible from the home page within three clicks. Therefore, organizing the website into meaningful categories and publishing the content within the relevant categories will help users navigate and find the information they are looking for.
Good content needs to get shared! While Google claims that social signals are not a ranking factor. It could still lead to off-site ranking factors that do help you rank. For example, posting your great content on social media can lead to in-bound links from other relevant websites which increases your back link profile.
For local businesses this might be the most important thing to do. Your Google My Business profile is most visible on Google Maps and in what is nicknamed the "map pack". Here is an example showing one of our clients appearing in the map pack for their location:
Map pack listings can lead to a big increase in foot traffic and phone calls. It is vital that your business claims your business listing and connects it to your website. A few important notes for your GMB listing include:
Citations are also critical for increasing your local SEO rankings. Inconsistencies are the number one factor that hurt a businesses local rankings. There are a lot of business directories that you will want to have you business listed with. In fact unless you have a brand new business then you are most likely already listed in many directories.
There are a lot of tools you can use to find to help find and audit your citations from around the internet. One great free tool is Moz Local. This tool allows you to get an idea of what listings ned to be updated. This can be a lot of work but it really is key to increasing your local search rankings.
Online reviews are another important ranking factor especially for local search. Businesses that have a steady stream of online reviews will typically rank higher in local searches. Replying to online reviews is also rumored to give a positive bump. To get online reviews you can can send customers and clients direct links to your Google Business Listing Review Form. There are ways in which you can manage your reviews to ensure that your overall rating is high. Maintaining a high rating is key because this is shown directly on the search results and businesses with higher ratings get higher click through rates.
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