SEO – no longer a “nice to have” option for your business

“If you build it, he will come.”

Field of Dreams

This is even more true in SEO. We call it website optimization and is no longer a nice to have, it is a Must Have!

How to find the best and most qualified SEO expert to drive prospects to your business website

One of the keys to getting higher rankings on Google is knowing exactly what your prospective client is looking for and making sure your website is serving up what they expect to see when they arrive.

This is called “Search Engine Optimization” and unfortunately the vast majority of websites on the Internet are not properly optimized for keywords or phrases related to their subject matter.

A professional SEO marketing strategy will ensure your site is optimized properly and not just for search terms that are the most popular, but also the most relevant to your business.

A balanced and sustainable approach wins

As a business owner, you have undoubtedly receive many emails and phone calls from so-called SEO experts telling you they will guarantee page 1 rankings in Google and thousands of visitors to your website each month.

SEO simply does not work that way

“Expert” advice in this field is about as common as ants at a picnic.

What does work is a balanced and sustainable approach to SEO digital marketing strategies.

The industry is evolving at a furious pace and it is changing every day. One must always be open to new ideas but with a well-informed grasp of sound principals.

What worked yesterday might not work today and what works now might be obsolete tomorrow. Some preconceived notions by those “experts” might have been untrue to begin with, or shortly become as extinct as the Dodo bird.

With the bombardment of all the information and advice about SEO, do yourself a big favour and take a step back and look at the basics.

Keep reading to be better informed about SEO and how it directly affects your business website’s performance in the search engines.

SEO in Marketing 101

Let’s start with understanding SEO fundamentals and the 3 R’s that need to be addressed when being approached to optimize your website.

The 3 R’s of SEO

1. Research: What are your goals and what is SEO all about?

Research the advice you get and don’t let yourself be sold a bill of goods that is unnecessary to achieve the results you wish. You don’t always get what you pay for in this industry so educate yourself, become informed and ask questions.

2. Relevance: Are your web pages relevant to the search term you’re trying to rank higher with? Is it relevant to optimization or even needing SEO?

Without a balanced approach to your needs, any SEO strategy could fail.

Find the balance of your budget and the relevance of your needs and demand honesty of implementation from a reputable digital marketing agency

3. References: Ask for references with any company you are considering hiring for your SEO. Ask for clients who have gone through their program and talk to them.

Any company worth their weight in salt will have no problem supplying references of clients or encourage you to contact the clients yourself if a portfolio is provided.

Shop around and check out what you need and what is worth paying for.

The reality of SEO

Most business owners are really tired of being inundated with digital marketing offers everywhere they look but are still receptive to the kind of “just-in-time” marketing represented by a high placement in Google results.

The reality is; if you own a company website, you need to consider implementing an SEO Content Strategy.

As a business owner or entrepreneur, you must decide what role the Internet will play in your business marketing model and whether you’ll be implementing a strategic search engine marketing campaign.

Regardless of your decision when building a website, SEO plays an important role in the discovery and searchability of your website.

Search engine optimization, and digital marketing in general, can serve a number of different purposes. It can generate sales and leads, both online and offline.

A bonus, yet often overlooked positive effect SEO has on your business, is that your website/company’s prominent position on the Google results pages contribute to higher:

• Industry Exposure,
• Rankings,
• Target Market Attraction, and
• Brand/ Name recognition.

When done correctly, search engine optimization can bring people to your sites that are actually looking for what you are offering. You know they’re looking for it because they typed in a keyword or phrase that is directly related to your content.

In a nutshell, here is what hiring a reputable Digital Marketing Agency could do for your business, depending on their package and service offerings:

• Investigate your online competition;
• Research and implement targeted keywords and phrases;
• Rewrite and revise your content to make it the best it can be and utilizing your keywords and phrases;
• Make sure you don’t have any items on your site that may “blacklist” it from Google;
• Use Meta tags properly; page specific if warranted;
• Keep on top of your site rankings and freshen your content to raise your ratings even more;
• Think outside of the box in using many creative and ethical ways to increase qualified traffic;
• Keep up to date with the constantly evolving landscape that is online marketing including blogs, social media and algorithm changes.

“I can do this myself!”

Do-it-yourself’ SEO is a risky prospect.

Search engine optimization is not a quick overnight process. It takes research and work. It’s literally a full-time job staying on top of the constant algorithm changes in order to keep your site higher up in the search results.

That’s why hiring a specialist will give you the best ROI for this important business investment.

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READ: How to Optimize Your Website for Local Search

Aside from hiring an SEO specialist to ensure your website is ranked as best possible, there are things you can also do to boost your search rankings, especially locally.

Read this article for strategies on how (and why) to rank your website locally, even if you have a virtual business.

Read more on our website.

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There are many benefits to hiring a professional Digital Marketing Agency.

A good Digital Marketing Agency knows how to utilize SEO in marketing strategies.

Take Google for example. They have their unique set of rules, algorithms, regulations, etc. that are applied when indexing websites. To supply users with relevant content, there are certain things they look for in web pages. A professional SEO expert will understand what is needed and strive to have your content displayed to the user instead of your competitor.

Work proactively with your Digital Marketing Agency but not alone.

Don’t expect an overnight bonanza of high rankings and tons of traffic.

Working with someone to achieve higher rankings and exposure may take up to several months or longer.

The initial part of the project will come in the form of off-page SEO strategy, crafting SEO optimized website copy and creating Meta tag keywords, page titles and descriptions. Plus, they will work with you for keyword-rich content on your sites.

Then, over the next few weeks/months, they should help you to track your placement on Google and suggest other changes to bump your rankings higher.

Without proper SEO marketing strategies, your website and business can suffer or not reach its full potential. It is a small price to pay for a sustainable business model.

It is truly in your best interest to find a company that is well versed in both marketing and web development. The two industries are so intertwined that one can really benefit from having a well-rounded approach to your marketing program.

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(Featured image by DiggityMarketing via Pixabay)

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