" SEO searches for search engine tricks that keep changing when the ranking algorithms change.”
Marketing is difficult but digital marketing is more difficult than marketing. Yet when done well, there’s little which will compete with strong, organic search engine visibility to promote your small business. Organic listings build trust with local customers, and good business relationships are made on the foundation of trust.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO increases the quantity and quality of traffic on your website through organic search engines. Parts of definition help in better understanding of SEO:
Quality of traffic - Attract visitors who are genuinely interested in your products.
Quantity of traffic - When more people click on your site, it will gradually come to the initial pages.
Organic results - Ads make up a significant portion of many Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). Organic traffic is the traffic you don’t have to pay for.
Main Areas of SEO Consideration
For small business the main areas of consideration are:
Website - Well-structured, fast, and mobile-friendly website is essential.
Content - The content should be very good and appropriate. And it should specify that why people should choose you.
Content marketing - Informational blog content can put you in front of the audience.
On-page - It is done by thinking appropriate page titles and Meta descriptions.
Local SEO - Small businesses always need to consider local SEO best practices.
Authority building - Links are still highly connected with strong search engine results.
Credibility - Case studies, portfolios and reviews will help you confirm the deal.
Is SEO Right For Small Business?
Search engines are a key way wherein we all now search for products and services. So, in the majority of cases, a search is a great way to get in front of potential customers. It is often not to say that it’s the right marketing approach for every business at any given time.
Consider the following things:
Budget - You should have the budget to compete with established competitors.
Speed - SEO shouldn't take a long time to deliver results, especially in competitive markets.
Competition from ads - Ads shouldn't occupy a lot of screen space.
Big competitors - Some search terms are conquered by titans, and it can be hard to compete.
How to Choose Right SEO Company?
It’s tough and does require some foundation. Does any freelancer or agency have a good reputation and positive reviews? Do some research and find out about that company. First of all, know that who all are SEO consultants? Are they known and respected in the company?
You can start the discussion by asking 7 questions from the appropriate SEO companies that have been given below,
1. How will you improve our site’s SEO?
This is purposely an open question. You are trying to get a sense of the strategy that the SEO Company will follow. We would like to see the site of technical audits and fixes, on-page optimization, local SEO, keyword research, and some form of link and authority building.
2. What are the strategies we use to build links and authority for a site?
This is an important question. We are trying to find an understanding of how the web and page rank works. We would like natural links. Typically, we might want to see some sort of content created (or promoted) to create links to a content piece. Some sort of guest posts for exposure possibly some digital PR.
We don’t want to see mention of link farms, private blog network (PBN) sites, dropped domains, and therefore the like. We want to ask the company if all links will comply with what Google considers acceptable.
3. Do you adhere to entire Google’s Webmaster Guidelines?
Leading on from link schemes, we can ask about Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Again, this shows that you’re an informed buyer, and lots of low-quality Company will run a mile once you ask this question (which is exactly what you want).
4. What metrics did you measure to track progress?
You want to understand which metrics the company will use to track success. Keyword rankings are the baseline here, but ideally, we would like to ascertain a more robust set of SEO KPIs. For small business SEO, you likely can’t expect an excessive amount of, but I’m keen on total organic search traffic - the entire number of pages receiving organic search traffic.
5. Do you have contracts or a minimum term?
You certainly don’t want long contracts for unproven providers. If there are contracts, then you would like a get-out clause after three months, once you will have a far better measure of the corporate.
6. How & what you’ll report us each month?
Quality of reporting will depend upon the budget, but you will want reports based on the visibility of tracked keywords, work completed, work planned for next month, and many more aspects.
7. How often did you review progress?
Here we want to know what will be reviewed, and when. After six months with a good provider, you’ll likely be in an improved position. Hence, you would like to understand how the strategy will change. I would be trying to find either three-monthly or six-monthly reviews here.
Ritu Sharma is the Content Manager at SEO Company PageTraffic, one of Asia's most award-winning & recognized Digital Search Marketing agency. She has been the spear head of many successful Content Marketing Campaigns for PageTraffic where she also blogs SEO related topics.
