“I know SEO is important for my business, but don’t know what exactly I need in SEO”
Businesses have now started realizing the power of SEO and this has increased its demand. However, you must know what all things you can expect from SEO before you embark on one.
SEO involves many aspects like link building, on-page and off-page optimization, keyword research, blog posts etc. Also, you must know how to build the perfect website URL to boost your SEO score.
All such aspects are priced differently based on the things you want to include in your package.
How to determine your SEO needs
Business Goals: Based on your business goals, you can determine what SEO services you might require. Is your focus on conversion? Brand building? Local visibility? Or fixing Google penalty? Different SEO strategies are required for all these aspects.
Existing performance: Know about your site performance, and analyze the traffic and conversion trend of the past few years. Such data will help you to know what type of budget you need to put together for SEO.
Resource Constraints: Start figuring out the SEO part in which you are lacking. For instance, if you are lacking in content and don’t have internal resources, then you must outsource to an SEO company to fill the gap.
What benefits companies can avail through SEO services?
Attract organic traffic on your website: Organic traffic is derived from the visitors who find your website on search engines. There are around 63k searches performed on Google every second. You can compete with this by focusing on relevant keywords and the information you want to share with the audience.
Generate leads cost-effectively: If done strategically, SEO allows your website to get in front of people, who have searched for the queries related to your business and end up on your website. Such leads are prime and ready to commit.
Enhance brand awareness: With 1.88 billion websites on the internet, how can your brand compete with them? Through effective SEO strategy your website can come on the first page of the internet to increase visibility.
How SEO needs of a small business, ecommerce business, or enterprise vary
1. Small Local Business SEO: Small businesses use SEO to optimize their websites more simply. They focus on having fewer service pages for all their services. Moreover, small businesses have limited resources and budgets. Hence, they look for SEO support on a small scale to begin with.
If you are starting out with SEO services, read the blog to avoid seo mistakes by small businesses
2. E-commerce SEO: Ecommerce businesses use SEO to optimize their product pages and reach a wider audience. On-page and off-page optimization side-wide helps businesses increase their return on investment.
Here it is worth mentioning the case study of Myntra, a leading e-commerce portal for all your ethnic wear and more.
Initial objective of Myntra
- To increase organic clicks by 35%
- Enhance organic sessions by 10%
- Get 300+ primary keyword ranking on first page
Challenge faced by Myntra
Millions of pages with same or similar keywords was the major obstacle preventing the brand to get higher ranking on Google SERPs.
Solution adopted by Myntra
The company recognized that the SEO hygiene for any website starts with a strong competitor analysis. To achieve this result the company paid extra attention to content, meta description and title and this helped them to improve ranking and visibility on Google. Thus the company:
- Optimized meta description and title
- Implemented schemas
- Created static and dynamic content
Result achieved by Myntra
- Increase in clicks by 42.53%
- Increase in revenue by 11.8%
- 660+ keywords ranked on first page
3. Enterprise SEO: Enterprises use SEO on huge websites with numerous web pages. They comparatively have a high SEO budget and aim to reach people on a corporate level. For instance, B2B companies need SEO to acquire clients in the industry.
Here I would like to mention the example of HubSpot which implemented enterprise SEO in an effective manner to get top ranking for most of their pages.
The company has around 35k pages and their site ranks on the first page for several hundred thousand keywords. The company has a highly specialized and dedicated enterprise SEO team which focuses on backlinks, technical SEO and co-marketing.
As per the company, they focus on updating keywords on content with high domain authority. They always keep their content fresh and updated.
How to finalize the SEO service provider company
Here are a few factors you must consider before hiring or finalizing a SEO service provider:
- Referrals from known people: Check the market reputation of the company by contacting the existing clients who have already availed their services.
- Company’s work experience and grasp of SEO: Know about the company’s experience in SEO and what are the SEO techniques they will implement for your business. This will let you know about their understanding of SEO.
- Provider’s reputation and performance: You must check the previous performance of the company and its market reputation through online reviews.
- Price vs. value they bring to the table: Never blindly believe a company only because their package is in your budget. Know how much value they can add for your brand through better ranking.
How to hire SEO services without spending much
- Avoid looking for the cheapest SEO provider in the market. It is better to stay away from SEO companies that sell link packages or brag about ranking at the top. A reliable company will charge you an affordable price.
- Look beyond SEO: SEO is a small part of online or digital marketing. You must look at the bigger picture and see if the provider is capable of managing other aspects of digital marketing. It is the best way of saving money by buying a whole service package.
- Measurable targets are the key: You must discuss your target and goals with the SEO service provider. Avoid setting unmeasurable targets and focus on precise goals.
Biggest mistake while hiring SEO services
A few mistakes that you are making while hiring SEO services are:
- Running after cheap offers and discounts
- Failing to reassure if the service provider is using industry standard tools.
Therefore, before hiring a company for their SEO services, check their:
- On-page SEO
- Local reviews on Google profile
- Backlinks used on their website content
- Topical authority
How to determine that your outsourced SEO company is following SEO protocols
SEO protocols are the SEO guidelines that a company must follow at all costs to rank on search engines. Ranking on the top page of Google and other search engines shows that you have a solid SEO strategy in place. A website must have strong on-page, off-page, and technical SEO.
How to check if your outsourced company is following protocols or not?
- Use tools like Ahrefs Webmaster or Google Search Console to run a quick check on a website’s SEO.
- If you see a major drop in organic traffic, it is an indication that there is a loophole in the SEO practices.
- Check if the meta information is clear and easy to understand by Google. It should speak clearly about your business.
- High-quality content is important for successful SEO. Check if the outsourced company follows this protocol.
- Check if your web pages are clearly structured and easy to scroll. The user experience should be smooth for your page to rank on Google.
- – Check if the page links and backlinks used are of high quality.
Which is better: Outsource SEO services or hire an in-house team?
You must consider outsourcing an SEO provider, as 54% of marketers believe it saves money. Moreover, they are always up to date with the latest SEO trends and practices. When you outsource SEO services, you can reach out to them any day, depending on the contract duration. In addition, SEO companies are well-equipped with industry-specific tools and software that can cost you a fortune.
Building a team from scratch is a tiring task. Besides, you will spend a lot of time, resources, money, and energy on building a team from scratch. Hence, it is always a better idea to outsource SEO services.
Best SEO practices for 2024 and Beyond
I recommend these SEO practices to my team and clients if they want to stay upbeat in the online world of website SEO.
1. EEAT
EEAT is a short form for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google evaluates a web page and its content based on these four factors. Your website needs to check all four boxes of EEAT to rank higher on Google.
- Experience: Google favors content written based on personal experience. For instance, if you’re an ecommerce brand, Google will favor the personal reviews of customers on your product page.
- Expertise: Google prioritizes content written by experts. Therefore, government websites and informational content rank higher on Google.
- Authoritativeness: Your content is favored if a niche expert writes it. Google will use your website as the go-to page for all the niche-related content.
- Trustworthiness: It basically means how safe and secure your website is. Google pushes websites that are legal, legitimate, authentic, secure, accurate, and transparent.
2. Quality Content Satisfying User Search Intent
Search intent means the intention behind a user’s question. You must strive to add content that answers user queries most accurately. These answers must quickly leave the user satisfied and happy. Satisfying user search intent with quality content is the best SEO practice to rank on Google.
3. Page Experience
Google analyzes user experience on a website and ranks it accordingly. Your website or landing page loading speed should be at the highest to rank on the first page. Google notices how high your bounce rate is and decides whether or not your website is ranking at the top.
Therefore, you must strive to have the best loading speed on your website.
4. Why SEO needs to focus on mobile-friendliness
Mobile friendliness is essential as it is a primary ranking factor on Google and other search engines. If your website is mobile-friendly, it can easily outrank other competitors in the industry. Mobile page loading speed is a crucial metric for Google to rank your website on SERPs. Without a mobile-friendly website, you’ll miss out on potential customers.
Conclusion
SEO is an important weapon you must keep in your arsenal to get the desired online success. But managing the SEO part by yourself can be a time-consuming task for your brand. Hiring professionals for this work will allow you to take advantage of their knowledge and get better results quickly. They can help you with all the SEO strategies suitable for your business to drive the desired qualified leads.
