The term Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is widely used but often misunderstood, because misleading SEO "specialists" will guarantee that you'll rank first. Google says otherwise, "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." Google search results are complex. Multiples factors are compiled each time you search on Google to generate a unique list of websites, images, videos, news and location results. Here are the 5 main steps to understand those factors, optimize your site and rank higher.
Step 1 - Keyword Research & Analysis
The first step is to determine the best keywords for your website, in other words, to find exactly what your potential clients are typing on Google when they are looking for your type of service (e.g. affordable SEO for small business). Our SEO software will generate the best keywords for your business, showing the number of monthly searches, the opportunities and the competition for each. Those results will determine the words you need to write in the content of each main page of your website. The SEO cost for this step will depend on the number of pages or services you want to analyze.
Step 2 - Server, Website & Page Optimization
Now that we have the list of keywords, we will need to incorporate them into your website. To do that, we'll need to set up your server, your website platform and your main pages to give us the functions we need. There are a lot of tools available, so we'll need to analyze your current setup to build the best SEO structure for you. We'll set up things like: sitemap XML files, image alt fields, the metadata title, the metadata description, the robot text file, the htaccess file, the 404 page, 301 redirect tool, an SSL certificate and more. Once everything is ready, we'll help you write and organize the content of your pages to get the best SEO results. The cost for this will be based on your current structure and the number of pages we need to optimize.
Step 3 - SEO Campaign Analytics & Reports
Your website is now officially optimized for SEO and is ready to attract new clients. Now, we'll start your SEO campaign to monitor the results of your ongoing SEO plan. We'll send you monthly reports that will show your progress by following the ranking of your website and the ranking of your main competitors for each keyword you chose. The report keeps your site efficient by sending us warnings about missing SEO details, bad 404 pages and other issues we need to address. Since the report is linked directly to your Google Analytics account, it will also track your website's visitors and give us a chance to find new SEO opportunities. The cost for this monthly service depends on how often you want us to analyze your progress and send you suggestions.
Step 4 - Blog & Page Content Writing
Ranking on search engines is all about trust and relevance. Is your website content relevant to people, and is your domain trustworthy? Are you using good SEO tactics? Are the visitors to your website bounced back because your site is not what they were searching for? Adding new pages with relevant and original content to your site, as often as you can, is the best way to improve your ranking in the long term. A blog is usually a great place to start, to increase your overall content and attract new visitors to your site. The search engines are crawling your site all the time, so they notice if you add new content often and will mark you as a relevant source who contributes to the Web. The cost related to this depends on your needs; it could include a blog page design, blog post optimization and maybe some blog writing services if you can't find the time to do it yourself.
Step 5 - Inbound & Outbound Link Building
Links are a major factor for SEO, they connect all the websites in the world together to create the space of information and resources we call the "Web." Using links for your SEO campaign is simply necessary. Every time you can, use your website to link out to other important websites (e.g. links to references on Google in the footnotes) and open up a comments section on your site so users can add content and potential links. You also need to reach out, using other websites to post articles or comments that link back to your main pages, like posting your latest news or blog on social media. Having more links connected to your site will showcase your website's relevance to search engines, so your rank will go up. Beware the SEO services that use bad link-building tactics to write fake content. These tactics are against Google's guidelines and could penalize your website for a long time. You should either create relevant content all over the Web yourself or hire someone you trust to write for you.
To Conclude
As you can see, your website's success will depend on a lot of factors, some very technical, which is why hiring someone to guide you is an important investment. Our goal is to bring you more clients and help you earn more income, so you can start making a good profit on your SEO investment. Starting your optimization soon is key. With time, work and investment you will improve your domain ranking and surpass your competitors. Keep in mind that time is a major factor for SEO, since the longevity of a domain is marked as a huge factor of trust. In the end, think of SEO as a way to improve your website communications, to share your content directly to your potential clients.
P.S. Once you have completed those essentials steps, we'll look at advertising avenues like Google ads and Facebook ads to boost your website's visitors even more. Please visit our SEO services page for more information.
