Category: SEO News and Information

B2B companies make up the core of our digital marketing clients. Over the years, our B2B clients have recognized that the shift in B2C purchasing is also taking place in B2B. While personal relationships will always be an important part of the B2B landscape, there is a shift to using the internet as a key purchasing & research tool.

Websites can serve several different purposes for our B2B clients along the sales spectrum:

1. Lead generation
2. E-commerce
3. Sale team support

For our business to business clients, the websites serve one or all of these objectives. Knowing the role of digital marketing and the websites allows us to guide our clients and provide effective SEO and paid advertising.

It is best to discuss specific tactics based on the unique situation of our clients. But, here are some of the areas we push on and how it’s helped our clients:

Improving Domain Authority

When the search engines rank pages on a website, one of the factors is the quality of the page and website. One (not the only) indicator of the quality is the Domain Authority. This is, in part, a measure of the number and quality of other sites that link to the clients’ site. Whether our clients start with low or mid range Domain Authority (DA), we increase the DA as part of the overall organic site traffic growth.

To encourage links, we help our clients develop new content and improve the visibility of existing content.

The adage “build it and they will come” does not apply to websites. Gaining links to your website requires time and effort to connect with other websites to encourage new content or links within existing content. This activity not only takes time to execute, but the impact may take months to be evident.

In the below case, link building activities were taking place for many months before they started to register, and search results started to reflect this.

Ultimately, your objective is more business. Through increases in relevant site traffic, more on-site lead generation, or more e-commerce, we demonstrate growth for our clients.

A word about keyword tracking

Tracking keywords can be useful and we do it. However, keyword positioning is not the objective. Gaining more business is the objective.

Users will search for products or services with a large number of permutations of the product names; this is particularly true in B2B.  From differences in the way they refer to a product to use of model numbers or attributes, the way you and your products are found extend way beyond any group of keywords.

We have clients come to us with strong rankings on keywords and yet the business is not growing. Too much emphasis on keyword rankings and not enough on total performance puts SEO and digital programs at risk of failure. So, while we track keyword rankings, they are not the core focus of our SEO programs.

Working with a digital agency

SEO is a long haul opportunity. While any good agency will not lock clients into long term contracts  (we have 30-day outs), there should be an expectation that SEO activities may not bear fruit for more than 6 months. While we all like the quick hits, gaining and retaining organic search traffic take time.  To help your agency help you, you can do the following:

1. Maintain your core goals. SEO is cumulative. If you change your focus, you often reset to the baseline. Seek the long term objectives.
2. Expect ups and downs. Search engines change, competition changes, so your results change too.
3. Focus on results above keyword rankings. De-emphasizing keyword rankings may seem odd for an SEO, but strong results come from overall site health and improvement, not just a few keywords.

If you are interested in talking with us about your SEO or digital marketing program, please fill out the form or give us a call.

If you have hired a few SEO agencies in the past couple of years, you’ve already made your first mistake. SEO takes time. Switching agencies too often will hurt your SEO efforts.

But there are a few more things you need to know before you make another agency switch. Hiring an SEO agency takes time and resources. It takes attention away from other activities. And if done too often, it can hurt your results. Before you hire another SEO agency, here are 5 things you need to know and take to heart.

SEO Results Take Time

Often it sounds like a cop-out when agencies say this. But it’s true. Moving up in organic search rankings takes time. Yes, you may get lucky and have a quick jump. But, that kind of ranking improvement is usually just that, lucky, or low hanging fruit that pops up in a less competitive vertical.

If you switch focus or switch agencies, you risk losing momentum with your organic traffic. You may change tactics when things aren’t moving well enough. But the overarching SEO strategy should stay in place until it is either working, or several months have passed with no indication of improvement.

It’s Not All About Keyword Rankings

It is not that you ignore keyword rankings. But, your objective is more business and there are more upstream metrics that point to improvement than just rankings, especially early on.

When just starting out, the upstream metrics are seen in Google Search Console (GSC). Before you see keyword rankings improve, you’ll see more impressions, usually far back in the SERPs. As time moves forward, the impression volume will shift from pages 5+ to pages 2-4, and then eventually on page 1. This is also true when you add content or shift focus.

Google is connecting your site content to more queries. If your content is well crafted, the queries to which it is associated will be beneficial to your business. Using the GSC queries reports, you will see what they are. These should be related to the keywords for which you are tracking rankings.

Your site traffic, and lead generation or sales will increase even if your rankings are not. Since Google maps content by theme and not individual keywords, it’s possible the specific keywords you track may lag behind the overall improvement.

Be Wary Of Agencies That Focus On A Keyword or Two or Three

In line with the above, promises of getting you on the first page for a couple of keywords misses the big picture. Agencies can game the system to get a few keywords to rank better for a short period of time. This usually doesn’t last and comes while sacrificing the SEO health of your website and the traffic associated with a keyword theme.

SEO Results Fluctuate

Your presence in the SERPs is not a simple formula. There are things happening that can affect your organic traffic. Understanding that your positioning and traffic will fluctuate allows you to be prepared to adapt. Broadly, there are three things affecting your results.

A Good SEO Agency Helps You Convert The Traffic

Driving traffic is only part of the equation. Your objective is to gain more business. Increased traffic without mover conversions is useless. Your SEO agency should be focused on the conversion level, not just the traffic level.

SEO Terms vs Positioning Terms

Every company wants to be uniques, differentiate themselves in some way. They’ll use unique terms to describe their service or products. These are positioning terms. They set you apart from other companies. Because they are unique, they are not things that people are generally searching for.

The SEO terms are what people actually search for. They tend to be the explicit product or service without your positioning terms attached.

So, when preparing for SEO, you need to draw people in with the terms they use for search, then convince them to buy from you (or at least contact you) using your positioning terms. If you confuse your positioning terms for SEO terms, you will be disappointed.

Finding a good SEO agency requires patience. So does letting good SEO have an impact. Don’t switch focus, or agencies, too often. This will waste your time and your money.

If you have any question about SEO, or digital marketing in general, give us a call.

Frustrated by the fact that your business’s website just isn’t rising in the search engine rankings?

Tired of seeing a growing visitor count, but not an increase in your conversion rate?

Just feel like your competitors have a stronger digital marketing and SEO strategy than you currently do?

If so, then you may need to hire SEO experts to help you to get your website — and your brand as a whole — where you want it to be.

But what are the most important questions to ask your SEO company to guarantee that you’ll get up-to-the-minute SEO expertise?

Keep on reading this post to find out.

1. “Can I See a Portfolio of your Other Work?”

Asking a potential digital marketing company to see a portfolio of their other work one of the best ways to understand what to look for in an SEO company.

First of all, you’ll understand if they have the required experience within your specific industrial/business niche. You’ll also get a feel for whether or not they can create content, web design, and linking strategies that will get your target market’s attention.

You’ll be able to assess the size and scale of the companies an SEO company usually works with, and determine whether or not they’ve worked with brands that have revenues similar to your own in the past.

You can also ensure that the variety of sites they’ve worked on in the past have enough variation — in both marketing tone, content, and visual appearance — between them.

2. “Which Tools will you use to Monitor my Site?”

One of the most important questions to as your SEO company?

Which analytical tools, software, and other sites they’ll use to monitor your web traffic, track campaign successes, and even evaluate your presence on social media.

Ask for how long they’ve been using each of these tools, and the sorts of data you can expect to get from them.

The goal here is to ensure that the potential SEO company will continually monitor and track your website — and make adjustments accordingly.

You can’t expect to grow if your SEO company just puts a campaign in motion or redesigns your website, and then just walks away.

3. “How do you Keep Pace with SEO Trends?”

When you’re looking for a reputable SEO company, you want to be sure that you work with professionals who take the time to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in digital marketing.

For example, how will they plan to make voice search or video content a part of your overall marketing strategy?

How do they keep track of changes to the Google Algorithm, and how long does it take for them to update your site in light of these changes?

Ask about any conferences they attend, digital marketing clubs and associations they’re a part of, and even which websites/blogs they read or contribute to.

When it comes to generating traffic — and revenue — for your website, working with a company who is always three steps ahead of the curve is essential.

4. “Can I Speak with Past Clients?”

Of course, one of the essential steps that you need to take before you hire SEO experts to help with your website is to speak with some of the clients they’ve worked with in the past.

With fake online reviews on the rise, the unfortunate reality is that you need to take those glowing “customer testimonials” and rave third-party reviews with a serious grain of salt.

The only way to really know what kind of experience and level of customer care and attention you can get from an SEO company is to speak to a minimum of two references.

Ask them about continued site monitoring, if they felt they were a priority, questions about the specific goals of that website and whether those goals were executed, and more.

Above all, ask if they would work with them again or recommend their services to you.

5. “How will you get to Know My Business?”

The final question you should ask when you’re ready to hire SEO experts to elevate your website and overall digital marketing strategy?

How they plan to get to know the needs, long-term and short-term goals, and overall marketing style of your brand.

In addition to that, you should also ask how they plan to conduct target market research, as well as how they’ll work to understand the needs of your local community. You should even take the time to ask questions about how they’ll manage competitor research.

After your initial meeting, ask them questions that help you to determine whether or not they’ve really done their homework. Ask how they feel what you offer differs from your competitors, what they see as your target demographic, and what data points they’ll use to inform their digital strategy.

If you feel like you’re not being made a priority, run for the hills.

Ready to Hire SEO Experts you can Count On?

We hope that you now have a much better understanding of the five essential questions that you need to ask before you make the choice to hire SEO experts.

Remember that the best SEO companies will be happy to show you their portfolio, provide references, work to get to know your brand, and above all, be willing to talk you through their process.

Looking for SEO expertise you can rely on?

If so, look no further than us.

Spend some time on our website to learn more about the wide variety of digital marketing services we can work with you on.

Then, reach out to us to schedule a consultation or strategy meeting.

Local SEO cannot be ignored in today’s augmented marketing reality. 72% of consumers who research a product online will visit a local retailer within a 5-mile radius after the initial discovery period.

86% of those consumers will look up a business’ location on Google Maps. 78% of local searches result in an online purchase, as well.

Local SEO is essential for business owners, whether they’re looking to build a regional reputation or extend their online reach. Local SEO experts can help you reach those goals, whatever they are.

Here are some signs you should be thinking about hiring local SEO experts.

Signs You Need A Local SEO Expert

Every business’s marketing needs are going to be different. After all, it’s a marketing team’s job to help each individual product or service to stand out from the competition. That being said, there are some universal signs that you might need a local SEO expert if you’re looking to rise up in the SERPs.

Sign #1: “What’s A Local SEO Expert?”

At the risk of sounding counter-intuitive, if you have to ask what a local SEO expert is, you should probably consult with one. Local SEO experts keep track of Google’s quickly-evolving algorithms to make sure that your web presence shows up in the search engine.

Local SEO experts perform an extensive SEO analysis of your website and digital assets to find out how your material is performing. They can give you insight into profitable keywords and phrases to develop content around. They’ll also update your existing web content to help you get rank in the SERPs.

Sign #2: You Haven’t Updated Your Google+ Business Page

If your business’s location is not established, Google will assume your business is international. This means you’re competing against the entire globe instead of a 3-mile radius.

This can cause a major digital decline in sales and exposure. Consider a niche with a lot of competition, like ‘beauty supplies.’ You’re going to have a hard time reaching even the third page of SERPs with so much competition.

If you offer a local service, like a hairdresser or mechanic, it’s going to make you miss out on even more business.

Google now requires businesses to verify their physical address, to qualify for local SEO. Local SEO experts will know all of the latest updates and will be able to make the necessary adjustments quickly and painlessly.

Sign #3: You Focus On Content

Content is still king, in 2018. We’ve all shifted our thinking to creating world-class content that establishes us and experts in our industries. That’s always a useful way to spend your time, money, and resources. There’s a little more to it than that, however.

Local SEO experts will know specific keywords that will help you rank for local searches. It’s both an art and a science. Local SEO experts are artists at the science of getting your content found.

Sign #4: You’re Still Building Links Manually

Many of us remember the early days of the SEO gold rush when digital marketers raced to take advantage of every scammy, spammy way to draw eyes and ears to their websites. That approach blew up in their faces.

Unethical link-building can do great harm to your SEO ranking. It also does nothing at all for your page ranking.

Most public link depositories are considered “NoFollow,” at this point. This means Google doesn’t factor them into your ranking.

Sign #5: You Need More Social Reviews

It’s hard enough to get customers to sign up for email lists and loyalty programs. Now, you’ve got to convince them to leave you reviews on Google+ and Yelp, as well.

Social reviews play an important part in local SEO ranking. When you aren’t proactive in asking your loyal, satisfied customers for reviews, you run the risk of only hearing the negative reviews.

Local SEO experts have all manner of tips, tools, and techniques to get your customers to leave you positive reviews. Remember, it’s unethical to ask for positive reviews, which can even result in getting some of your social accounts banned. It’s okay to entice happy customers to share their feelings, however.

Sign #6: You’re Ready To Optimize For Voice Search

Using keywords organically is an artform of its own. Now consider working phrases like “butcher shop near me” into an informative, entertaining article or blog post.

Local SEO experts know how to do that very thing. Voice search is becoming increasingly prevalent as more and more users are switching to browsing on mobile devices. Working with local SEO experts lets you get ahead of that curve, and your competition.

Sign #7: Your Traffic Isn’t Converting

Getting your audience through the door to see your content is only the beginning of the battle. Now you’ll need to figure out how to convert those visitors into actual sales and leads.

SEO experts have all manner of tricks to help you accomplish that goal. They could help you redesign your sales funnel, for instance. Then you could work with your social media marketing department to turn those leads into promotional campaigns.

Sign #8: You’ve Already Got Too Much To Do

Most business owners and marketing departments already feel overwhelmed with their daily to-do lists. You were already feeling overwhelmed just trying to come up with content for your blogs and websites. Now you’ve got to update the content you’ve already written?

Digital marketing is a double-edged sword. It lets smaller independent businesses compete against major league Fortune 500 companies. It also greatly increases our daily workload, which can leave you feeling more overwhelmed then you were in the beginning.

Working with highly trained experts helps to diminish that workload, so you can focus on building and growing your business!

Ready To Find Out How A SEO Expert Can Help Your Business?

The Internet is changing at the speed of thought as we develop tools to navigate this shifting landscape. Google’s updating their algorithms like never before, which can have major implications for your digital presence. Check out our listing of SEO services, and let us help you get found in the search engines today!

Keywords have long been known as one of the key components to search engine optimization.

But in recent years, technology has progressed and the algorithms have adapted. One of the newest systems added to the mixture is RankBrain, which uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to better interpret pages on the web.

With the changes to the algorithms, many industry workers are wondering how important keyword relevance still is.

How keywords fit into the scheme of search has indeed changed. But keyword relevance is still very important to strong SEO. Here’s why.

Keywords Provide Context About a Page

Keywords are still a critical part of creating context about a given page on your website.

Most pages on your site will have a certain specific theme. Each product page highlights a unique product. Each blog post talks about a particular topic.

Every keyword helps to paint a picture of the given page. The search algorithm looks at the words and phrases on the page and determines what the page is about.

This is no different in principle from what previous iterations of the algorithms did. But in many ways, your keywords can now go farther than ever before.

Previously, a keyword or phrase was taken verbatim. You would only rank highly in searches that included the exact phrase. But with the newer updates using more AI, the algorithm is better able to infer actual meaning from your keywords.

So while the specific keyword doesn’t mean that much, just having a relevant keyword does.

It doesn’t matter if your blog post’s keyword is “prepare for a hurricane” or “hurricane prep tips”. As long as you use something relevant and have other ranking factors in your favor, you’re in good position to show up on a search for hurricane preparedness.

Without keywords, your individual pages would not provide the context the algorithm needs to correctly analyze and interpret the meaning of the page.

Keywords Shape a Site’s Authority

Just as keywords provide context about a specific page, the same can be said about a website as a whole.

When determining rankings, the search algorithms don’t only look at the individual pages that they might link to. As one of the many factors the algorithms analyzes, the website, as a whole, impacts how a page might perform.

Much of this has to do with the site’s authority on a given subject.

If your website is full of keywords related to the subject you address on a blog post or product page, the algorithm assumes that the website specializes in the topic. Specialization highly correlates with expertise and trustworthiness, so a site that looks authoritative will often gain the upper hand in rankings.

Here at Fanatically Digital, we talk about social media, SEO, and other marketing topics. Keywords related to those fields are all over this site. When we posted this article, Google’s algorithm saw that our other content was in a similar vein, and thus this blog post looks reliable.

But you wouldn’t come to our website for a recipe. If we posted a recipe for baked chicken, that recipe wouldn’t show up on Google because our website isn’t one that frequently posts recipes.

Keyword relevance is still vital to providing proper context to what you post online.

Google Can Still Penalize You

Keyword relevancy isn’t only about affirmatively using keywords relevant to your company and content. It’s also about steering clear of black-hat and detrimental practices.

Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is the practice of using a keyword as many times as possible in a post, even if it isn’t used in a natural way. In the past, this technique was used by some as a way to manipulate search rankings for a term.

Keyword stuffing was occasionally successful in its goal, but it was frowned upon by industry leaders for its lack of quality. Over time, Google became smarter at identifying stuffed keywords, and it actually began to punish the websites who used this practice.

Even though exact-match keywords don’t have the same priority they once did, keyword stuffing is still considered black hat. That means Google can still tank your rankings if they realize you’re doing it.

Irrelevant Keywords

It’s a novice mistake by somebody trying to improve their SEO to cast a wide net when it comes to keywords. Any keyword we can rank for must be good, right?

Wrong. It does little good for your business website to rank for words or phrases that have little to do with your work. Your restaurant shouldn’t rank for keywords related to an auto mechanic or a shoe store.

Anybody who might happen to find your site through an irrelevant ranking won’t be a rich lead. They’ll visit your site, see that you aren’t what they’re looking for, and then immediately get frustrated and leave.

This hurts your bounce rate, which in turn hurts your SEO. A high bounce rate indicates to Google that you don’t provide the quality that people need. They’ll drop you in the rankings across the board.

It’s still important to be aware of your keyword usage so you can avoid doing things that could penalize you.

Keywords Help the User

We talk so much about what keywords mean to the technology and computers and algorithms that make up the Internet.

But we’d be remiss not to discuss the significant impact keywords have on the actual humans that are searching for information.

You work so hard to please the algorithms and you’ve managed to make it on to the front page. But that’s only half the battle. Now you need the searcher to actually visit your site.

No matter how much the algorithms get better at comprehending the intent behind a search, only the person typing in the query truly understands what he or she needs. Improved AI can make assumptions, but sometimes those assumptions are wrong.

The rearrangement of a few words can make a big difference in meaning.

Using relevant keywords in your titles and descriptions help show the user what your post is and how it can help them. Using the right keywords can make them click on your link instead of a competitor’s.

Stay Updated on Keyword Relevance

As the algorithms continue to change, the way keywords factor into the mix will likely change as well. For the best results, it’s important to stay updated.

For the latest news on keyword relevance and other SEO topics, stay tuned to our blog.

The only thing more important than having an SEO campaign is having a successful one. The only way to ensure this is to reach your goals.

How can you determine if you’re reaching them?

Well, if you can’t measure what you’re doing, then this becomes impossible. The key is to consistently measure different aspects of your campaign, so you know what requires improvement.

Maybe you’ll find you need to switch up your keywords. Or maybe the content needs a new direction. Whatever it may be, you will need a means to track data so you can perform an on page SEO analysis.

There are various tools you can use to do that. In this guide, we’ll cover some of the things you should measure to reach your campaign goals.

Ignore Vanity Metrics

It’s very easy to get swept up into the world of vanity metrics. Receiving a high amount of traffic, followers and user engagement doesn’t mean anything if it’s not converting into sales.

This is where many businesses mess up. They believe that the end result is getting a boatload of traffic. Then they’re left wondering why it’s not helping their bottom line.

Make sure you’re looking at the conversion rates more than anything else. Without improving this, you’re not succeeding.

Focus On Conversion Rates

What does it matter if your website reaches to the number one page on Google if it’s not boosting your sales? Now, there are different ways you can track this. For instance, you can take all the traffic coming into your site based on a particular keyword.

Then you can see how much of the traffic is converting. Now, there are different types of conversions. For example, you can track how many calls or forms are completed from organic search. Or how many Google My Business calls you received.

Track everything, so you can better perform an on page SEO analysis.

Use Dynamic Numbers to Keep Track of Calls

You may wonder how you can track calls from your campaigns. One way of doing so is to insert dynamic numbers. This is an essential part of your SEO strategy. It will greatly help on page SEO analysis.

You can use tools like CallRail and Call Tracking Metrics to help track the source of your incoming calls. It’s better than using a call tracking number.

If you don’t already know, your NAP (name, address and phone number) must be consistent on the web. Then as an added bonus, you can set it up so that your dynamic numbers have goals in Google Analytics.

Find out which landing pages are responsible for generating the most calls.

Determine the Quality of Your Traffic

Now, the quality of your traffic is key because it’s what will determine whether it’s worth your time, money and effort. If you’re spending thousands on SEO and getting a bunch of traffic from the wrong audience, then you’re wasting time.

It’s important to measure the quality of your SEO traffic to avoid this. There’s a report in Google Analytics you can use called the Assisted Conversions report. Activate this report and you can use it to see data based on a date range.

For example, you can look at the last month and compare it to the previous period. A month-to-month comparison from search is what you’re left with. This will tell you about conversions related directly to search and conversions where search played a role but wasn’t the direct cause of the conversion.

For instance, someone found your site using search, but then they returned directly and then converted. These reports are valuable for your on page SEO analysis. They help you to see both the decline and improvement in your search traffic conversion rates.

If there’s a decline in your search conversions, but still have a steady flow of organic traffic, then this means your search traffic is low-quality.

On the other hand, if you see an uptick in conversions from search traffic after refining your keywords, then your traffic is now good quality.

Set Dollar Values for Your SEO Traffic

If you’re like most businesses, you want to know the return on investment your SEO brings. You can determine this by assigning a dollar value to your organic search traffic.

The first step is to identify the cost of buying the keywords for a Google AdWords campaign. With your Adwords connected to your Google Analytics, you can review the Queries. Afterward, go to the Keyword Planner and select ‘Get search volume data and trends.’

Enter your top keywords from the Queries report, then hit ‘Get search volume.’ Next, click on ‘Keyword Ideas.’ You’ll see a suggested bid amount for each of the keywords, which is an estimate for the per click rate advertisers are paying.

Now, take a look at all your traffic-driving keywords and check to see how many clicks they get. Then estimate the per-click cost. The total comes from multiplying the cost per click by the number of clicks.

Here, you have the value of each of your keywords.

Get Help with Your On Page SEO Analysis

It’s alright if some of this stuff went over your head. You’re a business owner, not a marketer, so it’s natural that you lack the knowledge of running a successful SEO campaign.

That doesn’t mean you should give up on having one. You can hire an SEO agency to handle it for you. At Fanatically Digital, we have a team of online marketing professionals.

We can analyze your SEO performance, build a plan from scratch, and even assist with paid search marketing. Not only do we help with on page SEO, but off page SEO as well. This includes social media and email marketing.

Need help with content and editorial calendars? We’ve got you covered. Contact us today to see how we can improve your business’s SEO.

You know how shops run the numbers at the end of the day? It’s a daily activity to check the financials and how much money came through the door. Well, the web equivalent to that is SEO analytics.

SEO analytics tracks and reports the site’s performance.

You’d imagine every site owner would do this… you’d be wrong.

Here’s what to know about putting analytics into effect.

The Quick Wins of SEO Analytics

Most businesses are collecting data but aren’t using it. This leaves them at a major disadvantage. It’s equal to operating the business where the only KPI used is whether they’ve made money.

The SEO analytics is more than a collection of data.

• Identifies customers and demographics
• Sets a performance baseline used to track growth
• Uncovers (potential) profitable queries
• Helps the business understand customer interaction

… and let’s not forget the wonderful search engine placement boost that comes along with refining high-performing pages!

Let’s dig into those quick wins:

Demos

The data collected with Google Analytics provides your business with detailed visitor demographics. This information refines the message when writing website copy and marketing materials.

1. Open Google Analytics
2. Click Audience -> Overview

Use this opportunity to look at the demographics and interests. Rework targeted campaigns for these keywords in ad placement. This refined approach saves money (from wasted clicks) while improving your market segment reach.

Baseline

Many website owners use traffic as the main KPI. Yet, it’s the conversions that matter — whether someone is buying.

Do this:

1. Set up conversion tracking with Google
2. Record current traffic and conversions
3. Check weekly to see performance and growth

The baseline you’ve just created gives insight when applying growth strategies you’ve learned or have in place. It will tell what’s working (and what’s not). Then, it’s reapplying the effective strategies to improve traffic and conversions.

Queries

The long-tail is those queries people use, when searching, to find specific information. It’s the difference between “bicycle” and “where to buy Huffy 10-speed mountain bike”.

Find these by doing this:

1. Click on Acquisition in Google Analytics
2. Drop down ‘All Traffic’ and open ‘Channels’
3. Click on ‘Organic Search’

Here you will find the search queries people use to find your site. Dig around and you’ll find plenty of keywords and long-tail phrases you could use to form content.

Interaction

The SEO analytics will reveal how visitors use your website — what they do once they’re on the page.

This is found by:

1. Clicking on ‘Behavior’
2. Opening the ‘Behavior Flow’

It looks messy but each of these visual items provides extra details about the visitor interaction. You could use this information to remove low-quality pages. Or, refine and improve conversions on performing pages.

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SEO analytics is extremely powerful once you understand the platform and service. The “quick wins” are those you could perform today (after reading this post). But, what about a year from now? Or several?

The Long Game of SEO Analytics

The analytics will ultimately guide your online business efforts. It’s the same reaction you’d have at a shop if you noticed an item flying off the shelves. You’d double-down on what’s working while removing the low-performing activities.

There are quite a few long-term benefits of starting SEO analytics early:

• Discover quality upsells and cross-promotions
• Repurpose content into new, marketable assets
• Improve search rankings by tweaking on/off-page elements

These are benefits that’ll form 6 months to a year from now. They’re massive improvements you can do today. Improvements Google will recognize (and reward) as your search listings update and settle.

Most small businesses rarely undertake these long-term strategies.

They tend to place more effort in building new assets (in hopes of raising traffic) rather than refining what’s already performing. The smart ones will hand the work to SEO professionals — those dedicated to the process.

Think you’re up to the challenge? Try these:

Easy Money-Makers

Did you know? It’s 50% easier to sell to existing customers.

We know — “duh!” — but our next question is: Are you offering more? As in, do you provide upsells and cross-sells to the customer during shopping or checkout? If not, you’re missing a wonderful opportunity to increase the transaction.

The analytics gives us the user demographics. We use this information to find related products in our industry. Or, complementary products from related businesses. Then, they’re sourced and included on the site.

The addition of these items continues to evolve with the analytical data. In 6 months, you’ll offer something different based on visitor trends.

Repurposing

Old content is given a new life when it’s updated or repackaged. The easiest way to do so is by taking old blog content and reworking them into:

• Downloadables
• Slideshows
• Infographics

This saves time on development (since it’s already done). The new format lets you share the piece on new platforms. Exposure to this information — in the preferred medium of the platform — drives traffic to the site.

A large site could have thousands of these pieces.

Fresh Content

Evergreen content is meant to last.

It’s the type of relevant content today or 10 years from now. Though times change and some of its information may become dated. Don’t let this piece rot.

Use the analytics to find low-to-mid performing “money” pages. Update them with fresh information. Do this every few months.

Aim for this:

• A yearly revision of your major content pieces
• Updated SEO practices while you’re on the page
• Build new backlinks to this existing content

The piece continues to promote your brand and offers. It will keep its placement in search engines despite new competition. This means a continual flood of traffic that converts.

Quick Wins? Long Game? We’re Here to Help

We understand your frustration with SEO analytics. It’s a mess of information… but you’re magically supposed to know how to use it. We don’t blame those small business owners not using the stuff — it’s a lot of work!

We love that work.

SEO is our passion and we’d love to work with you. We’ve helped many businesses improve their online rankings throughout the years. Our work has boosted their bottom lines — perhaps it’s time for yours, as well?

Get in touch (800.861.9940).

Do you want to boost sales for your business? With the right SEO solutions, you can increase your site’s visibility in Google, generate leads and win more customers.

But SEO can be intimidating to a business owner. When you’ve already got plenty on your plate, you might not know where to start when it comes to optimizing your website for search engines.

In this in-depth post, we’ll dive into what SEO actually means and how you can use it to boost business. Keep reading to learn our best SEO solutions.

What Is SEO?

You’ve likely heard the acronym before. It stands for search engine optimization, which is a digital marketing tactic to increase the visibility of a website in a web search engine’s unpaid results. Basically, it’s a way of attracting customers to your website on the Internet.

By implementing SEO solutions for your website, you’re working to increase your traffic through organic search engine results. Doing this the right way increases both the quality and quantity of traffic your website receives.

Acquiring quality traffic means that people are coming to your site because you offer what they’re looking for. When you have the right people coming to your site, you’ll definitely want to increase the quantity of that traffic. That’s where organic traffic – meaning traffic that you don’t have to pay for – comes into play.

SEO Solutions to Boost Sales

If you don’t know where to start, here are 7 SEO solutions to implement into your strategy.

1. User Experience

The best place to start with SEO is to optimize your website for a friendly user experience. Search engines determine your site’s ranking by your website architecture, meaning how easy it is to navigate your site and how long it takes the site to load. URL structure and page coding are the biggest things the search engines look for.

If your site is laid out well, users will have a better experience and stay on it longer. Search engines take into account how quickly visitors leave your site or how often they take action on your site. When users can’t easily find what they’re looking for, they’ll be quick to leave.

Ideally, your site should point users to take action. Direct them to make an online purchase, send you an email or visit other pages on your site.

2. Keyword Research

The way you attract the right audience to your website is by using the right keywords that they will be searching for. What words and phrases that customers type into Google or Bing’s search box are called keywords and keyword phrases. To rank higher in the search engines, you need to incorporate the keywords into your web content and site tags.

It’s important to understand your customers’ needs to find the right keywords. You’ll always need to research what keywords your competition ranks for. Use a free tool like Google Keyword Planner to perform keyword research.

When incorporating keywords into your website, you must do it wisely and naturally. The search engines know when they’re being tricked, and will rank your site accordingly. Use keywords in places where they make sense, and incorporate them into our photo tags, page titles, headers and written content.

3. Content Marketing

Providing excellent content is one of the best SEO solutions to boost business. The right content drives customers to make a purchase, visit a landing page and enter their email address.

Your web content covers everything from testimonials and blog posts to videos and photos. The text and images should be appealing and attractive, describing in clear detail what your business is about. Make your content relevant to your target audience to make your site more discoverable by search engines.

4. Link Building

An SEO solution to gaining more organic traffic to your site is to have other influential sites linking back to yours. This helps you gain publicity and drive traffic to your site.

Start by sharing links to your website on your social media channels. Use your site links in your marketing emails as well. Reach out to other website owners to include links to your website where it is relevant.

5. Publicity

Generate traffic to your website by gaining publicity and awareness for your business. Do this by getting bloggers and other online influencers to talk about your product or service. They will ultimately provide authoritative backlinks that drive users to your site.

6. Social Media Promotion

If you use social media correctly, you can drive more quality traffic to your website. With more people clicking links to your site from social media, search engines will be able to index your site pages quicker.

Include all of your company’s details – name, address, phone number, hours of operation – on your social media channels. This signals to the search engines that the contact information on your website and social media sites are a legitimate match, giving you a boost in rankings.

7. Analytics

Check your website analytics often to measure the results of your SEO solutions. Google Analytics will help you see where your traffic is coming from and how users are interacting with the content on your site. This tool can help you see if people are using your keywords and keyword phrases to find your site.

Through Google Analytics, you can also see how many people are finding your site through Facebook, Pinterest or other social platforms. The reports also show you how much time people are spending on your site. This valuable information can help you adjust your SEO tactics to fit your target audience.

Implementing SEO Solutions

SEO is a great way to generate leads and boost sales in business. With these 7 SEO solutions, you’ll have an effective strategy in place to gain more organic traffic to your business’s website.

If the process still seems overwhelming or you simply don’t have the time to do it, check out our SEO services.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you increase your online presence while you tend to your strengths within your business.