Is SEO important? – You’ve probably heard this question before… This vital digital marketing tool is one of the core components of a full digital marketing strategy for virtually every business.

In this post, you will learn the following:

• How to determine good SEO services?
• Why do you need to hire an SEO Specialist?
• What are the SEO Best Practices?
• Why it’s good to do SEO in Business Website?

It’s one of the main ways of getting your website in front of your potential customers. And this means more traffic, more opportunities to convert your prospects into new customers, a better reputation for your company and increased brand awareness.

So the answer is simple: YES… SEO is important, but there’s more to it. Here’s what you’ll need to know:

How to determine good SEO services?

A good SEO agency will guide you through all the main concepts of SEO and will work out a strategy for your business. Here’s what you’ll need to focus on to get the best service:

• define your goals – which areas of your online presence do you want to improve? Is your website new or does it need just a slight redesign? Do you need a completely new website or just a simple SEO campaign for an already established website? Think about all these questions and try to find the right answers. If you are not sure about your goals, you can get a digital marketing analysis done. This will tell you what your priorities should be.
• data tracking – good SEO agencies will always use some kind of data tracking for their campaigns. Tracking is one of the most important aspects of a successful SEO campaign – you can’t plan or schedule your strategy without knowing the data behind it – it’s as simple as that. It involves measuring site visits, click through rates, contact forms, phone calls, keywords, SERP rankings, backlinks, and many other factors. Good SEO is always based on precise data and numbers, not on gut instincts.
• reviews, testimonials, case studies – reviews say a lot about companies, and the same goes for SEO agencies. Try to look for unbiased reviews or testimonials online, either on their website or on 3^rd party websites like Google, Glassdoor or Yelp. Also, a good idea is to use the contact form on the agency’s website. See what their response is and how they handle your request.

• schedule a consultation – see how well you connect with the agency and discuss your project. A good agency will love to talk about the importance of SEO in digital marketing, how your company can benefit from it, as well as their previous work, their strategy and how they can handle your project.
  
  

Why do you need to hire an SEO Specialist?

Most website owners know and understand the basics of SEO, but that’s not enough in the highly competitive online world. Basic SEO will simply not get you too far in terms of organic traffic, visibility and overall results.

The same goes for do-it-yourself SEO campaigns: they might work in very specific cases, but not in the long term. The competition is fierce, and without a professional, you won’t enjoy the full benefits of SEO.

So how do you know you need a professional? Here are some of the reasons:

• limited SEO knowledge or experience – let’s face it – you have to focus on your business and your specific field of work. It’s virtually impossible to master both your industry and SEO. A professional SEO agency will know how to handle your project, create a plan and implement it. You won’t have to learn and experiment with SEO.
• not enough time – SEO is not a “one and done” marketing strategy. It doesn’t work as a billboard on a busy highway. SEO is an on-going strategy that should be nurtured over time, adapted and constantly tracked. The online world is an ever-changing system, and this why SEO matters so much; it helps your website adapt in the hectic online environment;
• great website but no traffic – if you already have a website that you are proud of, it’s time to get traffic to it. You worked a lot on your website, it works great, it has all the information people look for, but there’s no traffic. It deserves to be noticed and SEO is a great way to get visitors, new leads and new customers.

What are the SEO Best Practices?

To have a successful SEO strategy, you should try to implement as many best practices for SEO as possible. Here are the best ones to focus on:

Keywords:

• have one primary keyword per page on your website
• don’t use the same primary keyword for multiple pages
• use the primary keyword in the title, the first paragraph, the meta title, and the description
• focus on a keyword density of 2 percent
• use secondary or related keywords for each page at least once

On-site content:

• don’t publish poor content; write high-quality content and publish it periodically; use good photos and videos; outsource content creation if possible
• don’t publish duplicate content
• use brief image file names

Links:

• Include links on each page
• use internal links; use the page’s target keyword as the anchor text
• fix broken links
• attract links from good websites, blogs or other high-quality online sources

Local SEO:

• create a Google business page
• add your website to directories and other online platforms
• link your website with social media profiles
• make sure your name, address, and phone are correctly written in your contact us area

Technical aspects:

• add an SSL certificate to your website
• Increase the speed of your website
• use a responsive, mobile-friendly design
• track analytics and monitor your website’s activity and performance

Why it’s good to do SEO in Business Website?

Search engine optimization is one of the best ways to increase traffic and get more clients for your business. Here’s why SEO is important for your online success:

• SEO leads convert better – a study* has shown that SEO leads result in a close rate of 14.6 percent, compared to just 1.7 percent for outbound leads
• good SEO optimization means better user experience – your visitors want to experience a mobile-friendly design, good photo and video integration and excellent written content
• ranking in local search gets better leads – local leads are the best: more than 50 percent of consumers who did a local search visited a store on the same day. Also, 20 percent of local mobile searches led to a sale within a day
• SEO makes your business more credible – the importance of SEO extends far beyond getting organic traffic. Ranking higher in the SERPs signals that you are a leader in your industry. It shows your business is trustworthy, professional and an authority in its area.
  
  

Let’s see the answers to the question which is on everyone’s lips – How Does SEO Work? You’ve definitely seen it before… SEO is one of those acronyms you see everywhere online. It stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of optimizing your website to get unpaid, organic traffic from search engines.

In this article, we will discuss the following:

• What is SEO?
• How to do SEO?
• How to improve SEO?
• How much does SEO cost?

Whether it’s a new website or a complete redesign, knowing what SEO is all about is very important for every business which wants to have an online presence.

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization, as previously discussed, is an all-encompassing term used to describe the processes, methods, and strategies focused on optimizing your website to get organic traffic.

In simpler words, SEO involves making changes to your website design and content in order to make it more attractive to search engines. All these efforts are made in the hope of attracting more traffic from search engines and getting a good position on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

While SEO often involves a complex strategy, with multiple methods and factors, the basic process is quite straightforward. Search engines want to provide their visitors with the best results for their queries.

To do this, they employ crawlers, which are special algorithms that scour the internet for information. These algorithms pay attention to a lot of factors: how your website is built, its content, how user-friendly it is, how other websites point back to your website and so on.

The search engines work with this information gathered by the crawlers and reward websites which are better built, more user-friendly and relevant, with higher rankings on the results page.

Simply put, SEO is the process of making your website rank better on these pages (SERPs). For instance, if you have an article on your website about repairing air conditioning units, you should optimize it so everyone looking for “how to repair an AC unit” sees it as a top result on the SERPs.

How to do SEO?

There are several basic SEO techniques you can start doing on your own. Here’s a short breakdown:

• keyword research – this is your first step for every successful SEO campaign. You might understand your industry’s jargon, the special terms, the products or services, but think about your consumers. What do they look for? What are they searching for online? How is the demand created and what is its specifics? Do an in-depth analysis of what people are searching for in your industry. There are excellent SEO tools to help you out. One of the best ones is Google’s Keyword Planner, where you can check every keyword, its competition, its reach, and many other factors.
• understand your competition – what are your main competitors doing? How are their websites ranking for the most popular keywords? What type of content are they using? How are they structuring their website and information? Also, study their reviews, social media presence, and online reputation.

• planning your strategy – make a list of the top keywords you want to focus on, what type of content you want to create, your website’s layout and create a schedule for your long term optimization strategy.
• website optimization (on-page SEO) – this is the hard part. You’ll have to start creating the website, its pages, create an e-commerce platform (if needed) and populate your website with content. You’ll have to make sure it is mobile-friendly, engaging and it works flawlessly on every type of device. There are a lot of factors and details to think about, so it might be a good idea to outsource some of the work before you become overwhelmed.
• promotion and public relations (off-page SEO) – your website has to attract high-quality links from another website in order to be relevant. Search engines love this link juice that flows to your website and you must make sure you get as much as possible. Google’s SEO guide advises webmasters to build high-quality websites that people want to talk about, share and revisit. This is one of the most important ways of getting links back to your website. Other methods include: interacting with bloggers, online magazines, hosting webinars, doing social media marketing or bookmarking and many others.

How to improve SEO?

If you already implemented a search engine optimization plan but want more, there are several ways to do it. Here’s how to get more from your SEO strategy:

• be consistent – SEO is an ongoing process and, to be successful, you must be active every day. Search engines love fresh content, updated frequently. And so do your visitors. Make sure you create content (text, audio, photos or videos) on a regular basis to keep your website fresh and updated.
• use metadata – each page has a space between the <head> tags to insert additional information about the content. Try to include your title metadata, description metadata, and keyword metadata. It only takes a couple of minutes, but it will add a little magic to your efforts.
• enable local SEO – this is ideal for businesses that have a local market. If you focus on local search, try to include it in your grand internet marketing strategy. This way, you’ll compete on a local level for every keyword and will have a much easier run to a good spot on the SERPs.
• focus on video marketing – video is huge now and everyone is trying to get a piece of the action. Try to be as active as possible in this direction: create a series, video intros, conferences, tutorials or reviews. People love watching videos and, if done properly, will boost your SEO results.
  
  

How much does SEO cost?

Basic SEO can be done in-house, using simple techniques and methods, and it does work, but the results are limited and usually inconsistent. If you want to get the good, long-term results, you will have to work with a professional digital marketing agency.

The prices for SEO services are varied and can accommodate most budgets:

• $200 to $500 per month – smaller packages, ideal for local SEO strategies; they include basic SEO strategies, content creation, and content marketing for small businesses;
• $500 to $1,000 per month – this is the most popular pricing tier; you’ll get a good SEO strategy for your website, content creation, content marketing, social media marketing, and other related services;
• $1,000 to $2,500 per month – this will get you a personalized SEO strategy with various types of content and related services;
• $2,500 to $5,000 per month (and up) – this tier will get you the best an agency has to offer: a fully customized SEO plan, every type of content and social media monitoring.

The real estate industry is fiercely competitive, both offline and online. The market is there, that’s a fact – there are millions of people trying to buy or sell a property at any given moment.

In this article, we will discuss the following:

• How Useful is SEO for Real Estate Website?
• What are Real Estate SEO Services?
• Why you need a Real Estate SEO Expert for your Business?
• How to Find a Reliable Real Estate SEO Company or Agency?

 

There are also tens of thousands of small to large companies working in the sector, so the competition is huge. Considering that the majority of house hunters start their search for properties online, real estate SEO is one of the core components of real estate marketing today.

How Useful is SEO for Real Estate Website?

More quality leads, no more unqualified prospects, no more meetings, fewer cold calls, and more revenue – these are the benefits of real estate SEO. So, what does SEO mean in real estate? How can you implement it and when can you see the results?

The real estate industry is ideal for SEO: it’s local, it’s online friendly and the people are looking for a specific, high ticket product. Plus, SEO never rests – it works long term, it brings you new leads constantly, without any footwork, ads or billboards. This means continuous growth for your real estate business.

According to a new study** cited by the National Association of Realtors, 44 percent of all buyers start their search online. That’s a massive amount when compared to data from 1981 when everyone searched local newspaper ads.

The internet has changed the real estate market profoundly. Everyone is online, both buyers and sellers, and that means SEO is a critical component of your marketing strategy.

The real estate industry is extremely locally dependent. People always search for homes in a specific location, so local SEO is one of the main areas you will have to invest in.

For instance, keywords must be locally identifiable, your content must be locally relevant and your backlinks should preferably come from local sources.

What are Real Estate SEO Services?

Creating an effective real estate SEO strategy requires several important components. Your real estate SEO consultant will guide you through the entire process, but here are some of the things you should know:

• choosing the keywords – use Google’s Keyword Planner to identify the best keywords for your area and type of property; the keywords’ popularity varies greatly depending on your location
• adapt your website for listings – use IDX integration to display various properties. These pages should be designed as mini-websites for each neighborhood or community. Include in-depth information about the area, such as schools, parks, popular attractions, and other features. Include your main and secondary keywords in the content – this is very important for search engine crawlers
• create new content – SEO is an ongoing effort, so you should constantly try to produce fresh content for your website and social media profiles
• distributing the content – focus on publishing the content on your website and social media profiles, as well as real estate directories
• tracking – data tracking will tell you crucial information about your real estate SEO stats, so you can adapt your strategy in real time
  
  

Why you need a Real Estate SEO Expert for your Business?

While basic SEO can be done in-house with satisfactory results, you should contact a real estate SEO expert if you want a full strategy for your business. An expert can:

• help you define the keywords – real estate websites are locally specific and an expert will advise on what keywords work better, have lower competition and are more suitable for the area. Also, you will get help on interactive mapping, geotargeting and other SEO specific elements.
• help you create content that converts – articles, blogs, photos, and videos – these are the types of content that people look for in this industry, and your real estate SEO consultant can help you create them. Also, creating content is not enough, an expert will also guide you on how to do content marketing.
• help you with an SEO audit – this will tell you how your website stands in terms of SEO. You will receive a report on your page structure, links, content, usability, and technical details.
• help you with on-site optimization – after you receive the report, the expert will create a plan to optimize your website. You’ll receive guidance on content optimization, structure and design optimization, redirects, site speed, SSL certificates, W3C validation, CTR and bounce rates, among many others.
• help you create a social media presence – social media is an amazing magnet for new traffic. Your main way to connect with your audience. Experts can help you create profiles, activate and populate them with content. They interact with your followers on multiple social media platforms. This will turn you into an important social media real estate personality.
  
  

How to Find a Reliable Real Estate SEO Company or Agency?

There are countless SEO agencies on the market. How do you know which one is the best for your real estate website? Let’s take a look:

• knowing your goals – before looking for an SEO agency, try to outline your goals and what you want. Do you want more sales, better brand awareness or more visibility? Do you want a complete overhaul of your website or just a small? One-time campaign for a specific event or launch?
• find reviews – try to find unbiased reviews for every SEO agency you find. Look for reviews on 3^rd party websites, review platforms or realtor communities. Also, look for testimonials or case studies on their websites. Good SEO companies always publish case studies so clients know what to expect.
• schedule a consultation – asking for a digital marketing consultation is the next step in your search. Try to schedule a phone call with multiple SEO agencies to discuss your project. Pay attention to their process, their attitude and their approach. Pick the one who seems more passionate about their work and wants to see good results.

Local SEO – this is the hottest topic when it comes to digital marketing. Why? It’s simple: it works! Most businesses are working locally, have a local consumer base, and design their products or services for their local market. So it’s quite obvious – local SEO is an amazing way to get more locally targeted traffic to your website. One of the most powerful local SEO techniques is Google Maps marketing.

In this article, you learn the following:

• Why do you need to Add Business to Google Maps?
• Effective Google Maps Marketing Strategies for your Business
• What are the Good Practices of Google Maps Optimization?
• How Google Maps Rankings affect your Business?

 

Google Maps is an amazing platform developed by Google. Packed with tools and features that can get you ahead of your competition, it’s one of the most important tools you can use in digital marketing. Let’s take a closer look at how Google Maps can help your business:

Why do you need to Add Business to Google Maps?

Google Maps will be your best friend when it comes to local SEO. It’s the most popular navigation tool by a landslide – more than 67 percent of people use it, while Waze comes in second place with only 12 percent market share*. This means that Google Maps virtually controls two-thirds of the online navigation market – which is A LOT of traffic.

This makes Google Maps the most important tool for local SEO, by far. Millions of visitors use it to search for directions to local businesses, attractions, and personal addresses. The app is also important because people use it on their mobile devices. The mobile app, especially if the location feature is active, is a powerful marketing tool for your business.

If implemented correctly, Google Maps marketing can become one of the quickest ways to bolster your presence in local search results. What’s more, you will be seen as a local authority in your industry and the go-to place for local customers who want a specific product or service.

Effective Google Maps Marketing Strategies for your Business

Google maps marketing is essentially a set of processes and methods of using Google Maps to make your business easier to find. Google maps marketing is especially relevant for local search traffic (for instance, people searching for “best hair salon near me”).

Local traffic is particularly important for small businesses, which makes Google Maps one of the most important part of your overall digital marketing strategy. Here are some of the effective strategies for local business.

• include your location – your address is the most important element in your Google Maps strategy. Keep in mind that workarounds like building separate landing pages targeting other locations are virtually worthless for Google Maps. They will only be relevant for your organic results. Make sure you include your location precisely – include the physical address, P.O. box, apartment number, and other important location details.
• use Google My Business – to get the full benefits of Google Maps marketing, you must fill out your Google My Business profile. Include your website address, email, phone number, physical address and any other info you may find relevant.
• inbound links and citations – links are the lifeblood of SEO and they are also crucially important in local marketing. Google will see the links and citations pointing back at your website and will better determine your industry, location and overall relevance, strengthening the possibility to appear in local search queries.
• on-page optimization – your website must also be optimized for local SEO. Make sure your website includes the same info you put into your Google My Business profile (the same address, phone number, email and opening hours). Try to include an embedded Google Map with your location and directions by car, public transportation or foot.
• Google Maps ads – if you want to move away from SEO and get instant traffic to your website, try to promote your business on Google Maps. Your ads will appear before the organic results and will look slightly different. This strategy will differentiate you from your competitors and will get you instant results, but will come at a cost.
  
  

Let’s go over some of the most effective Google Maps SEO strategies here.

What are the Good Practices of Google Maps Optimization?

Here are the best practices to employ in your Google Maps marketing strategy:

• get good citations – they are specific to Google Maps marketing and they come from 3^rd party websites, directories and review platforms. Good citations, with specific local information, will help you a lot in your local SEO efforts. They will increase your company’s visibility, reputation, and credibility.
• generate good reviews – getting Google Maps marketing reviews can be tricky for some companies, but the safest bet is to simply ask for one. You can ask for a review by offering incentives, special offers, review us cards, prizes and so on. Most customers are happy to leave a good review if the service is good, so you won’t have to do much convincing.
• geo-tagging your photos or videos – name your photos as “company name + location” or “keyword + location” before you include them in your Google My Business. Similarly, try to geotag your photos before uploading them. Google will read this information and will consider it when showing local search results.
• use google posts – Google Posts is a new feature in Google My Business; it allows business owners to post and share content on their Google listings. This content will appear on your listing and will make your business more relevant locally.
  
  
  
  

How Google Maps Rankings affect your Business?

If your business relies on local customers, getting good rankings in the local search results will have a tremendous impact on the success of your company.

Similarly, getting good Google Maps rankings can boost your visibility and increase the number of leads and customers. Using the Google Maps marketing platform will make you a local industry leader and a trusted business partner.

What’s more, Google Maps marketing works in the long run – your business will get more citations, reviews, and backlinks, further increasing its position in local search queries. You’ll see faster growth, more clients and better visibility for years to come.