SEO Strategy: What an SEO Agency Can Do for Your Business

There are many reasons why SEO is such a popular marketing tool, but one reason is most important: it works. Did you know that 68% of online experiences start with a search engine? If you aren't using SEO, you're handing more than two-thirds of online traffic to your competition.

Fortunately, SEO is easier to start than you may think, and the rewards can last for a long time with only minimal upkeep. Let's talk about what an SEO agency can do for your business SEO strategy!

What Is SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a way for websites to rank higher on search engines like Google. Essentially, you optimize your website's content for Google's algorithm and potentially rank higher as a result. The higher you rank, the more traffic you will receive on average.

Believe it or not, the top 3 results on the first page of a Google search receive the majority of all traffic, and the top organic result receives more than 25%. That's from every page combined, which should show you why SEO is such a popular marketing tool.

Pillars of SEO

Now that you know the importance of SEO, we can talk about how it works. Here are the three most important factors in any SEO strategy.

Website

Your website design acts as the foundation of your entire digital marketing strategy, which is especially true for SEO. You can have the best content in the world, but it won't rank to its full potential without a strong website.

Google uses over 200 ranking factors involving the quality and usability of your site, including:

• Loading times
• Mobile optimization
• Navigation system
• Website security
• Page structure
• Metadata

A quality user experience (UX) will translate into a better SEO strategy in no time. Google's algorithm is simply trying to find the most relevant content on user-friendly sites.

Content Strategy

If your website is the foundation, your content is the house. Without a content marketing strategy, you're limited to only a few pages on your website. The more you post, the more chances you have of success.

For example, nobody is going to search for "XYZ Generic Mechanic" if they've never heard of them. However, they may search for "oil change near me", "how to change brake pads", or "2017 Forester AC leak". If the mechanic has matching content on their site, they can draw this traffic in and position their services as the solution.

Best practices for content:

• Post new content at least twice a week
• Stay mindful of the keywords you're trying to rank for
• Optimize each new post before uploading (alt attributes, meta descriptions, title tags, appropriate headers)

Off-Page SEO

Your website is the foundation, your content is the house, and your off-page SEO ties it all together. Off-page SEO is how users and Google may find you—including directory links, social media links, and referring domains.

Getting listed on local directories is important, especially on Google Business Profile. If your business relies on local traffic, get listed on Google Maps too!

Building backlinks (links from other sites to yours) is the most important off-page factor. This is how Google determines a domain's authority.

Our SEO Strategy

Here are the most important aspects of a professional SEO strategy as they apply to your business.

Proper Keyword Research

SEO content marketing requires proper keyword research. We use a wide variety of short-tail and long-tail keywords:

• Short-tail keywords: The obvious ones in every industry (e.g., "ice cream" or "gelato"). Highest search volume but most competition.
• Long-tail keywords: More specific phrases (e.g., "ice cream shop near me" or "best soft-serve ice cream in Albany"). Less search volume but more relevant traffic with less competition.

Ranking for short-tail keywords is a long-term goal, while a variety of long-tail keywords delivers quickest results.

On-Site Optimization

Once we have a strong list of keywords, we work on your website. Examples of on-site technical SEO include:

• Adding meta descriptions and title tags
• Adding alt text on images
• Cleaning up permalinks
• Schema markup
• Adding or removing robots.txt files
• Security issues
• Page loading speed
• Mobile-friendly design
• Cleaning up redirects and errors

Content Creation

Content marketing helps with convincing other sites to link to yours, driving new traffic, and positioning your brand as an authority. Quality content creation is essential for long-term SEO success.

All content on your website needs to live up to certain standards. "Fluff", irrelevant content, misinformation, inconsistencies, and plagiarism will destroy your SEO strategy in the long run.

How to Measure SEO Campaigns

SEO strategies take time to build, which can be frustrating for many business owners. SEO is completely different from PPC ads—it is not instantaneous. However, the results of SEO can last much longer without the need for additional expenses.

Choose an Analytics Tool

Google Analytics is the most popular website analytics tool. It tells you nearly everything you need to know about your website's performance. Combined with Google Search Console, these tools provide everything you need to track your SEO campaign over time.

Define Your Key Metrics

For most SEO campaigns, you will need to track:

• Conversion rates
• Bounce rates
• Where traffic comes from (ideally organic results)
• Quality of traffic

From there, you can incorporate any other metrics that align with your specific strategy and business goals.