Search Engine Optimization is perhaps the most interesting and strategically challenging component of digital marketing. It is simple yet complicated. When you search online for the best ways to optimize SEO, you’ll get a number of options, and myriad suggestions. But the truth is that what worked for others may not work for you. There are many factors that go into planning a good strategy. When you get down to executing the strategy, you may need to make detours on the way.
Every campaign that you’ll run for your clients will be different. Every website’s link profile is different and thus, the ways to optimize SEO too. You may find yourself in a constant battle with time to keep an eye on your website’s rank as well as your competitors. When you go through the process with a professional they not only know how the process works, but also how to optimize your website for your industry.
Pricing SEO Campaigns
Strategizing isn’t the tough part, executing it is. Since the process of SEO is dynamic, you’ll have to adapt to changes along the way. When you pitch a campaign to your client, ensure that you explain to them the reasons they need to invest a good amount of money. Investing just a small amount gives you fewer options to work with. Your attempts may also seem half-hearted as your options are limited. According to Adam White from SEOJet.net, you cannot have fixed rates as an SEO consultant because every client will have different budgets and different needs for their company. Explain how a good investment can enable you to source good content and links for them.
Process of SEO
There are four pillars of SEO that make the entire process more structured and easier to follow. The four areas have some parts that overlap but compartmentalizing the process like this can help you asses your weaknesses and strengths for better optimization.
- Technical SEO
This part of SEO is all about how well search engines can read your content and explore your website. This depends on the content management system you use for the website, and you can also use Google tools to bring technical problems out in the open.
The key areas are
- Crawl – How well can a search engine explore your site?
- Index – Are the pages that need to be indexed by the search engine clear?
- Mobile – Since most users use the internet on their mobiles, is your site optimized for mobile phones?
- Speed – The faster your page loads, the more chances of users staying on the website.
- Structure – How well is the website structured in terms of content?
- Tech – Is your website search engine friendly? Do you use a content management system that makes your website easy for search engines to crawl and index?
Technical SEO is easy to do if you’re a small business and make use of tools to structure your website, however, if you have a website with hundreds of pages then technical SEO becomes trickier.
- The content
Content is king! You must not have heard enough of this because this is the reality. If you have a good website but the content isn’t up to the mark, the entire strategy will fall through. Even if you have to spend money for quality unique content, it’s worth it.
Your content must be easy to comprehend and concise. It must contain all the information about your business and the reasons you’re unique and a step ahead of the others. If your content is really good, it would also help your customers achieve their goals rather than just stating facts about what you do.
Your website content must be divided into 3 readable and relevant categories. First the service content should contain all the information about your business, including your USP. Second, pitch your credibility to the client. Elaborate on your USP and why you’re the best option out of all your competitors. Third, you need to keep adding marketable content on your website. This content can have case studies, testimonials and reviews. Doing this, establishes you as an expert in the industry.
The key to good content is readability, relevancy, and engagement. Ensure that the content on the website keeps your customer enthralled.
- On-site SEO
Assuming that your site is optimized at an individual page level, there are a few key points that you’d need to start with a well-structured content hierarchy. After this, for on-site SEO, you just have to take care of minor things.
Know your audience and research keywords that they are looking for pertaining to your business. Use these keywords in your page content as well as the page titles. Use descriptive URLs so your customers know how they’re navigating around your website. Make your website easy to navigate and add strong call to action buttons so your customers are not lost.
When your technical SEO is in place, on site SEO is a breeze.
- Off- site SEO
Off site SEO means authority link building. Link building is the best way to develop strong organic ranking, however, this is also the most difficult to get right.
Employing a positive link building strategy can pull up your website ranking within months from any Digital Marketing Agency. This also drives organic traffic on your website which is genuine and relevant.
Off site SEO overlaps with content creation. If you build yourlinks with genuoine content, you have a chance to grow your readersip as well as reputation.
Go the extra mile
With these 4 solid pillars that make up the backbone of SEO, you will find that the process becomes more streamlined. As an SEO consultant, you can do the best for your clients only if you’re fully informed of the industry the client is into. It is advisable to equip yourself with knowledge about your client’s business. Pose as a customer and go through the end to end process of purchasing products and services as a customer yourself. This will help you survey the market better. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Go the extra mile to build a good rapport.
