Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long-term solution for any business looking to grow through organic search traffic and online visibility. Given that the top organic search results receive a third of the clicks, a decline in ranking could be detrimental for your business. Implementing SEO best practices on your website will help to ensure that your web content is seen by as many potential customers as possible. The more visitors you have, the better your chances are of converting those visits into sales!
Consider these statistics, reported by Backlinko:
- The #1 result in Google’s organic search results has an average CTR of 31.7%.
- The #1 organic result is 10x more likely to receive a click compared to a page in the #10 spot.
- Moving from position #3 to position #2 will usually result in a significant CTR boost.
Your chances of earning these top spots in search results are slim to none without an SEO strategy and executing the white-hat tactics to make it happen. Not only do you have to formulate an SEO strategy, but you’ll also need to have the patience, knowledge, and dedication to making constant adjustments to your website. But, let’s face it, most business owners don’t have the time or expertise to do this on their own. That’s why they hire an SEO agency to provide search engine optimization services for their business.
An SEO agency provides services to create an SEO plan and execute that plan to maximize the ROI of your investment in digital marketing.
To get the best results from search engine optimization services, you need to decide what your digital marketing goals are and determine how organic search traffic can help you achieve those goals. An SEO agency provides services to create an SEO plan and execute that plan to maximize the ROI of your investment in digital marketing. The bottom line is that good SEO services will help you improve your website’s rank and visibility within the search engines.
In this article, you’ll learn:
- What is SEO and why do you need it for your business
- The benefits of investing in SEO Services
- What a successful SEO campaign looks like
- The search engine optimization services you need
- How to know if your website is doing well in search engines
- Steps to take to find an SEO service provider
- The importance of finding a search engine optimization service that gets results
Table of Contents
What is SEO and Why Do You Need SEO Services
SEO is search engine optimization. It includes all of the on-page, off-page, and technical strategies and tactics to improve a website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results. An SEO company will work with your on-site and off-site content to increase your website’s traffic and visibility on the internet. This results in increased brand awareness and improved search engine rankings.
There are a number of reasons why an SEO company is important for your business. Search engine optimization companies will create a plan with your business in order to maximize the ROI of your digital marketing efforts. The end goal is to see your website rank higher within the search engines and drive potential customers to your website where they can be converted to buyers.
Benefits of Investing in SEO
Allocating funds spend on SEO services in your marketing budget is necessary if you want to drive potential customers to your website from search engines. The benefits of investing in SEO services include:
- Increased relevant website traffic from organic search, which means more potential sales
- Higher rankings on Google and other search engines
- Improved presence online—to gain a larger audience
- Your site will be easier to navigate for users, leading to lower bounce rates and higher conversion rates
- A better understanding of how to improve the content on your website
A Successful SEO Campaign Includes
For an SEO campaign to be successful, your SEO provider will need to create a plan for your business. The best plans will include:
- Keyword research and competitive analysis
- On-site and off-site optimization
- Technical audits and fixing site errors
- Content creation and promotion
- Structured data and entity building
6 SEO Services Your Business Needs
Once you’ve decided to hire an SEO firm, it’s important that you understand what services should be included. A basic understanding of SEO services will prepare you to find the SEO agency that will be the best fit for your company and your digital marketing goals.
Keyword Research Services
The first step in any SEO service is to determine which keywords should be the focus of your search engine optimization efforts. Knowing the keywords to target helps you create relevant content to attract potential customers. This is done through a process of evaluating your unique marketplace, products, and services. When you know what prospective customers are actually searching for, you’ll be able to optimize your content or create fresh content in order to improve your keyword rankings.
Competitor Analysis Services
Competitor analysis is perhaps one of the most important parts of running a business online. The same can be said for the importance of competitive analysis in SEO. Understanding how your competitors’ sites are performing in search results, the relevant keywords they are using, and the types of backlinks they are earning will inform your own SEO strategy. A good SEO agency will include competitive analysis as part of their foundational work when beginning their work with you.
On-Page Optimization Services
From meta tags to page content, website structure, and HTML, on-page optimization services are focused on making your website more visible to search engines. On-page SEO is integral to an overall content marketing strategy that includes creating keyword topic clusters with quality solutions, products, and blog pages that will rank high in results, and ensuring those pages are optimized with titles, headings, and meta descriptions.
Off-Page Optimization Services
Off-Page optimization services include link building and social media. Posting high-quality content to other sites and blogs, as well as to various social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, will provide high-quality links back to your site that will increase the likelihood of your website ranking higher in search results.
Technical SEO Services
Technical website issues such as slow page load time, broken links, and too many redirects affect user experience and can cause a website to be penalized by Google and other major search engines. A steep drop in search engine rankings and a decline in organic traffic are possible without proper intervention. Ensuring your website is compatible with search engine guidelines so that it can be crawled and indexed without any problems is a process known as technical SEO. A technical SEO audit will assess your website’s current SEO and determine which aspects you need to improve for a seamless online experience. Then your SEO team will execute the tactics to fix any technical issues with your site.
Reporting & Analysis Services
The final step in any SEO service is to track your SEO performance and progress after optimizations are made. Analysis and reporting give you a snapshot of what’s working and what needs improvement. You and your agency should always have a good idea of how well your website ranks against competitors, the volume of traffic your site is earning from organic search results, and your conversion rate from organic traffic. These reports will help you determine whether or not your website is attracting relevant visitors and what adjustments need to be made to improve your impressions and search rankings.
Related article: What SEO Agencies Do?
How to Know if Your Website is Doing Well in Search Engines
Some key indicators that your website is performing well in search results are tracking our traffic, users, impressions, click rate, and rankings for specific keywords. You should track these metrics over time to see how your site is improving or declining, or why your website isn’t ranking, then use the data to determine where you need to make improvements or dive deeper to look for technical issues with your website.
It’s important to check and monitor the results of your SEO company’s work. There are a number of tools that can help you do this:
- Check your Google Analytics and Search Console
- Monitor social media referrals to see how many people were referred from different networks like Facebook and Twitter
- Use a tool like Moz.com’s Open Site Explorer to check how many external links you’re receiving and where they’re coming from
- Use a tool like SEMrush to monitor your site’s health and pinpoint any technical errors on your site
Steps to Find an SEO Service Provider
There are a number of steps you should take to find an SEO service provider for your business. Your search for an SEO agency should include:
- Ask your network of business associates for a referral
- Make sure they’re experienced and qualified
- Ask for references and case studies
- Ask about their techniques and what they offer
- Find out how long it takes to see results
- Request a proposal from them that includes cost and details of the plan you’ve agreed upon
Find Search Engine Optimization Services That Get Results
Business owners understand that getting more traffic is essential to success. The more people visit your website, the better! However, it’s important that you not only increase relevant traffic but ensure that those visitors are converting into sales, as well. If you own a business, you need to invest time into understanding what search engine optimization is, how it can help your business grow, and how it plays a part in your larger digital marketing strategy.
When done properly, SEO can be a great way to ensure that you have quality traffic coming to your site every month. However, an effective search engine optimization strategy takes time to develop and implement. And, it’s good to keep in mind that search engine algorithms are constantly adjusting, so strategies need to adjust as well. (Something an experienced SEO will keep a constant eye on!)
While search engine optimization is important, there are some SEO agencies out there that simply do not provide high-quality services. Always make sure to research any potential company before investing your time or money into their services. Make sure they follow white-hat SEO tactics. And, remember, SEO is a long game. It takes time to build organic search traffic and rankings. Anyone that tells you differently probably isn’t being completely honest with you.
SMA Marketing’s team of SEO specialists has the necessary experience in the ever-changing SEO industry to help our clients improve their visibility in search engine results. Our SEO strategies are customized to our clients’ specific needs and goals.
Whether you are a B2B or B2C business, or a local service business, we take the time to understand your company, industry, and competitors to understand what will work best for you. If you’re serious about growing your business through search engine optimization, contact us today to learn how our SEO team can help.
If you’re not ready to hire an agency and you’d like to DIY your digital marketing, we have a course just for you! Click below to learn how our Simplified Digital Marketing course will give you the SEO skills you need to do it on your own.
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