Oh, you’re the owner of a search engine optimization firm? So… what exactly do you do?” says the narrator. One of the most often asked questions I get is this one. “We assist firms to obtain business through search engines,” is a common response, but it always prompts the follow-up inquiry, “How do you achieve that?” I then go on to explain that SEO consists of three main activities;
- Creating Content,
- Building High Quality Links
- Analyzing Results and Adjusting Accordingly
If you’re having a casual chat with someone, telling them that SEO is largely made up of these three tasks would usually satisfy their curiosity, but not for a possible client looking for SEO services. If you’re considering hiring an SEO service, you’ll want to know the facts before forking over thousands of dollars per month. However, getting those facts from an SEO service might be difficult. This isn’t because the SEO company doesn’t want to tell you what they’re doing; it’s just that it’s difficult to know where to begin without giving you a two-hour lengthy explanation that will make your eyes glaze over. This article is an attempt to explain what an SEO firm works in greater detail.
Research, Audit, And Analysis Are the First Steps in The Process
Research, audit, and analysis are always the first steps in SEO. Every client is unique, every website is unique, and each industry is unique. This is why the top SEO companies are hesitant to make forecasts or provide guarantees—there are far too many variables, and what worked well for one customer may not work nearly as well for another.
Do some keyword research. Finding and studying keywords that will offer the best results for the client after strong rankings are reached. The ideal term receives a lot of searches, is related to the client’s business, and isn’t aggressively pursued by competitors.
An examination of Google Analytics. Analyzing past performance with Google Analytics or another web analytics tool can identify good or negative patterns as well as areas for development.
An examination of Google Webmaster Tools. Similarly, having access to a client’s history and present status in Google Webmaster Tools may reveal opportunities as well as potential technical concerns with a client’s website, such as a penalty that may be harming ranks.
Analyze The Link Profile. Over the last few years, many businesses have hired SEO agencies that promised to develop hundreds, if not thousands, of inbound connections for a low price. Google has already penalized this behavior, and for many businesses, the first step toward SEO success is to clear up the bogus links leading to their websites. It’s important to determine whether this link cleanup is essential early on because combating these negative effects limits the value of all other SEO services until the link profile is cleaned.
1. First-pass optimization
All of the preceding research, auditing, and analysis will result in one-time and ongoing SEO operations. The following are examples of one-time, initial optimization activities:
- Design of the website. Before initiating SEO services, a complete website redesign may be required in the most extreme circumstances. When a website is outdated, converts visitors poorly, has terrible code, and the cost of correcting everything is larger than starting over from scratch, it’s time for a redesign.
- Code Modification. Even if a major redesign isn’t required, a website’s code may need to be overhauled to make it more SEO friendly. The extent of the overhaul depends on the details, but it might range from a simple code cleanup to a complete code replacement while retaining the present architecture.
- Renouncement and elimination of links. If the link profile analysis uncovers a big number of low-quality, damaging inbound links, or worse, a manual penalty, it will be required to contact webmasters and delete as many links as possible, before disavowing connections that cannot be removed.
While some components of SEO are one-time services that only need to be done once or twice, the majority of SEO efforts are continuous. If you don’t maintain it, it will become out of control, just like your yard. Google loves to be given a steady stream of new, fresh connections to know that your website is still relevant and should continue to be listed highly in its search results, therefore link building is one of those jobs that never ends. There are a variety of ways to build links and activities associated with link construction, including:
- Monitoring Link. Although negative SEO attacks are uncommon, it’s crucial to keep an eye on links to avoid being a victim. More to the point, it’s critical to keep an eye on links in case inbound links are established that could be improved by changing the text of the link or the precise part of the website to which the link points.
- Competitor Analysis. By keeping an eye on competitors, your SEO business may see what links they’ve built and either imitate their efforts or gain ideas for new connections to build.
- Brand Observation. Any mention of your organization should include a connection to your website, but if this isn’t the case, your SEO agency should look for these instances, track down the person in charge of the mention, and negotiate a proper link.
- Outreach. There could be hundreds of webpages relevant to your work. In order to promote content and build links, your SEO business will contact these individuals.
- Internet Press Release. As the worlds of public relations and SEO collide, SEO firms strive to develop links on top-tier news and information websites that Google would never mistake for the kind of low-quality link it should ignore or penalize. Reaching out to journalists, seeding infographics, video, and other content, and managing social media campaigns to gain attention and links are all things that SEO businesses do.
Because many people gain links by providing content that draws links, there can be a lot of overlap between link building and content development. However, even if you don’t obtain direct SEO benefits, providing content can drive visitors to your site that will produce leads or sales just as well as SEO traffic.
- Content Marketing is a term that refers to the process of in general, content marketing is defined as the creation of content as part of a marketing strategy. We use the term more explicitly when we’re talking about attracting attention through articles, blog posts, infographics, and videos. Depending on the level of service you’ve chosen with your SEO business, they’ll create material for your website as well as for other websites with the goal of driving traffic and links to it.
- Blogging. Content marketing can refer to any type of content generation, but blogging merits special attention. If your website doesn’t have a blog, your SEO service should help you set one up and then either provide material for it or teach you on how to do it yourself.
- Expansion of content Your SEO company will assist you in expanding or improving the content on your website. This is a crucial feature for e-commerce sites, but it’s also useful for smaller corporate sites. New material, such as a FAQ section, can be added to a site, or pages can be extended to incorporate more long-form content. There are numerous ways to improve the value of your website’s content, and your SEO service should either guide you through the process or handle it altogether.
4. Continuous Analysis
Because your SEO business delivers the aforementioned services, they will also analyze the results to ensure that they are effective. To measure their operations and obtain insights into where they can enhance efforts for their clients, SEO businesses employ tools like Google Analytics, MySEOTool, Moz tools, Majestic SEO, and others.
5. Reports
Although many SEO firms offer outstanding results, a great SEO firm’s approach for connecting with clients is its distinguishing feature. I learned the hard way that even if an SEO firm achieves excellent results, it can still be dismissed if it fails to connect with clients to inform them of those outcomes. Most organizations I’m aware of sending out a full set of reports once a month, however, unusual circumstances may necessitate more frequent communication, particularly at the start of a client engagement when there are many different duties to complete. At the very least, these reports should include information on:
- Visitors. How many, when, where did they come from, and why?
- Rankings. The good, the bad, and the ugly, as well as explanations for why some have improved while others have deteriorated.
- Inbound links are those that lead to another website. What’s new, and what’s gone if you’re in the process of removing links.
The SEO firm’s analysis and opinion are included in a good set of reports, which are not only generated by automated technology. You should not only be able to see that there is a lot of work being done, but you should also be able to comprehend what is being done. If not, inform your SEO company that you require more detailed reports. Your SEO agency may be staffed by SEO wizards, but they may be weak in interpersonal communication skills. You’ll be able to increase performance together and build a fantastic working connection if you let them know what you require.
This isn’t a complete list of what an SEO company can or will do for you. Different scenarios necessitate different methods, tactics, and services, and your SEO company will adjust its approach based on what is ideal for you. You can work with your SEO firm to acquire the results that will assist both of you to expand your businesses now that you have a greater understanding of what goes on behind the scenes.
