What Exactly Will An SEO Expert Do For You?

What Exactly Will An SEO Expert Do For You?

“SEO is the fastest way to solifify a businesses authority in any given market…”

Sandy Rowley Shopify SEO Expert

By 2020, research shows that businesses will spend $80 billion dollars on SEO. If you’re going to put out big bucks on SEO, you want to know what you’re getting.

Since you want to know what you’re getting, you ask, “what is an SEO specialist?” and “What am I going to get out of these SEO efforts?” These are great questions and if a service you’re working with won’t tell you what they’re doing – run the other way!

Continue reading this article to learn what true SEO specialist will do for your business.

What Is an SEO Specialist?

An SEO specialist is a professional that keeps up with the latest and great in the SEO world. SEO stands for search engine optimization. Search engine optimization is the practice of helping your website get to the top of the search engines such as Yahoo, Bing and the almighty big G – Google.

Common Best Practices for SEO

Here are some of the things you can expect your SEO specialist to do for you when they start working on your campaign. While you might need an SEO specialist, you should know not everyone operates the same way. Some companies operate differently than what we mention below and you should know we can’t speak for all SEO companies.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is one of the most important things you need to do before you even get started on your SEO. You need to focus on getting specific terms mastered so you can get to the top of the search engines.

An SEO specialist uses various tools to look at metrics for keywords. If the metrics are favorable, it is time to see where in the buyer cycle these keywords are. Even if a keyword is a high volume keyword, if there is little to no buyer intent, you likely don’t want to target this keyword.

If you have more time to build your base and can wait to get more clients, you may target keywords that are further up the funnel. There are more keywords at the top of the funnel where people are searching for information but it can take a long time for them to convert.

If you’re a local business, the SEO specialist will help you determine which local terms you need to focus on. If you’re a lawyer, you might find that there are more people searching for XYZ city attorney vs. XYZ attorney. If that’s the case, your specialist will advise you to focus on the term with the highest search volume.

Link Building Activities

Link building is one of the major points of SEO. Link building is getting other websites to link to your website. There are good ways to do this and bad ways to do this.

A true SEO specialist will do this through what is called white hat SEO while less than reputable people may try black hat methods. Black hat methods are spammy and won’t render long term results.

Some of the ways a good SEO specialist will build links are the following:

  • Guest posting
  • Broken link building
  • Press releases
  • Citation building

Guest posting is when you or someone else guest posts on your behalf. When you guest post, the website will link back to your site within the article. You may get an in-context link or you may get a link in the author bio.

Before you commit to doing a guest post, make sure to ask where the link will be. An in-context link is worth more than a link in an author bio.

Broken link building is when you find sites that have broken links on their sites that linked to similar content. Your content may be helpful to replace this information thus giving you a link from this website.

Press releases can get you hundreds of links from sites all over news websites. Even though the content is the same, you’ll still get credit for the links.

Citation building is important, especially if your business is a local business. Citations let search engines know where your business is located so you will show up in the right place in the search engines.

On Page Optimization

While link building is important, on page optimization shouldn’t be ignored. If you ignore on page optimization, search engines will be confused about your site. Without on page optimization, your website isn’t likely to make it ways in front of any of your target audience.

What is on page optimization?

A couple of things you need to pay attention to when you want to get SEO results with on-page SEO is your metadata and your alt text. Your metadata is things like your page title and description. Alt text is text that shows up in case a photo doesn’t load.

When you want to rank for a keyword, include the keyword in the title, description and alt text of images on the page.

Reputation Management

A good SEO company isn’t going to allow you to rank your website with a low rating. You need to work on getting a higher rating if you have low stars or even a lack of reviews.

Most of the time companies have enough business to get the ratings they need, it is just a matter of getting the customers to leave their reviews. When you make it easy for customers to leave reviews or simply ask, you are going to get a much better response.

Get the Help That You Need

Now that you have the answer to your question, “What is an SEO specialist?” and you understand a little more about what they do, you likely have more confidence in the service.

Understanding what SEO is and how it works can be complex, but we’ve done our best to break it down in simple terms. Most people need help with their SEO efforts. If you need help with SEO, contact us today for a free SEO audit.

Reno Networking

Reno Networking

Reno Networking

Networking and Knowledge

Learn about the following marketing strategies:

  1. SEO – What does SEO mean? how can it help grow my website visitors?
  2. Social Media Marketing – Is it worth my time? What is organic reach?
  3. Email Marketing – The do’s and don’ts. What are some of the best apps online that are easy to use and help grow sales?

Ecommerce Website Design : Review

Ecommerce Website Design : Review

View more verified customer reviews on Clutch.io here.

View verified custom reviews on Google here.

“Last month, December 2018, my website crashed…. pages were lost and people were unable to make orders. I don’t know how long it had been down….my last online order had been in early November. I had spent a fortune building this new website and sales had been worse than my 9 year old website had ever had.

I liked the artistic elements and the updated feel, but it just wasn’t producing. I was told it was the WIX’s platform. Google didn’t respect the platform and it didn’t score well with their SEO.

The last years sales online had suffered greatly as a result, even though I had had record sales through my ever expanding commercial distributor network.

I guess now…. I consider it a blessing that the website crashed.

I met Sandy Rowley from Renowebdesigner.com at a business meeting at the “Innervation Center”.

Immediately I learned that she was an expert in SEO and website design. She gave me a quote to move my website and proceeded to reconstruct and transfer the sight to Shopify. Shopify had been recommended to me by others the last few months.

I agreed to her proposal and within a week she had it up and running. It was Christmas time and we all had other things in mind. My products are not Christmas time items but immediately after new years, I started getting website sales. I had sales 6 out of 7 days that first week.

I always believed that my website was key to my overall success and now I’m convinced that I will exceed my record year of 2018.

I commend Sandy for her efforts to reconstruct and transfer my website.

She did a fabulous job and was very fair about it.

She’s easy to work with and pays great attention to the little details.

She has earned my respect and loyalty.

I will recommend her to all my contacts in the future without hesitation.

Sandy is a true professional and her awards and credits are no joke.

I’m so glad she showed up when I needed help. I’m confident she will do fabulous work for anyone.”

 

who-is-the-best-web-designer-in-reno Drop in and Wedge Anchor Setting Tools www.SetItFast.com

 

10 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Professional SEO Consultant

10 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Professional SEO Consultant

10 Reasons Why Your Business Needs a Professional SEO Consultant

Are you in need of SEO help?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is rapidly becoming the most essential digital marketing tool. An effective SEO campaign can help you achieve high Google rankings.

Higher Google rankings can lead to greater online visibility, which can drive traffic to your site and get more customers on the line.

It is possible to tackle SEO yourself. However, some companies outsource SEO services.

If you’re struggling to manage a successful SEO campaign, it may be wise to hire a professional SEO consultant.

Here are the ten reasons why your business needs an SEO specialist now!

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) takes advantage of the 3.5 billion Google searches that occur every day.

In fact, search engines offer all businesses a great opportunity to engage with a vast marketplace.

Think about the way a typical Google search works. Most people search for a word or a phrase that approximates what they’re seeking. For example, you may search for “Search Engine Optimization” or “digital marketing ideas.”

When Google populates results for any given search, it prioritizes the “best matches.” These generally occur on the first page of results, within the top ten listings.

This is where searchers are most likely to click. The likelihood of searchers clicking on content on pages two, three, or four of Google results goes down from there.

That first page of Google is competitive real estate. And the good news is that you can take steps to get your content there, earning you more clicks and (hopefully) more sales.

This is where SEO comes in. Marketers can optimize their online content for keyword searches their customers are likely to enter into Google.

For example, a pet grooming company may cater towards searchers for the following phrases: “dog wash services,” “pet grooming in Los Angeles,” or “cheap grooming.”

SEO involves more than keyword integration.

High ranking sites are also likely to have a high domain authority, meaning that a lot of outside sites link to their content. They also should have high-quality, valuable content.

It is possible to launch an optimization campaign yourself, provided you have the right tools. Yet it is also possible to hire SEO experts to tackle your optimization campaign.

Why Your Business Needs a Professional SEO Consultant

There are many reasons why you may need to outsource your SEO efforts. However, these are the most common motivators.

1. You’re Not Getting the Results You Need

You may have already launched a company-wide SEO effort. Perhaps you’ve performed some keyword research to identify what your ideal customer’s search habits.

At this point, you’ve also likely optimized your online content for select keywords. If so, you’re also inspecting Google Analytics to see what effect these efforts have.

If you’re like nearly every other DIY SEO marketer on the planet, you may not be getting the results you need. Those charts may not be budging. What’s more, your bounce rate may even be soaring!

If this sounds like you, it may be time to hire a professional SEO consultant. A consultant can help you analyze the results of your current efforts. They can explain why you’re not getting the results you need.

Most importantly, they can tell you what you need to do to get those results! In many cases, an SEO expert will take these steps herself to help you get the traffic, sales, or visibility you’re craving.

This is because SEO consultants are well-versed in all things SEO. SEO is a shifting, adaptive industry.

Google changes up its algorithms frequently, and more websites join the world of the internet every day. SEO consultants have their fingers on the pulse of this industry and also possess the expertise needed to drive results.

2. The World of SEO is Intimidating and Hazy

Did we mention that the world of SEO is vast and evolving?

While it is possible to handle SEO yourself, there are so many tricks and tips out there. It can be hard to find the ones that work for you.

Even if you’ve read through Google’s SEO Starter Guide, SEO may still feel intimidating. It may even feel quite simply confusing.

We all know that feeling of trying to become fluent in something that feels perpetually foreign!

This is where a professional can help. SEO experts know this industry incredibly well. Hiring one means you don’t have to know more than the essentials: what your marketing goals are and when you’d like to meet these.

SEO can be simple, especially if you let the experts take over!

3. You Don’t Have the Time

Managing an optimization campaign in-house takes valuable time and effort.

An SEO campaign is not something that can be launched and forgotten about. It requires constant monitoring. The best campaigns are also highly adaptive.

This is because keyword popularity changes with the whims of consumers. Marketing efforts always take dips and rises depending on consumer needs.

If you simply don’t have the time or the resources to tackle SEO on your own, consider hiring an SEO consultant. A consultant can address all of your optimization needs while you spend your hours managing your company.

4. You Need More Sales–Now

Effective SEO can elevate your brand image. It can also make you more digitally visible.

Both of these effects can directly impact the number of sales you receive each month and year.

If your business needs more sales–and needs them now–it’s time to outsource SEO. Optimization experts can quickly derive campaigns that boost your profit margins, all through keyword and digital marketing savvy.

5. You’re Local

Local businesses can struggle to maintain a dependable customer base. This is particularly true for local companies that are new on the scene.

If you manage a local business or if you are launching a startup, SEO is going to be all the more essential to your marketing efforts. In fact, local SEO is all about optimizing your content for location-based keywords.

It can be difficult establishing a local reputation and effectively building a local SEO campaign. We recommend turning to SEO professionals in order to accomplish this and outpace your local competitors.

6. You Run an E-Commerce Company

If you run an e-commerce company, you depend entirely on online visitors. Yes, you also depend on online reviews and testimonials, but your marketplace is purely digital.

Search Engine Optimization is thus vital to your existence. Yet because of this urgency, it can be difficult to meet your industry’s marketing demands.

Think about it this way. The e-commerce industry is booming, and shoppers are indicating a growing preference to conduct the majority of their shopping online.

What’s more, it’s possible to launch an e-commerce business from the comfort of your home, making it more accessible to more entrepreneurs.

In e-commerce, it’s essential to act quickly. Outsourcing part of your digital marketing efforts, especially SEO, can help you establish a powerful online footing right away.

It can also free up your time as you focus on other particulars of running your online company, such as inventory management and packaging concerns.

7. You Don’t Know What Keywords to Use

Keywords form the heart of every SEO campaign. If you manage your SEO in-house, you likely understand the value of thorough keyword research.

Figuring out what keywords your ideal customers are likely to type into Google is paramount to optimizing your content appropriately.

Failing to knit in the right terms can reduce your visibility and make all of your SEO efforts moot.

If you’ve done the research but aren’t seeing results, it’s time to outsource. If you don’t even know where to start when it comes to keyword research, let professional consultants like us help!

Professional SEO consultants are expert at building a keyword database designed to reach your ideal customers. They are also adept at modifying these keywords according to strength and performance.

8. You Have the Marketing Budget

Most marketers strive to launch SEO campaigns themselves in order to save money. This is because outsourcing any digital marketing effort constitutes a financial investment.

And for good reason! Outsourcing in this capacity can have a high return on investment, especially when it comes to time. It can be beyond worth it to invest in services that drive your sales.

If you have the digital marketing budget, SEO outsourcing is for you. If budget is an issue, don’t be deterred. It’s still possible to get a free SEO audit, for example, and input for how to drive your campaign accordingly.

9. Avoid Penalties

Yes, you can contract a Google penalty for sidestepping one of its SEO guidelines. This is more common than most business owners realize.

For example, “overstuffing keywords,” the process of cramming too many search terms into one page, can earn a penalty. This is easy to do if you’re new to SEO!

Google penalties can tank your rankings. They can also make it difficult to build an online presence quickly.

Avoid penalties by hiring an SEO consultant, who will follow best practices at all times.

10. Develop a Relationship

Most professional SEO consultants build longterm relationships with their clients. This is because, once again, SEO is not a “quick fix” in marketing.

It requires an understanding of company vision and goals. It also depends on frequent communication between clients and professionals.

In short, working with a consultant can develop a valuable relationship, one you can take with you through your company’s leaps and bounds. This can be rare in the corporate world.

Final Thoughts

Outsourcing your SEO campaign can give you longterm, palpable results. It can also save you valuable time, enable you to develop a long-lasting relationship, and drive sales.

If you’re on the fence about hiring a professional SEO consultant, think more closely about your marketing goals and budget. What can you afford to outsource? What results do you need?

We are always here to have a conversation and give you a free quote on professional SEO services. Learn more here!

Need help with this?

Understanding How Google Analytics Works: A Step-by-Step Guide For Beginners

Understanding How Google Analytics Works: A Step-by-Step Guide For Beginners

Building a website is just the first step to starting an online business.

You have to have really detailed metrics and analysis points to precisely target your audience.

Google Analytics is one of the best ways to find this information and make it work for you.

Use the tips in our easy to follow guide to learn how Google Analytics works and the best ways to use it for your site.

How Google Analytics Works

Google Analytics is a tool provided by Google that helps you process your websites information. It goes beyond the basic visitor information and allows you to get really in depth and useful data.

In order to use Google Analytics, you have to sign up for the service and register your website. You can have multiple websites under a single account so there’s no need to create more than one.

It allows you to quickly discover specific data on important metrics. A few of the most useful are bounce rate, conversion rates, and landing page information.

 

Getting Started

So you’re probably wondering how to access Google Analytics. You’ve completed the first step in creating an account, now you need to add a tracking code to your website.

This allows Google to actually track user data and directly monitor how your website is functioning. Once this data starts to roll in you’ll have to figure out what you want to do with it.

You can start by looking at the default metrics and analytics. These provide you with the most commonly needed data points such as acquisition, search information, lifetime value, and active user data.

Once you’ve gotten the hand of these metrics you can try your hand at creating custom reports. These allow you to really laser focus your data. You can include parameters such as SKU’s, product sizing, and even integrate external data sources such as your CRM software.

Benefits of Google Analytics

Google Analytics allows you to turn the raw visitor data for your website into actionable information. You can see information such as:

  • Number of Visitors
  • Time on Site
  • Visitor Activity
  • Social Media Information

This type of information is highly valuable from a digital marketing standpoint. It allows you to see what works and what doesn’t. You can also find out how visitors use your site and the kind of content they find most appealing.

Some of the most important information involves how visitors arrive at your site. This shows you what your most valuable search terms are and can suggest terms you should create content for. This data will also help you discover what other interests visitors have based on their previous search history.

If you know what they’re interested in you can more effectively target your content to match their needs. Consumers love sites that provide them with value. They’re much more likely to purchase your services or use your affiliate link if you’ve brought them real value.

Refine, Refine, Refine

Creating awesome content isn’t enough to succeed anymore. You have to know exactly where your visitors are coming from and what turns them into customers. By learning how Google Analytics works you make it much easier to target your content.

Click here to get a free SEO audit and to learn more about the benefits of top to bottom SEO design.

Startup NV

Google Analytics Workshop coming up in January 2019. RSVP for this Lunch & Learn event with StartupNV & 1Million Cups here:

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/startupnv/220123

Reno Networking Events : POWER NETWORKING WORKSHOP

Reno Networking Events : POWER NETWORKING WORKSHOP

Join Truckee Meadows Networking Group and Leading Digital Marketing Expert, Sandy Rowley for an online marketing workshop.

We have a special guest coming this night! Meet the awesome Sara Coolidge, master networking expert.

Sandy and Sara are collaborating on a fun and engaging networking event for the first month of the year. Marry the best of in person and online social networking for the best results in 2019.

❤️Lets get together at The Innovation Center in Reno and learn some the best of in person and online social networking strategies that get BIG RESULTS!❤️

JOIN our FREE Reno Networking Group on Meetup Here: https://www.meetup.com/Reno-Business-Group/events/wbhshqyzcbfc/

How to enjoy networking!

As someone who has run a Networking Meetup for over four years, I understand a lot about the value of networking. Most of the people I talk with understand that they can benefit from networking, but a lot of them don’t really want to do it, or don’t enjoy it when they do. They often complain that networking feels fake, contrived and shameless, and they don’t like feeling that way.

If this is you, read on! Networking does not have to be uncomfortable or unproductive, even for someone who would rather stay home than socialize. A good first step into being willing and able to get out there and network is to remember the value in it.

So, why should you network?  In my nutshell, networking effectively will  grow the number of people you are connected to that understand something about who you are and what you are up to, and have given you permission to contact them in the future. This can be the beginning of any number of different kinds of relationships:

  1. Mentors: finding someone who has been where you want to go and can explain the journey to you.
  2. Friends/social support: meeting others with similar interests who you can socialize with.
  3. Customers: finding another person who will become a customer of yours or someone who has a product that you want to own.
  4. Peer support and education: learn from others in your field or another area of interest.
  5. Collaboration/partnerships: connecting with someone who could become a partner in a project or event with you.
  6. Referrals: meeting people who will refer you to their network for business or social purposes or who will scout for connections for you.

The fact is, whenever you meet someone, there is the potential for you to develop any or all of these kinds of relationships. You won’t know what it will be when you start out, but if you stay confident in the value of networking, and give it some time, the answer will become clear.

Here are some of my other tips on getting the most out of your next networking adventure:

  1. Understand what kind of networking event you are attending. If this is a speed-networking evening, you will need to be ready to talk quickly and to the point with people and move on. If it is a more relaxed gathering, you will want to be able to spend more time chatting with the people you meet. Find out which one and plan your message accordingly.
  2. Speaking of messages, what’s yours? Every networking adventure should begin with some self-inquiry. What exactly would be the best connection for you to make today? Take a moment to think about what you would like have show up next in your business or project and structure your message accordingly. This means you might have a unique message for each event you attend.
  3. Begin from your heart and be willing to share. There is a reason that all of the people who are in this room with you showed up at the same time: You are in this together! Make it your goal to create connections and value for all the attendees. When you see it from this perspective, your nervousness and discomfort fades away. In fact, lots of studies show that when people work together on a task (like making sure that everyone in the room gets a chance to talk) those people will all form longer-lasting, more collaborative relationships. Sounds like a great network to me!
  4. Be confident that you have something to offer. A lot of people are uncomfortable networking because they believe that they don’t have enough connections or influence to be of much usefulness to others. This is simply not true. When you listen with curiosity to others’ needs you will be able to bring your own unique experiences, vantage point and insight to bear in a way that will give great value. Trust that and networking will become more about supporting others and less about self-promotion for you.
  5. Develop a great mindset about networking. Instead of dreading it because you think you might be bored, uncomfortable or awkward, change the way you think about it. You can just as easily think of more pleasant possibilities: You might just have some fun, meet some interesting people and get some new ideas. It is all up to you and how you approach it.
  6. Remember the nutshell: networking is about meeting new people and getting permission to follow-up with them. That’s it. Do not see it as a time to do a sales presentation or pitch someone to hire you for a new job. Those conversations, if they are to happen at all, will go better later, after you have begun your relationship in a respectful, productive way. Your first step is to ensure that they enjoyed meeting you.

Once you apply these tips and take charge of your next networking adventure with a clear message and a great mindset, you are likely to come home with some great new connections with people who really understand you and want to support you.

Now, the next step is to follow-up!

In person networking is a fantastic way to grow meaningful connections with potential clients. How can you integrate real world networking with online social networking?

Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and others has opened the doors for opportunities to massively grow your connections.

If done correctly and working with in the guidelines and rules these social media giants require, you can achieve a fare amount of connections for the time and money.

Learn in a fun and engaging way how your business can leverage smart social networking strategies to increase sales in your organization.

Sandy Rowley is a leading social networking marketing expert located in Reno Nv. She is the creator of the popular Reno Networking Group on Meetup.com and an Award Winning Web Designer.

 

 

 

 

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