Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO is the ability to appear in the top results of search engines naturally. It’s a difficult task to achieve, and with more businesses focusing their energy on digital marketing, it is an ever evolving and competitive landscape.
Why you need to focus on SEO?
Did you know that 87% of Australians use a search engine to find their information and do research. A large amount of those searches also end up flowing into product and service research and ultimately to find a supplier for the desired product or service.
See the below graph from research company Meltwater.
Top Types of Websites Visited and Apps Used
Percentage of Internet users aged 16+ who have visited or used each kind of digital property in the past month
Businesses can no longer just rely on traditional methods like word of mouth, print advertising, direct mail, emailing and so on. A majority of customers are now online and performing their product and services searches on various platforms.
SEO is not just a one dimensional practice, it requires careful planning and an amalgamation of strategies on multiple fronts including social media and AI. Even big brands need to be optimised to maintain their market awareness or they could be left behind.
As a business owner, I understand all aspects of running a business, not just the marketing side. Working with me is not just about an SEO strategy, but rather a partner in helping your business grow.
What does an SEO consultant do?
A good SEO consultant will get your website to appear in the top results of Google. This is no easy job, and requires careful planning and a detailed strategy with careful execution. It is a long term strategy and not something that can be achieved overnight. SEO largely evolves around two major components. The first is getting your website to meet all the technical requirements to rank. The second is getting your site to become a trusted source in the eyes of Google.
So how do we do this:
Internal website changes and adjustments
- Ensure you have a well structured site In order for google to rank your site, its robots need to be able to efficiently crawl through your site. The easier and faster they can read the content on your site the more likely you will be able to rank. You need to make sure your site has the right architecture, including proper meta titles and descriptions, helpful and useful content on the product or service you are selling, as well as a clear and well executed site map.
- Page speed– ensuring your site is efficient and loads quickly will be a big factor in google ranking your site. Users want fast responses, and google wants to show web pages that deliver users that speed. It also helps googles systems generate fast responses for its users if your site can be read quickly, particularly in the age of AI.
- Schema mark-up- This is a series of tags that are implemented on the back end of the site to give the search engines a clearer understanding of the content and context of your site and its meaning. Simple things like prices, ratings, recipes, reviews etc all help.
- Internal linking- a properly laid out site also has internal links from pages on your site to other pages within the site. This allows the robots to read about one product or service and be able to be easily directed to other important pages on a website. For example, you have a homewares site talking about selling rugs and then might link this to another page on the site talking about purchasing coffee tables that complement the rug. This allows google to also visit that page and index it, allowing both product terms to be found in google.
Building trust and becoming the expert in your industry
- Links to build authority- Once you have your site infrastructure set up correctly, the main piece of the puzzle is convincing google to trust that your website is the best match for that users search term. Trust is built in googles eyes when other sites within your industry or market are referring your site. For example, a company looking to sell wedding dresses may have their company featured on a major wedding planning site. That link from the major wedding site that already ranks well with google flows on the trust that google has into your site. It’s not just one link, google will look at how many people are referring your site from all different places.
- Building the reputation that you are the expert in your product or service– A careful strategy is required to reach out to have your business aligned with multiple trusted sources. Overtime, if your product or service is popular, websites will also naturally link to your brand when talking about that product or service in that industry. Doing guest posts, podcast, writing articles, answering forum questions, posting about your products and services on social media and collecting reviews from clients all go towards sending google the signals that you are an active business and leader in your field.
A quick breakdown of what we do when you engage us:
A full website audit and review of your current SEO position and linking profile- We will go through your entire site and see what needs correcting or improvement. At this stage we can make physical changes to your site to ensure it’s in the correct format for google to read properly. Things like adjustments to page titles, meta descriptions, content, keyword saturation, schema mark up, internal links, site maps and more.
We also do an in depth analysis of external back links and remove any harmful links that might have been put on by competitors or by previous marketing companies that have got it wrong.
An analysis of competitors and insight into keyword growth opportunities- We do an in depth study of all your competitors and highlight any gaps in your current strategy where we can bring in new business. This might be as simple as finding keywords your customers are typing in to find your competitors that you weren’t aware of. With minor changes to your website we can set your site up to then attain those leads that you were never getting.
Implementation of website fixes- once we identify the issues your website may have, with your permission we will go in and fix all of those. Sometimes this can be a quick job if your site has largely been correctly set up. However, more times than not we are able to identify major changes that we can implement to correct your site, particularly in the bad end.
Link building, trust development and expanding your digital footprint- Once we have your site correctly set up from a technical side that is sufficient for Googles robots to read, we will shift our focus on getting your sites presence across the whole web. This can be things such as social media platforms, articles on relevant sites, links from major associations, press releases, forum commenting, reviews and much more.
Monitoring of implemented changes and adjustments- Once we have implemented all our changes and pushed your brand across multiple digital channels, we will constantly monitor and report on the movements of your site. From here we will make tweaks to further improve your positions.
Regular monthly reporting and contact- We are always reachable via phone or email, and feel free to reach out at any time. For those that might be too busy, rest assured we are in touch at the end of every month with a detailed report and analysis of how the month has gone. If you’re time poor we can just send a report, but were always open to have a chat about the months results over the phone and explain your sites performance.
Our Success Is Measured By Results
Key results
- 200+ keywords ranking in top 3
- 100 number 1 results like “party hire”
- Increase in sales 10 fold
Key results
- Number 1 results for “female accountant”
- Top 3 for “small business accountin
- Lead growth of 250%
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have lock in contracts and upfront terms?
How long does it take to rank for a search term?
There are many factors that affect the time taken to rank for a keyword. This is a complex questions revolving around many factors, but some of the obvious ones are:
How competitive are your keywords? If you’re in super competitive industries where leads are worth a lot of money and there are lots of competitors spending money to achieve results, this will mean you will have to outwork them to get above. If they’ve spent lots of money and time doing this, it will naturally take longer
Age of your domain name: If you’ve just registered your domain name recently, chances are you don’t have much historical value with google. Like any situation, trust is built over time. Google gives preference to domain names that have history with google. A domain name that is 10 years old will respond better to our work than a domain that has recently been created.
Relevance of your domain name: If your domain is naturally key word rich, this can also help. Though not essential, a good domain name can help drive quicker results. Take a website called www.sydneyplumber.com.au, its going to rank quicker for the keyword “sydney plumber” than a site such as obrienplumbinggroup.com.au.
Has toxic work been done on your site in the past: We often take on sites that have had multiple agencies and seo consultants do work on them in the past. Whilst some of these works have been positive, more often than not a lot of the works harm the site more than they do good. This can take time to identify and untangle, increasing the time taken to rank a site. If a site has been penalised its our job to find out why, fix it and encourage google to come back once it has been fixed.
Budget: We strive to deliver results no matter the spend for each client, however a larger budget means more time and resources can be allocated to working on your site and getting quicker results.
How much do you services cost?
We don’t have a set fee as such, we assess each client on a case by case basis. Depending on your industry competitiveness, current state of your website, previous seo works implemented, the amount of keywords you want to rank for, your overall online objectives all determine the cost. We base cost on how much time is required to achieve your goals.
Prices are very affordable based on the industry averages, and you’ll find we deliver better results than most for half the spend. You’re welcome to book a website audit and face to face consultation, all which are free and there is no obligation to go ahead.
How do we pick the best keywords for our business?
We assist with this, using a variety of in house tools and software which analyse your industry and competitors. We also discuss with each client what they wish to be found for. We cam often find words within your own business that you may have missed or not focused on that can deliver high return on investment.
How do we keep track of your work and results?
We provide a monthly detailed report, identifying wins, losses and what we are working on to reach your goals. Being small, you can always call or email us at any time to discuss any questions or ideas you might have.
