In an industry so niche with terms, concepts and implementations so specific, how can you be sure you are gaining as much value from your SEO Agency as possible? Search engine optimisation is such a precise science that to most business owners, it just makes sense to outsource this function to an SEO company that specialises in search engine optimisation.
Best described as an investment, when applied correctly, SEO takes:
Time
A great SEO campaign can only be deemed a success, much in the same as an investment delivers returns, once enough time has been applied to turn real results.
Attention
Competitive and intricate, Search Engine Optimisation takes acute attention to detail and a sharpened skillset to be applied effectively.
Money
SEO “takes money to make money” to see real results in the shortest amount of time. Where the wrong move is almost always an expensive one, for SEO to be effective takes a dedicated budget that may only turn results in the long term.
To be certain you have the best team of digital marketers, dedicated to supporting your business development and generating meaningful leads, a basic understanding of what you’re investing in is essential.
SEO Defined
Plainly put Search Engine Optimisation helps customers find your business online. Through combined digital marketing efforts, SEO helps to match a customer’s search terms to accurate search results using any popular search engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing, AOL, Ask.com etc). Not only do the search results need to be relevant, but the higher on the results list, the more likely the customer will be to click on the link. The more relevant the result, with the highest ranking, the closer the match and more meaningful the lead to conversion.
What is an SEO Audit?
An SEO audit or score reveals how “search engine friendly” a website is. A search engine’s customer is the “searcher” and their products are relevant search results. The easier it is to find accurate information, relevant to the searchers request, the more search friendly the website is.
SEO: A Science and an Art
A practiced SEO agency has mastered the science of SEO while remaining mindful that the end user is not the search engine but rather a prospective paying customer. While the first step to SEO is preparing a website, its content and related digital marketing are geared towards checking the boxes deeming a site SEO fit, the second and most critical step is making sure that the content is human friendly. Both steps need to be accounted for symbiotically, combining the science of SEO tactics with the art of end usability (UX) through accurate and relevant information.
Black hat SEO tactics fall short when the simulated SEO agency prepares a website and related content only taking into account the science of SEO and not the audience or customer. Through keyword stuffing / stacking (the excessive and inappropriate use of keywords), hidden text that is often irrelevant to the page UX, Gateway Pages, Bait-and-Switch or page swapping, duplicate content and or spam blocks are all Black Hat SEO techniques that inexperienced SEO companies use in an attempt to manipulate SEO results.
White hat SEO is evidently the opposite whereby authentic SEO specialists marry both requirements together. Combining both SEO strategies and applied techniques with relevant, compelling and an accurate user experience as well as a strong focus on link building, delivers more resolute SEO rankings and long term results.
Pii Digital is an integrated strategic communications agency, passionate about digital marketing, design and user experience, delivering an average of 15-25% growth from entry level client packages and 80%+ growth from more robust service arrangements (industry dependant).
Ensure that you are gaining the most value out of your SEO agency with a basic grasp of what it means to invest in Search Engine Optimisation. Understanding the fundamentals, best practice and the difference between White and Black hat SEO techniques is the surest way to confirm your SEO Agency is as invested in your SEO as you are
