If you are trying to improve online traffic for your business, you have probably heard of the term “SEO”. Your first thought was likely, “What is an SEO company?”
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of getting your business to appear amongst the top search results. In other words, it’s optimizing your website to increase its reach and visibility.
At first, ranking high may seem like something that happens at the mercy of Google’s algorithm. However, this is only partially true. By reverse-engineering search result rankings, SEO experts can redesign your website in order to gain site traffic and visibility. In short, SEO is all about matching the users’ search terms to the websites that provide the proper information.
What is an SEO Company?
SEO companies make it their business to help your business rank higher in relevant online searches. They take all the headache and time out of digital marketing, so you don’t have to spend hours worrying about it yourself.
Search engine optimization services help you make changes to both your website’s layout and its content in order to rank higher online. But what exactly does an SEO marketing campaign entail?
In order to understand this, we are first going to talk about how an SEO company helps you rank higher. We will then explain the manner in which the best and most successful SEO campaigns are accomplished.
Most importantly, an SEO agency’s job is to get your phone ringing off the hook, your contact list growing, and your online sales increasing. They aim to boost your website’s on-page and off-page performance, so you get more contacts, more sales, and more work. Keep reading to find out why search engine optimization companies are important to your brand’s growth and business’s success.
Getting Boosted via SERPs
When you use a search engine, you are often looking for something specific. If someone is searching for a product or service that you offer, you want all roads to lead to your website. You want their business, while they want your business. That’s where the SEO digital marketing industry comes into play.
If your business can rank higher on a search engine than your competitors, you will get more views than them. That means more clients, more work, and more revenue. The idea is to drive people searching for your services to your website. Once on the site, they will find a way to contact you for the service. This experience should be as simple as possible for people. A page or website ranked on the first page will experience vastly more traffic than one further down the list.
Expert SEO companies provide a wide range of other useful services. Some of these include an audit or analysis of your site, content writing, or ads. Other services include website design and digital marketing strategies tailored to your needs.
What are the Benefits of Using an SEO Company?
There are many benefits of using an SEO marketing company. These include improving your search engine ranking and boosting the quality of your website traffic. In the long run, SEO service will help deliver higher-quality leads better than any other digital marketing out there. In fact, SEO is the most powerful marketing tool in today’s digital society. Below we will review some of those benefits.
Get Featured at the Top of Search Engine Results
Using the most up-to-date web design strategies, a professional SEO team can help grow your website. This makes your website more attractive to search engines like Google and Bing. The right keywords spread throughout your website will attract target customers searching for those keywords. Expert SEO services find what those focus keywords are and implement them.
There are a ton of factors that go into ranking the best. However, based on a combination of these factors, one website sits in the top position. An SEO specialist’s job is to beat out the competition by creating the most optimized page. This could include:
- Content that matches the search better
- Content that is more interesting to the user
- Websites that load faster
- A page that keeps the viewer on the site by clicking around for more information
- Content that is organized and creative
- Optimized images, videos, charts, and PDFs
- A more aesthetically pleasing page and website
- And many more!
Being at the top of search results increases the odds of a client clicking on your website. That’s where the next SEO step comes in.
Drive Traffic to Your Business Organically
With improved rankings comes a huge increase in online presence and traffic. You could try to cut the line with Pay-Per-Click advertising, also known as PPC, but it does not work as well as proper SEO. Now that the individual has navigated to your site, your SEO company needs to ensure that they are converting clicks to cash.
Every day Google processes over 3.5 billion web searches. Think about the last time you went to the 3rd, or even 2nd page of search results to find what you are looking for. Almost never, right? You are not alone. Most searchers only review the top 5 best results for nearly every search out there. This is why sites in the top five positions are incredibly powerful. These clicks to your site are what are called the industry calls, organic traffic.
Putting your brand in the spotlight and directing traffic to it is a huge portion of the work that an SEO agency does. However, it does not end there.
Improve Your Trust and Gain Authority
It’s no secret that the more website traffic you receive, the more exposure opportunities you will have. That’s why continuing to push out high-quality content that engages and educates your readers is a crucial part of any successful SEO experience. As you build trust through educating your website visitors, you will gain authority in your industry. That means massive business growth.
Good SEO companies have generated results before either for them or for their clients. If an agency is doing their own SEO, then it’s a good sign they know what they are talking about. (Source: www.k6agency.com)
Google has a trust rating for each website and business. This rating is constantly changing. The more satisfied a user is, the higher the ranking will be. But how does Google determine satisfaction?
There are a lot of key factors that Google looks for, such as:
Time spent on the page
Typically, the longer you stay on a web page, the more interested you are in the specific content. This is a strong determinant to Google and other search engines that the user likes what they see. They also know what SEO keywords they used to land there. If the keywords they searched for match the keywords from the page the site increases in rank.
Time spent on the website
If a user continues to peruse your site after entering it through that initial page, this is an extremely positive metric for Google. Maybe they came looking for a plumber but then found additional interesting stuff to read and learn. This could include additional services pages, blog posts, or examples of past projects. SEO experts know this and use it to their advantage. The more time a viewer spends on a site the greater the increase in rank. This indicates to Google that the site has relevancy to the keyword that led them here.
Bounce Rate
This is a technical term that asks the following: “Did the person find what they were looking for?” Let’s pretend they looked for a plumber but landed on a page selling plungers. The individual quickly clicked the back button of their browser and went on to check the next result. This would indicate to Google that the page isn’t about plumbers, so the local ranking would suffer.
A good SEO agency will track your pages for a high bounce rate. Ignoring this metric would cause that page to lose rank and the traffic associated with it. The page might be too complex of a subject for a single page, or conversely, too thin. Thin content is content that provides very little meaning or value.
Backlinks
Backlinks are simply links that lead back to your site. For example, your site has some excellent information about plumbing. Therefore, other plumbing websites link back to you. This shows Google and other search engines that you are the go-to plumber. A lot of SEO agencies will argue that building links is the single most important part of the campaign. While they are important, an excellent SEO team knows that these should come naturally with good content.
Be careful with SEO companies that try to sell a cheap service. Most of the time, these agencies will purchase a large number of low-quality links that will end up hurting your ranks. In fact, paid-for links are against the Google Webmaster Guidelines.
It’s clear that any kind of monetary exchange for a backlink is going to end in a penalty. What’s worse is if the link is coming from a low-quality source or spam.
It is nearly impossible to resolve a Google penalty. The best practice is to avoid this type of linking all together. A good SEO agency will help grow your business and ensure that links are built the right way.
What’s the Process of Search Engine Optimization?
Many SEO companies will start by auditing your current website and testing its optimization level. These areas should include:
- Architecture of the site
- Content
- Keyword usage
- Speed metrics
- Images
- Linking structure
- Meta tags
- Landing pages
- Service pages
- Blog articles
- Backlinks
- Social media links
- Broken UI elements
- And more
All of these factors will help the SEO company analyze your site’s strengths and weaknesses. Once researched and reviewed, the SEO agency will create a strategic marketing plan to strengthen your search engine ranking.
Another piece of SEO is learning about your business, as well as your target audience. A good SEO marketing firm will ask you a ton of questions related to your industry. Having the knowledge of who your business services, will help SEO experts bring you more customers. This should improve your companies conversion percentages as well. More people will buy the product or schedule the service if the site is ranked higher. Market information allows SEO companies to know what tactics need to be deployed to better suit your needs.
Your SEO agency needs to know what makes your business stand out and how that relates to the competition. Showcasing your strengths is a great way to show clients that they matter to you. Plus, it helps clients trust that you will produce great products or perform excellent services.
SEO Strategy and Goals
Once the analysis of your website is complete, the SEO company will create a content marketing strategy. They should be able to explain this strategy to you in layman’s terms. It is extremely helpful to understand what they are providing and how that plan to achieve it. The SEO team should also align their goals with your expectations so that everyone is on the same page.
Usually, the first few weeks of SEO are dedicated to fixing broken architecture on your site. This allows Google to understand your site more efficiently. Repair work may include fixing links and re-building poorly functioning pages.
Sometimes, the existing website is too broken to use. In this case, your SEO company will develop a new website. Existing and relevant content from your current site may be included in the new web design.
Executing the Marketing Strategy
With proper keyword research and content planning, executing the marketing plan should be quick and easy. Simply listen to the data, stick to the strategy, and watch your website climb to the top.
It is important to note, however, that the SEO climb is a slow and steady race. Most content actually takes 6 to 12 months to rank.
Many businesses shy away from SEO because of the time commitment. However, keep in mind results are compounded over time and the returns are massive. If done correctly your SEO investment will pay off year after year.
While SEO marketing is a slow process, it is a healthy one. During this time, Google crawlers digest your site’s information and learn how and where to rank your site. After the crawlers scan and index your website, Google will order them appropriately on a search result page. If it was instant, search engines would not be useful tools.
Ongoing SEO
Search Engine Optimization is never a one-and-done deal. Search engines are always reevaluating their process, so SEO service remains a useful and required tool. The best SEO companies are constantly reevaluating their tools, tracking, and strategies. They provide continuous services to you, ensuring your site continues to rank as it should.
Sometimes this means updating content or design. Other times it means creating new pages for new keywords. Additional landing pages and new articles may need to be added as well.
Bottom line is that it is important to add fresh content to your website. Google will see this as an indicator that you continue providing great resources for your users. You will be seen as a state-of-the-art provider and not just someone who is “stuck in their ways.”
Competitors may get upset over your top position. However, nothing is stopping them from contacting an SEO company to get optimized too. A professional SEO strategy will stand strong for months, but there are ways to optimize further.
What Should I Look for in an SEO Company?
First, know that not all SEO companies are equal. Depending on the company, some may take shortcuts, which could harm your reputation and may result in penalties. There are many low-budget SEO companies that will lure customers with an attractive price and ”quick fix”. Unfortunately, partners like this will do more harm than good.
You should always consider companies that follow the latest practices and have the data to prove their success. In addition, you want an SEO service that you can have a working relationship with. Check reviews and reports on any SEO service before entering into an agreement. Four important things to look for are:
Success Rate
Start by looking at an SEO company’s past successes. If they are good, you will see it in their case studies and testimonials from clients. Site views and authority should increase, as well as sales. Do not be afraid to ask questions! The best SEO companies have nothing to hide. You could even ask them the question “What is an SEO company?” and “How do you measure SEO success?”.
SEO strategists use a variety of reporting tools to track results and graph user experience. Usually, if the SEO company is doing a good job, these charts are easy to read. Look for growth that points in an upwards direction when examining shared success stories.
Before beginning a partnership with an SEO agency, make sure you know your marketing goals. What metrics do you wish to achieve? Having these goals written down and ready to present can help you determine if the company suits your needs.
Remember, content is the key to success. Even if you have a lot of content if it doesn’t flow well no one will read it. Quality over quantity is ever-present in SEO. Focus on the right keywords and proper structure and your website will continue to rank up.
Unique Services Customized for Your Needs
Do not hire someone who has one set of tricks they apply to every customer. Each business is different which means each marketing effort should also be different. A company can not help if they do not take the time to know your business.
Choose an SEO company that takes the time to analyze your market space and understand your competition. This will better position them to make a positive impact.
Avoid Companies that Outsource to Third-Party SEO Companies
If your SEO company is not working in-house, then this could lead to several issues. Outsourcing dissolves accountability and distorts the working relationship. Stick with a local SEO agency that does all the work themselves. This helps with accountability, trust, and interpersonal communication.
Whatever approach your potential SEO company offers, make sure it includes strategic market research and back-end coding. It should also cover content planning, organic linking, and usage of target keywords.
Search engine optimization requires constant maintenance. Some reasons for this include:
- Code maintenance and updates
- 3rd party integrations that may interfere
- Google search engine Algorithm updates
- Competitor efforts
- A new product offered
- A new service started
- Splitting a service or product into multiple offerings
- Generate fresh content
- New backlinks
- New answers to frequently asked questions
- And more
Where can I find a good SEO Company?
Hiring the best SEO management company may seem like a daunting task. However, there are several key actions you can take to narrow down your search.
Friends and acquaintances in professional and social circles are a great place to start. They can give you an up-close insight into how their SEO team helped them. Depending on your relationship you may even be able to access their SEO cost structure. Local, small business owners or other non-competitive companies can also be a reliable source. Visit some of your favorite pages on social media to see who they use for SEO.
Contact Us
Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of, “What is an SEO Company?” and “How Does an SEO Company Work?”. If you are looking to hire an SEO marketing company that works with you, contact Boosted Lab. We can bring your business to the top where it belongs. With updated strategies and monthly services, we bring you more business, more money, and more loyal customers. We offer free consultations, so feel free to send us an email. Let us help boost your business today!
