SEO And SMM Tactics To Promote Your Brand Awareness

SEO And SMM Tactics To Promote Your Brand Awareness

When we talk about SEO (search engine optimization) and SMM (social media marketing), both are among the most trendy practices to drive traffic to your website and increase brand awareness. Collectively, both SEO and SMM could bring about 60 to 65 percent of your website traffic and play an important role in the promotion of your brand.

Although these are two different strategies, if you are planning to promote your brand and boost its awareness, there is no doubt that using them together could benefit you a lot.

Before we head into some strategies, let’s understand the difference between SEO and SMM.

SEO & SMM – A Comparison

Here is a table that describes two strategies very well.

Although the primary goal of SEO is not to promote your brand, it majorly focuses on bringing organic traffic to the site. However, with some smart tactics, you can increase brand awareness as well.

On-Page SEO Tactics For Brand Awareness

On-Page SEO is more about focusing on the content and visualization of your website on the SERPs and the internet. Let’s see how some On-Page SEO tactics can boost brand awareness.

Branding In The Title

We all know that title is the first feature that appears in front of the user when they search for anything on search engines.

Using a brand name in the title can not only be helpful in increasing the awareness of your brand among the users, but will also be a great SEO factor to boost your rankings in SERPs.

Using Brand Name In The Description

Just like in the title, the brand name could be used in the description as well. This is something where you can naturally use your brand name to attract the audience and increase your engagement.

You can use different variations of your brand name and its synonym so that somehow the users can remember the name.

Spreading Brand Awareness Through Headers

Experts have often observed that Google places your headings in the title and displays it to the users. Moreover, when a user visits your website, the first thing they will scroll through your content is the headers. Here is an example of how Dissertation Assistance has used it naturally in their H1.

Placing your brand name in the headers will help them memorize your brand name and your services as well.

Branding With The Help Of Content

This technique is often used by almost all brands, but worth mentioning here as content is something that creates value among the users and the search engines as well.

Make sure that you are not using it more than the recommended times that it can hurt your SEO. For instance, in the content of 1000 words, you can use your brand name 3 to 4 times. It will have a great impact on increasing your brand awareness among the visitors to your webpage.

Off-Page Tactics For Brand Awareness

You can also use various Off-Page SEO strategies to boost your brand awareness. Let’s look at how it is done.

Business Listing

There are numerous business listing websites with a variety of users and visitors across them. Target these websites and create your listings.

This helps in the promotion of your brand and increases traffic to your site as well.

Guest Posting

Guest posting is a simple way to create contextual backlinks for your website. With some steps, you can easily increase your brand awareness through guest posting.

  1. Contact an authority website within your niche and offer them your guest post with a suitable title.
  2. Once they allow you to write for them, create engaging content and place our brand name somehow.
  3. You can place the brand name while mentioning any example or a case study you have conducted.

This way, you will have a brand mention from an authority website that will work as an SEO factor, and more importantly, will allow the readers of that particular blog to know about your brand.

Review Websites

Reviews are a great source to build trust among the users and improve your brand awareness as well. You simply utilize websites like Google My Business, Foursquare, BingP Places, Yelp, etc., to create your account and ask your users to post a review.

Creating your presence on a review website is really an amazing strategy. It will not only encourage the users to trust your services but also works as an SEO factor for search engines to rank your site better.

How SEO Links SMM To Boost Brand Awareness?

Social media marketing could be used widely to increase your search engine visibility. It allows search engines to feature your social media pages on the SERPs when people are looking for something from your brand. You can utilize numerous social media techniques to increase your search engine visibility and brand awareness.

Social Networking

This is the first step towards SMM, where you target some of the popular social media platforms to create your business presence. Make sure that your target audience are using that social media platform.

For example, if you are trying to engage some professionals, you are more likely to get them through LinkedIn. It’s not avoidable to focus on other platforms like Facebook or Instagram, but your mainstream platform for increasing brand awareness will be LinkedIn in this particular situation.

Social Media Posting

According to the survey conducted by Essay Editing Services UK, 54% of social media users prefer video content. Videos bring more engagement and spread your brand message in an easy and convincing way.

This does not mean that the other type of content will not work. Basically, it’s about visual content. Do not rely only on the text.

While Summing It Up…

There are various SEO and SMM tactics which help us promote the brand message and boost awareness among the users. Some of the crucial techniques are discussed here in this content which will not only help you to spread your brand message but also improve your visibility in search engines.

Claudia - RenoWebDesigner Staff Writer

Author Bio

Claudia Jeffrey is currently working as a Senior Editor at crowdwriter.com. She has previously served as a Digital Marketing Manager at the same firm. Claudia often blogs at Word Count Jet. She loves to travel and often travels solo to explore the beauty of nature.

What is SEO?

What is SEO?

How can it help grow my business online?

Search Engine Optimization, shortly called as SEO is a method used to improve the position that your website appears at in the search engine results pages (SERP) for certain queries or keywords. It is done by optimizing different on-page and off-page SEO factors like title tags, meta descriptions, images, etc. A higher position in the SERP means more web traffic which can lead to more customers and conversions for your business.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and refers to the practice of increasing the visibility and ranking of a website or web page in search engine results pages (SERPs). By optimizing a website for search engines, businesses can increase their chances of appearing higher in SERPs for relevant keywords, which can ultimately lead to increased web traffic and brand awareness. Additionally, SEO can help a business to improve the usability and quality of their website, making it more likely that visitors will stay on the site and continue engaging with the brand.

What are the benefits of SEO?

SEO can help businesses grow online in a number of ways. By improving the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs), businesses can attract more visitors to their site. This can lead to increased traffic and, ultimately, more customers and sales. In addition, SEO can also help to improve the quality of a website, making it more user-friendly and likely to convert visitors into customers. Finally, SEO can help build brand awareness and credibility, both of which are important for any business looking to succeed online.

How does SEO work?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website or web page in search engine results pages (SERPs). Often, this is accomplished by improving the site’s content, structure, and on-page elements like titles, metatags, and anchor text. Good SEO can help a website or web page attract more visitors from search engines, and can ultimately lead to increased sales or other conversions.

SEO is not easy, and it often requires ongoing effort to maintain and improve rankings. However, businesses that invest in SEO can see significant ROI over time. For small businesses in particular, SEO can be a great way to level the playing field against larger competitors.

What are some common SEO strategies?

There are many different SEO strategies that businesses can use to improve their rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs). Some common strategies include optimizing website content for relevant keywords, building backlinks from high-quality websites, and creating informative and keyword-rich blog posts. Implementing a well-rounded SEO strategy can help businesses to attract more website visitors, leads, and customers.

How can I get started with SEO for my business?

SEO can be a complex and time-consuming process, but it is essential for businesses that want to grow their online presence. There are a few key things you can do to get started with SEO:

1. Research your keywords. Identify the words and phrases that potential customers are using to find businesses like yours.

2. Optimize your website content. Use your keywords throughout your website content, including in your titles, headings, and metatags.

3. Build links to your website. One of the most important ranking factors for SEO is the number of high-quality links pointing to your website. Try to get links from other websites, directories, and social media platforms.

4. Monitor your progress. Use Google Analytics or another web analytics tool to track your SEO progress and identify areas for improvement.

Conclusion

SEO can be a complex and confusing topic, but it doesn’t have to be. By understanding what SEO is and how it can help grow your business online, you can start to see the benefits for yourself. And if you’re not sure where to start, there are plenty of reputable SEO agencies that can help get your website ranking high in search engines. So don’t wait any longer, start growing your business today with SEO!

How New Technologies Will Change the Marketing Industry in the Next 10 Years

How New Technologies Will Change the Marketing Industry in the Next 10 Years

The advancement of technology is changing how we sell products, goods, and services. In a thriving industry like marketing, new technologies play a fundamental role in the economic and employment growth of the sector. 

 

Growth Projections for Marketing Careers

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the marketing industry will grow 10 percent between 2020 and 2030. The main target for this market is to generate more economic prosperity, stability, and employment growth over time. There will be at least 31,100 new advertising, promotions, and marketing manager jobs each year throughout this decade.

 

Three Amazing Changes to the Marketing Industry this Decade

 

Predictive Personalization

According to Adage, 67 percent of Gen Z consumers believe that websites should predict what they are looking for. E-consumers seek automation of their preferences and purchases. 40 percent of consumers will stop visiting a website if the brand does not foresee what they need, like, or want.

Automated Subscription Services

Virtually all great entertainment and e-commerce services work through the subscription system. New customers of the post-pandemic era now prefer automatic payments. According to Gartner, by 2023, 75 percent of direct selling companies will offer their products or services through automated subscriptions.

Voice Assistant Advertising

According to a study by Juniper Research, the number of voice assistants worldwide will triple by 2023, with around eight billion of these devices. This technology will make advertising more personalized, real-time, and automated. This system will interact with thousands of users, showing persuasive advertisements based on their consumption patterns. 

 

Five New Technologies That Will Boom in the Marketing Industry

 

  1. Digital imitation of real people’s voices: This technology will be implemented thanks to a software called Lyrebird, which creates an authentic digital voice from a short recording sample of a person’s voice. This tool will recreate the sound of media figures in advertisements.
  2. Big data-little area: Companies will capture huge data flows to order them through Artificial Intelligence systems in a specific geographic location and market. This way, they will discover opportunities for new customer networks.
  3. Augmented reality: Retail companies will offer augmented reality glasses to interact with the products. Consumers will know the characteristics of the products, see the cost, and much more.
  4. Surveillance robots for big malls: Robotics companies from countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain will develop robots to monitor the mass consumption activity of customers in large shopping centers.
  5. Commercial drones: Large mass-market corporations will use drone systems to explore human behavior from the air. Thus, companies will design their marketing campaigns adapted to social behaviors.

The Best Places to Find a Marketing Job Over the Next Few Years 

If you want to expand your career path and obtain excellent economic and professional opportunities in the marketing industry, pay attention to the best academic platforms. We took data from Career Karma to show you the best digital marketing bootcamps right now. Bootcamps are the future schools that will set the trend for getting a marketing job without a degree. Below are the main digital marketing bootcamps:

 

Thinkful

Thinkful offers a three-month program called the “Online Digital Marketing Bootcamp”. The course syllabus includes topics like Content Marketing, SEO, Social Media Management, Email Marketing, and much more. Many grads work for companies like Amazon, Twitter, and Google. This bootcamp also offers software engineering, UI/UX design, and Data Science programs. 

General Assembly

General Assembly provides extensive knowledge in Digital Marketing with in-demand skills to build your career in high-growth tech fields. In addition, the course offers technical training with flexible delivery and an industry-tested curriculum. You will join a career services program, which will increase your chances of landing a job in the marketing industry.

Simplilearn

Simplilearn is the number one online bootcamp to learn digital economy skills with specialized training in emerging technologies. Here, you will become a digital marketer with qualified Data Science, Data Analytics, and Product Management skills. Thanks to its role-based training programs and comprehensive certification programs, this academy will guide you in your job search.

BrainStation

BrainStation trains students to become great professionals in the marketing industry. This bootcamp will provide a full learning experience based on modern digital marketing strategies. With this knowledge, you will solve real-world projects working alongside industry professionals in business contexts. BrainStation also includes Data Science, Web Development, and UX/UI Design bootcamps. 

Conclusion

The digital marketing industry concentrates the highest growth currently and in the coming years. Therefore, being a part of this wide market of opportunities, large projects, and professional development is the best decision you can make amid the technological boom of the new era.

Who is the best SEO Expert in Reno? Sandy Rowley is…

Who is the best SEO Expert in Reno? Sandy Rowley is…

Who is the best SEO expert in Reno?

Sandy Rowley, is easily the best SEO expert in Reno. She consistently outranks thousands of local, national and global SEO companies for SEO terms in Google and other major search engines.

Her SEO services include reputation management, Google My Business, Google search, Yahoo Search, Bing Search and Social media search services.

Voted best SEO in Reno, 5 years running, Rowley continues to provide quality SEO services to her select clients throughout the country.

Go to Google Maps and search for just the keyword, SEO. Reno SEO, Marketing & Web Design consistently ranks #1 in Google for this very competitive keyword.

 

 

SEO Company in Reno

Why do business owners trust her SEO services?

  1. Trustworthy and punctual communication.
  2. Affordable SEO services.
  3. SEO Rankings verified.
  4. She includes updates to plugins and website with every SEO package.
  5. Increased traffic.
  6. Increased leads.
  7. Increased sales.
  8. Impressive PR, SEO and Reputation Management are included.

Shopify Experts Best Reviews

best seo companies in reno

best seo in reno

SEO

Who is the best SEO company?

There are thousands, if not millions, of companies providing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services to their clients across the USA and globally. With so many players in the business, it may be challenging to ask: Who is the best SEO company, and then point to a single entity or company in answering that question. Before addressing that question categorically, it might be prudent to frame it in its proper context.

What does the best SEO company look like?

When considering an SEO partner to assist your business, the best thing to do is to focus on the value proposition they offer to your business. So, instead of asking: Who is the best SEO company, the more appropriate question might be: What can an SEO company do for me? Ideally, here’s what the best SEO company looks like:

  • Plenty of Experience: While newcomers to the world of SEO may deliver some great services, it’s only experience – preferably more than five to ten-years of it! – that can add true SEO value to your business
  • Diversity of Skill Sets: SEO isn’t an individual competition. It’s a team sport. And that means it takes a combination of skill sets – web designing, content creation, website audits, user experience assessments, digital marketing…and much more! – to bring SEO-enabled value to a business. Companies that don’t excel in all those areas, and more, will likely not do much for their client’s SEO profiles
  • Professionalism: Many SEO “experts” believe they know what ails a businesses’ SEO profile. And the first order of business they execute is a “fix”. True SEO professionals don’t assume anything. They take the time to first understand, from a client’s perspective, what the challenges are, and then propose options to those problems. At the heart of professionalism is the willingness to accept that, while the SEO expert is good at what she/he does, it’s the client that knows her/his business best!
  • Proven Track record: Words, web profiles, sales pitches – they are all nice and good. But what has your prospective SEO partner accomplished for her/his clients? When you branch out on a quest to find out who is the best SEO company, it’s prudent to also understand what they have done – in terms of results accomplished – for their clients.

Finally, when searching for the best, it’s vital to remember the context in which SEO works. Because SEO also has a local and regional level, one can address that question more appropriately when phrased in a local context.

SEO in a Different Perspective

Most small to medium enterprises think global and act local. The idea behind that philosophy is to use the power of SEO to become a local center of focus and then, using that reputation, to spark global attention. So, in some ways, SEO starts as a homegrown phenomenon.

So, if you ask: Who is the best SEO company in Nevada, the answer would be to identify Nevada’s top SEO expert, Sandy Rowley! The Reno-based Webby Award-winning team has been delivering exceptional SEO services to its clients in Nevada, and even further, since 1999. And the 5-star reviews garnered by sandy and her team serve as a testimony to the success that Sandy’s team has delivered to clients – not just in Reno and the broader area, but also across Nevada and nationwide.

 

SEO 101 – Understanding the Power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO 101 – Understanding the Power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Pop Quiz: Why is it that, when you key in a search query into your web browser, some websites appear higher up in the list of sites returned, while others come in way down the pecking order?

The answer: A neat little process called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

What is SEO?

As highlighted by our pop quiz question, SEO is what goes on behind the scenes in your webpages and websites. When done right, SEO is responsible for ensuring that your web pages rank higher-up in organic search results than your competitor’s.

Although search engines like Google consider a long list of factors to determine proper site optimization for search, as a website owner, here’s what SEO means to you:

  • Your site is visible to search engines
  • It is structurally sound – well laid out, with no broken links or missing pages
  • It has content that search engines locate quickly when users query for them
  • Your pages rank higher (for relevant content searches) than your competitors
  • There’s content that users find useful and informative
  • The site makes good use of social signals (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.) to promote it
  • You have high-quality backlinks that point back to your site
  • You use optimized images across the site

The most visible SEO sign is that customers, prospects and casual visitors find your website easily and efficiently, giving you the opportunity to sell your products and services to them. These are just a tiny manifestation of what SEO means to you. However, when SEO experts get down to work on site optimization, they’ll consider these, and a list of over 200+ other factors, when creating highly optimized websites.

reno advertising agencies

 

Why do I need SEO?

Consider the analogy of a bricks and mortar candy store from “back in the day”. Although the shop made the best candies and sweets in town, unless their name appeared in classified ads in newspapers and the TV, few buyers would show up at the store. The same is true with today’s digital storefronts – i.e. your online presences.

Owning and successfully operating an online business requires a website – and other online presences, like social media pages. But it also means you need to promote that site online, so current and prospective clients might find you whenever they have the need for your products or services.

Reno SEO

MARKETING YOURSELF

More importantly though, is the marketing aspect of an online business. You don’t just want (current) clients who know your business, or those who are actively considering buying (prospects) your product, to find your website online. It’s important to also “convert” casual visitors – who may not initially want to buy – into paying customers. And that’s where SEO comes in!

As an online business owner operating in a highly competitive marketplace, you need SEO if you:

  • …want your business to survive and thrive
  • …are looking to expand in new markets
  • …care about having more online visibility that your competition
  • …are looking to increase traffic to your website
  • …want a consistent stream of leads generated from that traffic
  • …are always looking to convert many of those leads to paying clients
  • …also care about generating a lot more local sales from among your city and community

So, what does SEO do to give you all (and more!) of the above? Well, here’s the simple truth about why SEO matters to you. You need SEO because:

  • 68%[1] of all identifiable web traffic happens as a result of web searches
  • 3%[2] of all web traffic come from organic searches
  • 76%[3] of people who searched for a product/service using a smartphone have visited a nearby business within one day of conducting their search
  • SEO[4] results in 1000% plus more traffic than other strategies, including social media
  • 60% of online businesses say that in-bound SEO delivers them a higher quality of leads tan do other lead generating strategies
  • SEO results in closing 14.6% of all online deals

As an online business owner, or someone who manages a website, what do all these numbers mean for you? Depending on what business you are in, and what online marketing strategy you pursue, these statistics might mean different things to various businesses. However, the one common take-away from these figures is this:

The world has around 2 billion websites on the internet, of which approximately 400 million are currently active[5].  If you run an online business, then you need your website “found” among the vastness of other websites out there. And for that to happen, you need SEO!

STANDING OUT AMONG THE CROWD

And what’s the most obvious way for anyone to find you in a crowded space? It’s if you step forward right at the front of the crowd and shout “Look at me…I’m here!”. Unless you do that successfully, the thousands of other competing websites in your domain may drown your presence. Your clients and prospects won’t know that you exist!

You need SEO to help you stand out in the crowd. And how does SEO make that happen?

To explain that, lets look at one more piece of statistics:

  • 60% [6]of people looking for products and services, won’t scroll past the first screen of their Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

To put that in perspective, lets assume a search term for your product or service results in 300 listings. Let’s also assume that each page comprises of seven listings. Here’s how the math works out:

There will be 43 web pages that meet the criterion of the searchers query. Depending on the device (desktop, tablet, smartphone) the searcher is using, those pages may span over more than 43 screens.

Assuming the searcher finds content on the page pretty useful, they’ll spend about two minutes (“dwell time”[7]) reading key content on the page.  That’ll take him/her 86-minutes (43 pages x 2-minutes per page) to go through all the search results returned.  That’s nearly an hour and a half of their time! In today’s busy world, no one has that much time to spend reviewing search results pages!

Typically, searchers will snoop around the first page of the site and, if they can’t find something interesting, they’ll quickly go back to the crowded SERP to sample the next site/page…and so on. This happens for each of the search results listed.  And, in 60% of cases, searchers will find what they’re looking for without needing to go to page 2 of the SERP.

The bottom line: If your web site doesn’t appear listed high-er up on page 1 (or at least the first few pages) of an organic search, it’s likely no one will ever find you among a crowd of web sites that’s 300 pages large. And you need SEO to help you rank higher in organic search results so you can stand out amongst the crowd of competitors.

WHY SEO?

SEO is the best way to target specific audiences online, so you can make your pitch directly to them. As a result, a follow-up question is: Do I have to continue doing SEO? The answer is – YES! Doing SEO isn’t easy – given the frequent algorithm updates that search engines like Google continually implement.

If you want your site to continuously rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), and are interested in a constant flow of traffic, then you need SEO. Not just a one-time SEO effort, but one that keeps up with search engine updates, and with your competitors!

Manufacturing Company Marketing Expert

 

How to hire an SEO expert

Hiring the right candidates (contractors, service providers, agencies) for any role is a daunting task, and it’s no easier when it comes to hiring an SEO expert. But when it comes to all things SEO, the hiring decisions are a lot more critical than say, hiring a tradesperson or a graphics designer. Here’s why you need extra diligence when partnering with an SEO expert:

  • SEO impacts your bottom line – the fewer leads you convert the less revenue you’ll earn
  • SEO speaks directly to your customer base – if your website isn’t targeting the right clients, you’ll likely not get as many leads as you’d like
  • SEO impacts your websites’ standings with search engines – SEO-gone-wrong can easily get your website on a “black list” and cripple your online marketing operations for a significant time

To avoid these, and many other challenges that we’ll highlight shortly, your decision to hire an SEO expert requires a significant amount of extra diligence – more so than you exercise for other roles.

ASSESSING THE EXPERTS

Here are 3 questions to ask and 6 additional skills to inquire about, to ascertain whether the SEO expert is right for you:

  • How do you keep abreast of SEO changes, trends and developments?

When you hire an expert, you want someone who always stays current with all thing’s SEO – not someone that read a few books a long time ago and only applies that knowledge to all her/his projects. Take note of news sites, journals, podcasts and tech review forums they talk about, and check those sources out (at your convenience) to validate what they said

  • Look at these 3 pages on our website. They currently rank #45 and #65 for their respective keywords. Can you provide us 2 onsite-optimization suggestions that’ll help improve our ranking/visibility?

This is a trick question, because there’ll likely be a different answer offered by every SEO expert that you speak to. However, look for some generic tips that any SEO-savvy professional should offer. These include:

  • Ensuring your URLs are meaningful, readable and succinct
  • Removing elements from the page that slows it down – especially on mobile devices – like heavy graphics, large videos and unnecessary bells and whistles
  • Adding links to external websites with content relevant to your domain/niche
  • Re-writing content for human consumption, not for BOTS and algorithms
  • Inviting other trustworthy partner websites to link to your content
  • Checking to ensure all your meta data (tags, descriptions) is in order
    Can you provide me 3 URLs of websites you assisted with SEO, and what were the outcomes of your efforts?

The objective of this evaluation exercise is to establish what the expert has done for other online marketers. Ideally (but not necessarily) the examples offered should be in your marketing niche.

Look for information that indicates trends that a clients’ website went from #30 to #7 in 9 days; or that the site saw 56% traffic increase in 2-weeks; or that sales shot up by 110% within 2-months of the engagement concluding.

Now that you are convinced, through performance-based metrics, that the expert knows what she/he is talking about, it’s time to assess whether they have other skills that’ll help them fit-in with your team.

SKILLS TO LOOK FOR

A good SEO expert is not necessarily one that can only code like a nerd! There are other soft skills that are required to make the expert (or the SEO agency) work well with you and your team. Without these additional skills, it’s highly likely that your relationship with any SEO expert you hire will be short-lived.

To avoid mis-communication, misunderstandings and unintended consequences of any future business collaboration, verify that the expert has:

  • Demonstrable knowledge of SEO principles and practices
  • Excellent copy-writing
  • Exceptional communications skills
  • Good project management abilities
  • The ability to work with cross-functional teams within your organization (Marketing, Sales, Finance, Senior management)
  • Strong reporting and analytical skills (to monitor, measure, track and report SEO metrics)

Often, when interviewing an SEO agency, you’ll be speaking with a single person – not an entire organization. It’s important to therefore remember: When embarking on your hiring initiative, don’t forget that SEO is typically a team effort – it often requires skills that more than a single person may have.

Therefore, when assessing the talents and capabilities of your SEO expert, don’t focus on the individual, but also on the team behind them. It is the collective skills and experience of the combined team that you’ll be hiring, and not just the individual you are speaking to. On that note, if the agency is not a one-person-entity, it may not be out of bounds to ask to speak with key individuals who will be involved with you and your team.

DON’T FORGET…

  • Before casting a wide net to seek SEO candidates, ask around among your network of peers and business contacts to see if they can recommend some names
  • Give local SEO experts greater weightage in your decision-making criteria. Why? Because it’s always more convenient to meet, communicate and coordinate with them as opposed to someone that’s on a different continent or different time zone
  • Check if your SEO prospects offer freebees – like Lunch-and-Learn sessions, free initial consultations and mini website audits. Taking advantage of these offers is a great first step in getting to know your future SEO expert more closely

As you map your online marketing strategy, hiring not just any SEO expert, but the right one, is a key milestone for your company. Using a written test to select an SEO expert is not a good idea. Because of what’s at stake, ask for practical, verifiable demonstration of their accomplishments.

More importantly, ensure that the agency’s team and yours are a good fit. If they can’t deliver what you are looking for, or if their team and yours can’t produce synergies, then they’re probably not the right fit for your company.

best web design company reno nv 350 x 200

 

What I can expect with good SEO services?

Earlier-on in this eBook, we spoke about everything you might expect from SEO. That might include, but not be limited to, higher SERP rankings and more traffic to your website. But what can one expect of a good SEO service provider, in terms of the value-for-money proposition to you?

Well, here are six things that most professionals deliver as part of a well-rounded SEO offering:

  • A better understanding of your target audience

To provide the best SEO service applicable to your business, the agency you choose to work with must first understand who your audience is. They do this by talking to you to get a sense of what your products or services are, and whom you market them to.

  • A clear sense of your business objectives and goals

The type of SEO strategy that’s best for you depends on what you are trying to accomplish through your online presence. You should therefore expect your SEO partner to help you understand what your business objectives are:

  1. Are you looking to get more traffic?
  2. Do you want to rank higher than a specific competitor?
  3. Should your SEO efforts result in x% increase in revenue?
  4. Is it your desire for your website to become an “authority site” within your niche/domain?

Together with you and your team, the chosen SEO expert will help you get a clear sense of these and other similar questions.

  • A deeper appreciation for your competition

Most experienced practitioners won’t offer specific SEO advice until they have a clear idea of who your competition is, and what SEO tactics and strategies they (the competition) employ. Expect your SEO service provider to work with you to draw a clear profile of the competition, and map your current online ranking against the competition, so they can identify gaps between you and your industry peers.

  • A comprehensive deep dive into your existing website

In preparation to take on the competition – now that you and your SEO partners have a clear idea of who they are and what they’re doing – the SEO expert conducts an exhaustive site audit. This exercise gives them a sense of where your website stands in terms of various factors, some of which include:

  1. Layout
  2. Construction
  3. Ease of navigation
  4. Messaging
  5. Trust-worthiness
  6. Professionalism
  7. Page load times
  8. Accessibility
  9. Responsive design
  10. Social media-friendliness

They’ll also take a close look at the advantages (competitive edge) you enjoy over the competition, and specific shortcomings (e.g. content deficiencies) in your current website. This process gives your SEO expert an insight into what specific SEO strategies and tactics they’ll need to implement to accomplish the goals and objectives set out for the project.

  • Preliminary recommendations and suggestions

Before the expert knits together a comprehensive SEO strategy, they will likely discuss their preliminary recommendations and suggestions with you. Since they now know your business environment, your website and your competition in intimate detail, they’re able to offer concrete recommendations on what you need to do to win the online marketing battle.

At this stage, however, many clients might disagree with some suggestions, or consider other suggestions (e.g. revamp the entire website) too expensive and time consuming. A good SEP professional will, therefore, take that feedback into consideration when putting the final strategy into place.

  • A comprehensive SEO strategy

The most important deliverable you should expect of a good SEO service provider is a comprehensive SEO strategy, and the tactics to be employed when implementing that strategy. This is the overarching document that’ll take your online marketing businesses’ goals and objectives, and transform them into reality.

While each SEO agency might have different templates of their strategy, three most common components you must expect to see include:

  1. On-site Optimization: This focuses on optimizing the content, layout and structure of your site. Because of how SEO works – by having search engines crawl and sniff through your website – you don’t want any SEO-unfriendly characteristics in your site.

Elements covered in this part of the strategy include Title Tags, Meta descriptions, Navigation, Internal links, Unique and relevant content, Speed and security – amongst other factors.

  1. Off-site optimization: This part of the strategy covers factors that help you establish your site as an authority on external platforms and online presences (Blogs, websites, social media forums). For SEO purposes, search engines like Google give great weight to authoritative inbound links into your site, from other respectable, credible websites in your niche.

The more credible inbound links you receive from external sources, the more authoritative your site appears to BOTS, Spiders, Creepers and Crawlers – search engine algorithms. Influencer marketing, guest posting and syndication are some tactics that a good SEO expert may propose.

  1. Ongoing SEO measures: This part of the SEO strategy will contain other relevant steps, such as continually refreshing your content, necessary to stay on top of the SEO list. It may also propose constantly working with other sites (credible ones!) to guest post or host unique and informative content and links

The strategy will include all relevant steps, implementation timelines, and metrics to accomplish and measure success. Expect most professional SEO experts to offer FREE (though not exhaustive or comprehensive) site audits. They’ll also offer limited-time FREE initial consultations, and may even periodically host FREE lunch-and-learn sessions.

At the end of your SEO project, what should you expect success to look like? Well, you should expect better organic traffic, more leads, more conversion, higher page/site ranking and, most importantly, improved revenue from sales.

social media manager

Then what?

Your SEO initiative will likely not push you up to #1 in SERPs for your specific keywords and search queries (unless you are already at #2!). SEO takes time to bear fruit – sometimes as much as three to six months. Then what? Then, there’s no letting up! The best SEO strategy is a continuous one. Even if you reach #1, without ongoing SEO efforts, someone else could well knock you off your high ranking!

 

Hello there! Have questions? Call or text me anytime Monday through Saturday 8 am to 8 pm PST. I can be reached at 775-870-0488.

Sandy Rowley

SEO Expert

 

[1] https://videos.brightedge.com/research-report/BrightEdge_ChannelReport2019_FINAL.pdf (page 3)

[2] https://videos.brightedge.com/research-report/BrightEdge_ChannelReport2019_FINAL.pdf (page 2)

[3] https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-statistics/#top-seo-statistics

 

[4] https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-statistics/#top-seo-statistics

 

[5] https://hostingtribunal.com/blog/how-many-websites/

 

[6] https://www.smamarketing.net/blog/80-seo-statistics (statistic #9)

[7] https://ahrefs.com/blog/dwell-time/