The full scope of search engine optimization (SEO) encompasses strategies in website design, server configuration, and activities on 3rd-party websites. The “simple” explanation of SEO is that it is a collection of practices meant to help keep your website on the first search engine results page (SERP) without paying for ads.
How important is it to appear on the first page of search results? According to Backlinko, only 0.78% of Google searchers click on something from the second page. That is one intense statistic! Continuing with Backlinko’s terrific research, moving up 1 spot in the search results will typically increase your click-through rate (CTR) by 30.8%. CTR is the ratio between how many users click your link (click-throughs) and how many users see your link (impressions).
Do you need SEO? Yes, you do.
Do we make sure all aspects of your SEO are on-point? You’d better believe it.
When Can You Expect Results?
As with most aspects of digital marketing, SEO is a long-term commitment. Any agency promising noticeable results within the first few months is probably exaggerating.
Building the reputation of a business takes time. With SEO, that is exactly what we are doing–building your business’s online reputation with search engines and people.
A consistent return on your SEO requires 3-4 months to be noticeable. A few effects can be seen and tracked after the first month or so, but the goal is consistency. Consistency can take a few more months to establish.
Other factors are your goals and budget. The SEO we implement with each of our web design plans is a collection of strategies every business should follow to be competitive in the modern market. We can also implement these SEO strategies if you already have a website. If you prefer more aggressive SEO, we can develop a custom strategy.
On-page SEO
SEO begins with the page content. We research popular phrases people use that lead to other businesses in your industry. We incorporate these phrases into your pages to make sure search engines and people using them know your pages contain information they are seeking.
We also optimize images and media used on your web pages. When images are optimized, information is added to the code so search engines can determine what the media contains. The file size is also compressed. This has the added benefit of making your page load faster on all devices, which improves your ranking in search results.
Each page we design goes beyond what you see when it loads. There is a lot of information added to the code to give search engines context for information which may or may not be seen. A few of these details include:
- Business Name
- Days/Hours of Operation
- Contact Information
- Service Area
- Reviews
- Page Headlines
- Page Title
- Page Description
Off-page SEO
We use off-page SEO to establish links from other websites to yours. These are called backlinks. Backlinks increase your reputation with search engines, which increases your ranking on results pages.
Trade group websites, Chamber of Commerce websites, review websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor, and social media accounts all provide avenues of promotion and SEO.
Blogs relevant to your industry are also great ways to build a backlink inventory. While our typical SEO strategies do not include using blogs to build backlinks, it can easily be added to your plan.
Social media is also considered off-page SEO. We will establish your business on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you don’t have the time for social media, no problem! We can also take care of managing it for you. Engaging your audience on social media helps establish your business as a trusted authority in your industry, which can greatly impact your long-term SEO strategy.
Technical SEO
To make sure your website is easier to find, we tell Google, Bing, and Yahoo your site exists, where it can be found, and all the pages your website contains by submitting a sitemap. A sitemap is a file containing links to all of the pages that are part of a website. Another part of the submission process is making sure search engines can crawl and index your entire website without running into errors. This increases the search ranking of each page, which encourages conversion.
We also build your website on servers that are reliable and fast. To make sure new users can access your site quickly, we utilize file compression and server caching. Server caching stores parts of your website, such as images and content, so browsers do not have to load your entire website from scratch. Browser caching is used for return visitors. Your website is stored as temporary files on a user’s phone or computer to make loading practically instant.
The key is to make sure your website loads fast on all devices, is easy to access, is secure, and is always online when your users need it.
Frequently Asked Questions About SEO
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a combination of many methods to get your website in front of potential customers who are searching for information, products, or services you provide.
Is SEO still relevant?
YES! SEO is an important part of any digital marketing strategy. Search engines use it to determine your online reputation by using customer reviews, server performance, clarity of information presented on your website, and a host of other factors on-page and off-page. The more credible information search engines can find, the higher your search ranking will be.
While it’s called “Search Engine Optimization”, potential customers use most (if not all) of the same criteria to judge your business online. We guarantee most of your competitors are using SEO. While it might not always put you above the competition, a solid SEO strategy will certainly keep you from falling behind.
Is there an additional fee to get started?
For ongoing SEO, an initialization fee of $500 is required before work begins. There is no initialization fee for one-time SEO services.
I already have a website. Can you make sure my SEO is up-to-date?
Yes. We provide one-time SEO check-ups along with ongoing SEO support. Contact us for a quote.
Do I have to pay one month at a time?
No, you do not. If you want to purchase whole plans up-front, that is fine.
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